Hanoi (cont)

OK, so I've now passed that oh so important milestone that was my 24th birthday...was a bit weird (I think the word I'd use is 'bittersweet') to spend it in Hanoi away from all my friends but met up with a couple of guys I know from London and found a pretty nice chilled bar so not too bad in the end...couldn't get water puppet tickets though !

Since then, spent a couple of days in Hanoi checking out the Temple of Literature (built in honour of Confucius) and John McCain's old pad (the French built prison later used to house captured US pilots after they had been rescued by the peace loving Vietnamese people from the burning wreckage of their aircraft (yep, more government propaganda)...you do end up feeling that the French treated their prisoners a lot worse than the North Vietnamese not that this is any meaningful comparison... also spent much time in roadside cafes drinking ca phe sua nong (Vietnamese coffee) and bia hoi (oh so cheap draught beer - 2000D a glass) while watching the crazy spectacle that is Vietnam.

The bit of sad news is my camera (veteran of many trips and a bit like a boomerang - I've lost it 3 times and always got it back) passed away after water from Tropical Storm Lekima somehow got inside the memory slot...so spent most of Tuesday afternoon looking at cameras on the net and trying (ultimately unsuccessfully) to get an international warranty...eventually found a shop where I got a good cash price (hey, counting out 6 million dong is fun)...now the proud owner of a Sony Cybershot T100 which (so far) I've been very pleased with...

Then I deicded it was time to hit up Halong Bay...