Aaarrgghh!!!!

So we arrived in Vietnam today, and I was so excited about our two weeks here...and then we arrived in Hanoi. Turns out our taxi took us to the wrong hotel, where he had a partner in crime waiting for us, who said the hotel (with which they have no connection) was full and he would take us to another one. At that hotel they fed us a load of crap about when we can do what (I should probably mention it's Vietnamese New Year tomorrow, so it's even busier and weirder than usual), and tried to sell us a bunch of tours for more than we had hoped. We followed our instincts and tried somewhere else and they told us all about the infamous taxi scam and made us a much better offer, which we took. Add to all of this we are dealing with a bizarre currency which we have to get to via the American Dollar and you end up with a very dizzy head!

So the plan is to celebrate Tet tonight (there will be fireworks at Hoam Kiem Lake which is the only thing keeping me from breaking down in a flood of tears right now!), go to Cat Ba for a night tomorrow, go to Sapa for another night on our return, and then head South and away from this crazy city! There's a hop on and off bus that we're using which will allow us to see all of the hot spots on the coast, and hopefully relax on a quiet beach...ahhh

That is if we don't all get run over by a motorbike tonight. You literally have to just take a chance and run for it because the pedestrian crossings mean nothing and they stop for no man! Needless to say I hold Candi's hand when we have finally built up the courage to cross because otherwise she would be stuck in the Hotel. I was enjoying the craziness at first, but now I'm not so sure I can handle it for much longer. Maybe some food will help...Happy New Year!