Hello Hanoi! Nice to Meet You!

We arrived in Hanoi yesterday, Sunday, at about noon. We made it through customs and I was more scared than either time I was here before. Something about bringing my Vietnamese-born daughter with her American passport back into her birth country. The lady was very serious looking and more than once looked at Grace's passport, then up at her. If she could have seen a full view of me, she would have seen my knees knocking. Once she stamped our passports we were off to claim our luggage. Fortunately, all three bags made it - all of our crap belongings and nearly 100 pairs of flip flops. Then off to find our driver in the sea of signs. That was easier than I thought it would be. Off through the traffic and honking horns to our hotel.

The Green Diamond Hotel is on a little side street with tons of scooter traffic and shops. It's in between a banh mi shop and a jewelry store. Ms. Gam greeted us with a big smile, making us feel immediately welcome. Our room is on the third floor, up very steep steps, no elevator. It's very small, but quite adequate. A king size bed, a desk and small closet, and most importantly, an air conditioner! The bathroom is a one room show - toilet and sink and the shower drain in the middle of the room. No tub, no shower curtain, just the shower on the wall. I think it's genius, so long as you don't use the blowdryer when you're done!

After we settled in, we headed out to explore and find some necessities. We weren't a block away from the hotel and we fell into one of the biggest scams around. I didn't see it coming, but as soon as I saw the women, I knew exactly what was happening. One lady put the pole on Grace's shoulder, the other put a hat on her head and said "Photo, Mommy". Ugh. Two non la's, a bracelet, a bag of fresh pineapple, and promise to return to buy a t-shirt later, we were on our way to find the "market".

In my very tired mind I was wanting a grocery-type store where we could by some bottled water and snacks for the room. What Ms. Gam directed us to was much like the Binh Tan Market for those that have been, or an indoor Vietnam-style swap meet, for those that haven't. Way too overwhelming for Grace on her first day and I was doing that tired kind of wandering I do when I really shouldn't be shopping. So we made a circle through the colorful maze and found our way out the way we came in (by the hats, Mom) and stood on the curb looking shell-shocked, I'm sure. A very nice cyclo driver offered us a one hour ride, which we gladly accepted and we were delivered back to our hotel in about 30 minutes which was more than fine. He was such a nice guy and we enjoyed his humor. He asked me for a tip for "more beer" which made me laugh.

We trudged up the stairs to our room and pretty much crashed until morning. To be continued...