Taking It All In!

We had a very busy day today! We met our travel companions, the translator and the agency staff in the morning, and took off from there. The translator, a 21 year old woman named Mai, took Nate, Kasey, Troy and I to the super market to buy baby formula (the same kind they use in the orphanage --Dutch Lady brand), diapers (Pampers), a thermos for warm bottle water, dish soap to clean bottles, laundry detergent to wash out baby clothes, lots of bottled water, and some gifts for the orphanage (cookies and candy). We are all set now for our upcoming trips to Hoa Binh! (Here is a picture of all of us with the agency representatives at the airport yesterday.)

Then, Mai took us all to a local restaurant for some Pho (a Vietnamese soup with noodles, meat and veggies...oh, and a bit of the famous Vietnamese fish sauce). It was very good, and we all agreed that it was a great experience that we may otherwise have been to timid to try on our own.

We then walked toward Hoan Keim Lake (where we knew there would be shopping). On the way, we walked by the famous "Hanoi Hilton" (where American POWs, including John McCain, were imprisoned), a huge Cathedral (built during French colonization of Vietnam), some embassies, and many many shops and restaurants.

Here people are selling things everywhere. They set up little stands on the sidewalk to sell vegetables or meat (including live fish), or ride bikes by slowly with souvenirs or just start cooking Pho on the sidewalk and people can pull up stools and eat. All of this sidewalk traffic is compounded by the heavy motor traffic. People seem to park cars and motor bikes on the sidewalks as much as the street, so we spent a lot of time weaving in and out of obstacles. It is very lively and fun! We were able to find some great gifts and souvenirs on the way to the lake, including some of these beautiful lanterns.

Once we got to the lake (which is beautiful), we paid to go over a bridge that led to a temple. The temple was very interesting, and we got some great pictures! There we also saw a 550 pound turtle from the year 1968 that is plasticized in a glass box. Apparently large turtles live in the lake.

We then had ice cream near the lake before heading over to the water puppet show. Water puppetry is unique to Vietnam, and it was a lot of fun to watch! After the show we had dinner at an Italian restaurant and headed back to the hotel.

We are exhausted! The weather here is incredibly hot and humid, and we had to drink so much water to keep up with the pace! It was a great day though, and it was a good introduction to Hanoi.

We are all looking forward to tomorrow, because we are going to visit the babies! :)