Goooood morning! I woke up bright and early again on our second day in Hanoi. In fact, I think it was actually still dark when I woke up. The jet lag is real.

I dinked around on my phone for a while and tried to go back to sleep, but no luck. Once we were well past sunrise and out of the mosquito zone, I tried out the delightful outdoor bathtub.

The uh… Hot water wasn’t working, haha. But it turned out to be really nice since it was so hot outside! I don’t think I’ve ever taken a cold bath, actually.

For breakfast we had these crazy donuts we’d bought the day before. Matcha, caramelized banana, boozy tiramisu, and blueberry cream.

Unfortunately, they looked better than they tasted. Sad… There was just so much sugar and topping and filling and…. Less is more. Less is more.

We recouped our losses by eating some DELICIOUS chocolate-filled buns from a shop on the corner. I can’t even describe how fluffy these buns were! ‘Twas cray. They were so fluffy that they got properly squished in the few minutes we were shuffling bags around to board our tour bus.

Doesn’t look super impressive, but I promise you the taste and texture was to die for. Don’t judge a book by its cover! And don’t judge a pastry by its appearance!

We had quite a fiasco trying to find our tour bus. We weren’t staying in a hotel, so we put a nearby hotel as our pickup point, and apparently the bus showed up early, checked with reception for us, and then left when they learned we weren’t staying there. Thank goodness I checked my email to see this announcement and was able to call the guide to come back for us.

We spread out in the back seat and attempted to nap while frequently getting our heads bumped on the ceiling. Poor Sean! He’s so tall, so the head bumps were extra aggressive for him.

I also continued to admire the crazy scooter culture of metropolitan Asia. One of the craziest sights for me was women riding side-saddle on the back, casually crossing their ankles so as to maintain their ladylikeness in skirts. Families of four were regularly observed on one motorcycle, and I finally saw my first family of five! Child, dad, child, child, mom. Makes you wonder – if you can fit five people on a motorcycle, how many can you fit in a sedan???

They also have a different app for ride sharing here called Grab. You can book a car, or…. You can book the backseat on a scooter! Cray cray.

Some pretty views as we approached our destination:

Our first stop was the Bai Dinh Temple. The pagodas and peekaboo views of a giant Buddha were pretty. It was super hot, though, so my energy was so low!

Shortly after beginning our tour, a tiny Vietnamese girl infiltrated our group with her mom and began asking people where they were from, practicing her clear, adorable English

It wasn’t long before she latched onto me! She said, “You’re very friendly!” several times, and I said the same to her. Her name was Chi, and she was five years old.

She walked with us as we meandered the halls and temples, sometimes hurrying to catch up. At one point, she asked where I was going. I said, “I don’t know. I’m following him,” pointing to Handsome. “He’s the boss.”

When I asked her the same question, her response was, “I’m following you!” Bahahahaha. That one got several chuckles from my nearby group mates.

I didn’t get much of the tour after this, because I was preoccupied chatting with Chi about all things. It was pretty adorable. As we lagged further and further behind the rest of my group, she noted, “I think your boss has a lot of energy!” I agreed.

A bit later, she asked about the boy we kept catching up to. “Is he your friend?” she asked.

“He’s my boyfriend,” I responded. She silently acknowledged this, and then giggled when I told him his name, confirming that, yes, Sean is a funny name. Tehehe.

At some point, I split off to find a restroom, a bit worried about finding the group as they continued on. When I returned, though, Chi was waiting off on the side of the courtyard and greeted me with a big wave. “We were waiting for you!” she announced. We set off with her mom in search of everyone else, as she told me about her older brother and her grandma. “Can you come to my house to play?” she asked. I told her I didn’t think I’d have time since I had to follow my group. We agreed that if I had any free time, I would come come over to play and meet her grandma. Too cute.

We finally caught sight of Sean. “Look! Your boyfriend is waiting for you! I think we should go fast!” We picked up the pace, and she noted, “I think your boyfriend has a lot of energy!” I agreed he had more than me.

So that was adorable. We said our farewells and she thanked me for talking with her in English. What a cute way to start the day.

Next stop was lunch, a smorgasbord of family-style local dishes. Was yummy! We ate at the French table.

Our second destination was Trang An.

We were here for a boat tour through some of the most gorgeous mountains and caves. We stuck with the Frenchmen again.

I’m just going to photo-dump here because it was so beautiful! Otherworldly, almost. We had a couple breaks on land interspersed by more boating.

Sean asked if I photoshopped his arm in this next photo because he looks so ripped. Bahahahaha.

The guides were all tiny older ladies, and I couldn’t believe they were able to row us along for nearly two hours. Toward the end of the tour, our guide handed us some paddles, and we all got tired after just a few minutes. Gotta work out.

On our way back to the bus, Sean saw a hat he liked and a had a great bartering moment. “Two hundred?” he asked hurriedly. “Fifty,” she said. Bahahahah. (That’s about $2 USD.)

Spoiler: we later lost the hat somewhere. I’m way more sad about it than he is.

Our last stop of the tour was Mua Cave.

I’m not sure why it’s called this since it was not a cave but a mountain we had to climb. We were rushed, too, because we’d taken too long on the boat ride! So. Many. Stairs.

But so worth the view!

You know I love a good view.

We were thoroughly exhausted at this point, so we celebrated with a popsicle and a lemonade before the long bus ride back to Hanoi.

I didn’t get many pictures of our evening back in town, but we wandered the night markets again and tasted our first banh mis in the city. So yummy! We regretted not getting the large size.

Also, I had a strange encounter with the Po-Po! I was sitting on one of the tiny chairs in front of the banh mi shop. I was watching our bags and being tired while Sean got the food. Someone tapped me on the back, and when I turned to look, he made the “get up” hand gesture. I thought he was a worker trying to tell me that I couldn’t sit without food, so I just awkwardly pointed at Sean. He tapped me and made the gesture again, so I got up, and he took my chair. Then I realized he was a police officer as he and several other officers repeated this gesture to everyone else around me, taking their tiny chairs and tiny tables. The other officers passed the chairs and tables around and somehow they disappeared. Then he yelled at the employees of the restaurant, and they left.

It was so bizarre! I guess this shop wasn’t allowed to have outdoor diners? Even though everyone else did? Maybe it was because this was a bigger/ busier street than most. Not sure. The workers seemed frustrated/ guilty, but relatively unphased and somehow unconcerned that their tables and chairs had just been taken. About five minutes passed before a worker for the shop brought some of the salvaged chairs out from behind the counter and told people to sit down again. Wild.

Dazed and confused, Sean and I ordered another banh mi for the road and then made our way through the streets to our bus stop. Stay tuned to find out where we’re headed!

Trân trọng/ best regards,

Lizzy-wa