Breakfast platters are full, and great pho soup, iced coffee and fruit again. Andre does the lunch buffet first for breakfast , then moves on to the pho breakfast. The last few places have had a menu to choose from as well as the buffet.
After breakfast walked to the lake which is about 3 blocks away. Back to the hotel to get ready for our Hanoi Kids walking tour.
Two young university girls show up for the tour. Weather Forecast says 30% chance of rain, it is 100% raining but we are not complaining, so much better than the heat. The girls on the other hand think it is a terrible day out, not much more than a drizzle, not worthy of an umbrella.
One of the girls is from not far from Da Lat, she was so excited to hear we had visited there, she said not many tourists visit there.
First stop on the tour is exactly where we were this morning, the bridge and temple. With this tour you pay all entrance fees for the guides. We could have done this on our own but it was fun to have the guides along to tell us more information. They do a 2 month course before they can work for Hanoi Kids.
Next stop was a Traditional House from the 19th century. Maybe a typical house for a very wealthy family, it is bigger than our house at home. Nice having the girls with us again, they pointed out things we would have never noticed. Especially interesting was the wooden backpack that students would have carried important papers in.
Walking by the shoe repair guy on the street and he stops Andre and starts gluing the sole of his shoe back together, even before Andre asked for it. Very funny, took 40 seconds and he asked for 20k, the guide said 10k is good, I'm not happy he only gave him 10k when I do the conversion. Both of our sneakers are for the garbage at the end of this trip. Mine are beyond repair now unless you can somehow weave the holes together, and hopefully Andres glue will last the rest of the trip.
We could tell the girls were not having fun on the rain so we asked them to introduce us to egg coffee. Off we go to Cafe Giang, we would have never gone in this place in a million years, we would have never figured out how to get in. Now we will be back. Go upstairs to the top level, fantastic. Not sure I will have egg coffee again, but a great spot.
Girls have studying to do as it is exam time and they have been with us a couple of hours. Walked us back to our hotel to get their scooters. We paid for their coffee, and admissions but no charge for the tour. We gave them some money but they told us they are not allowed to keep it, all money goes to Hanoi Kids foundation. It was a fun morning spending some time with some lovely young university students. The kids participate to improve their English, they offer different tours.
Back to the room, freshen up and we are off to the woman's museum. This was a fantastic way to spend a not so nice afternoon. We did the audio guide which was great, but by the end we were ready to move on, there is a lot if you do every number. The museum covered different traditions for marriage , childbirth, child naming , family life, women revolutionaries, and fashion among other things of the 54 minorities in Vietnam. The stories were fascinating, so many of the traditional crafts ,needlework and customs will no longer be done, this museum captures and preserves the history.
Walking back to the hotel from the museum we walked through Trang Tien Plaza, no purchases were made, but it is always fun having someone open mall doors for you.
Back to the hotel to use the hair dryer on my sneakers, worked pretty good. Waited for contact from Nicole and Stu who have been living and working in Hanoi since before covid. Walking to meet them for supper we went through yellow glass lotus lane, we haven't noticed these in any other city yet. Great to meet Stu, Nicole we have known since she was a baby. They introduced us to Bun Cha, loved the crunchy little pork hamburgers, not so much the bacon bits, but the broth was amazing. It also came with fried spring roll things, can't remember what they are called, a great supper and a great catch up with them. We were eating on the sidewalk in the tiniest chairs possible at Bun Cha Dac Kim when the police came by, that means all empty tables and chairs are quickly picked up off the sidewalk and we are asked to move to the one table of 8 that they have that is actually off the sidewalk. As soon as the police move on all is back to normal, tables and chairs back on the sidewalk. A great way for restaurants to turn over their tables.
Goodbye to Nicole and Stu, they both work tomorrow , but plan is to meet with them tomorrow night for our introduction to Nem Nuong, which we may have already tried somewhere, we shall see tomorrow.
Raining a bit on the way home again. It is not terrible, just enough to make the sidewalks a bit slippery and very dirty. I walked home mostly on the street, it is safer, maybe?
Todays Pictures:
Red is a lucky colour here
Visit to Pagoda on a small island on the lake near the hotel
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