From Can Tho to Hanoi 10.9.13

I am sad to leave our family in Can Tho. They were the greatest. So attentive, fun and gracious. However, I am hoping for less of a focus on farming in the North and am excited to finally learn something about energy. The good thing about living in a hotel is that we can spend our free time doing us rather than speaking broken English with our family. It was fun while it lasted though. They wanted to have a farewell breakfast at 6:15. I was not pleased to be up so early, but it was nice. We flew to Hanoi and arrived to a much more Western/Modern Metropolis. There's actually freeways here and murals and manicured foliage and unfortunately, tourists. They are basically all overweight and European. Most of the tourists ride around the city in these ridiculous carts hooked onto bicycles. They move slower then walking and constantly hold up traffic. So lazy. We were repeatedly told by everyone in Can Tho that it would be cold in Hanoi and that the flooding is worse there. I was surprised and immensely confused to experience 90+ degrees of dry heat. I thought I was home at the height of our Indian Summer for a moment. It isn't supposed to rain here for another week. Our hotel is upscale, but there are hardly any windows because all city buildings are connected to each other. Our room is spacious, there are complimentary bathrooms and slippers. It was yet another upgrade. By the time we settled in, it was about 3 pm. Breakfast was at 6:15 and I skipped the questionable airplane lunch so I was ravenous. Some of us walked to a Mexican restaurant and ate on a balcony overlooking an alleyway. The homemade chips and guacamole were on point but the burrito was pretty basic. We walked around the lake afterwards. It's situated one block from our hotel and is reminiscent of Boston Commons. There is a theater in the middle for water puppet shows. Laura and I want to go at some point. The lake is a well used public space. There is gym equipment at one spot that anyone can use. However, I did not see any females. I plan to return on one of the mornings to run. Laura and I did some work at the hotel afterwards and watched the Parent Trap on HBO. That night, we went to an Indian restaurant with Matt. It was a highly rated place and the food was delicious. We took another walk around the lake before bed and there were colored lights shining everywhere. It was great first day in Hanoi.