Hanoi at last!

Well I'm finally here in Hanoi Vietnam. Someone said it was 20 hours flight time--I'll need to check that, it didn't seem that long. Superlong taxi ride which turned more complicated after I had initially tried to emphasize that I had no Dong (Vietnamese currency) only US dollars--only to later find halfway there he only took Dong--and later finding out that the Mastercard network was down, and me unable to withdraw from the ATM. However at a random hotel quick run and exchange money stop, finally made it to the hotel.

The hotel is small so it was easy to find members of my group. One of the other people in my group grabbed something to eat and freshened up so we could feel human again. We walked around a bit just to orient ourselves. There's a beautiful lake in the middle of the city and yes a LOT of street vendors. Everyone's really polite and forgiving of my poor pronounciation. I took a few pictures and thanks to Chris--who found one of our card readers last minute--I should be able to post them. More later!