Hello all. On Thursday morning, we were driven by family to the Thailand end of the Thai/Lao International bridge. After clearing Customs and Immigration, we took a taxi to the Bloom Boutique hotel for one night. I had to get a Lao Visa for the one day stay, (40 U.S.) while my Thai friends did not. The next afternoon, we flew with Vietnam Airlines here to Hanoi, getting to the hotel about eleven at night. I also had to get a Visa for the stay in Vietnam, it was about 60 dollars Canadian.
To day is very hot here in this part of Asia. I am visiting this country for the third time, and thoroughly enjoy the scenery, people and the food. Yesterday, just a few city blocks from my hotel, we enjoyed lunch at a little place called Don Duck Restaurant. On the name sign was a statue of The Duck himself. I point this out for all those relatives and friends that have called me Donald Duck.....we are important. This afternoon, if the weather cooperates, we will visit the Ho Chi Minh park area, and the One Pillar Pagoda. We are in the old sector of Hanoi, so all the historic sites are nearby.
We are still having a time understanding and using the money here....too many zeros. Ten Canadian dollars is about 100 thousand VND....(Vietnamese Dong). A bottle of water is 15 thousand Dong. The smallest currency I have seen is a one thousand note. I have yet to see any coins.
One of the nearby places that I consider a "must see", is the Ha long Bay area, one hour drive east on the coast. If we get a forecast for a sunny , non windy day, we will take a one day bus tour there. The mountains rise from the sea, and the park is over one hundred square miles. We had a heavy rainstorm during the night, and more is forecast for today.....time will tell.
Take care;
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