Joanne has taken over the operation once again, even in Hanoi. She booked all the tours with the help of the hotel staff. When we booked locally, we saved 80% of what we would have paid if we had pre-paid before entering the country.

In two nights that we stayed in the Hanoi Palace Hotel, we quickly became friends with all of the staff in the hotel, Lisa, the general manager, Alex (pictured left), Kien (holding the phone), Henry, Khem, Huey, Ang the driver, including Mama Choy in the kitchen. To anyone wanting to visit Vietnam, we would recommend all of the friendly staff and especially Kien, who was most helpful in making all of our travel arrangements. Unfortunately, the hotel does not get our nomination.

We had afternoon tea at Hotel Sofitel Metropole. We wanted to look for ourselves how they could be charging $300 a night for a standard room when other hotels (of course with less stars) were charging from $30 to $100. A cup of espresso with all you can eat assortment of fancy French pastries was worth it but we thought the lodging was not. It seemed a crime to pay that much when we’ve seen other travelers pay as low as $15 for a room for two.

In Hanoi, we took a half-day tour to visit different places. This picture was taken with musical performers in Temple of Literature. Oddly, they were playing ‘auld lang syme’ instead of traditional songs.

This dish is called Cha Ca. We had it at the restaurant Cha Ca La Vong which is listed in “1000 Places to See Before You Die”. The restaurant is so old that the street was named after it. This was one of the many delicious Vietnamese traditional dishes that we tried.

Lake Hoan Kiem is located in the central part of Hanoi near the Old Quarters. You would never know it, but in the midst of busy streets and crazy traffic, there was this placid scene of a happy bride. I missed my best man’s daughter’s wedding, which took place in L.A., but witnessed this beautiful bride getting her picture taken.