Day 1 - Good Morning Hanoi Vietnam

Arrival - After a few issues in flight and a loss of baggage, we checked into the Hanoi Elegance Saphire (HE3). The staff is awesome! The room is pretty sweet as well. We have a plate of fresh fruit every day, a computer, an LCD TV, a fridge and AIR CONDITIONING! What more could you want?

Day 1 -

• We started our day by going to West Lake in North Hanoi at Tran Quoc Pagoda, which is an awesome temple and garden!
  
  
  
  
  
   Porshe Panamera on the street.  Brent thought this was awesome.
  
  
   Some dude fishing in the west Lake.  We almost got hooked when we walked by.
  
  
   This guy caught his fish.  I'm not sure how.  It almost looked speared through the gills, not hooked really.
  
  
   Crazy! Up this tree you can see a barefoot man with a chainsaw doing some tree pruning.
  
  
   Ho Chi Minh's masoleum.  Yep, we saw Uncle Ho.  You have to take off hats and sunglasses, and if you're not wearing long pants or skirt they pull you out of line.
  
  
   One Pillar Pagoda
  
  
   Ho Chi Minh museum.  We didn't go in, but it was a huge building.
  
  
   Scooters are EVERYWHERE!
  
  
   At the temple of Literature.  Some American girls took this photo for us.  One of the girls recognized us from our JAL flight.  Actually, she remembered Brent's funny "I shot my eye out" shirt, which he had to wear again today b/c JAL hasn't brought us our luggage yet.
  
  
   Gian turtles holding tablets, some of these were carved as early as 1484.  Old!  This is at the Temple of Literature.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   AMAZING Bun Cha!  Seriously, this was so good I'm still thinking about it.  As all the guidebooks say, we smelled it before we saw it on the street.  This was a tiny stall and I'm perched on a stool about 12 inches off the ground.  Totally worth it.  I'm looking forward to more!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   Pepsi comes in glass bottles in Vietnam still!
  
  
  
  
  
   Check out the fan to keep the coals nice and hot so this wonderful man can make my awesome bun cha pork!
  
  
   Cathedral in the middle of the old quarter
  
  
   Water puppet theater.  This was really fun.  We have video to upload, but not now.  Also, below are retired puppets.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   Nuoc Son Temple on a small island in Haom Ki.em lake
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   Dong Xuan market.  This place was insane.  Huge, with tons of "stuff".  Macy bought some linen and we looked at a few silk stalls before heading out.
  
  
   These silks are hand painted and beaded.  The picture doesn't do them justice.