Hanoi

There is something mesmerizing about Hanoi. Perhaps it is the continuous mosaic of narrow buildings, several stories high so that's all you see on either side from the road, with the kind of tropical decaying French colonial style that characterizes Hanoi. Punctuated with old lush trees or advertising. The road network is a spiderweb, and it's impossible to know where you are just by looking around. Or perhaps it is the chaos of the swarm of motorcycles on the road with the constant honking.
My first couple of days were spend walking around, mainly in the Old Quarter which is the most intense and the tourist/backpacker hub.
Internet connection is very, very slow, and uploading photos does not seem to work. :(
Today I did a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda, south of Hanoi. It involved a 2 hour chaotic van ride, a very peaceful hour long trip by rowboat upriver, with dramatic scenery of sharp, green, mountains, and an hour long hike up to a cave that was made into a temple. There were several temple buildings around, as well. There was a cable car which I took down. On the way back tried my hand at rowing (it is different from the row boat we have here) but did not get very far.
This is the end of my third day. It's going very fast. It's been great to catch up with my friend Denis. I'm staying at his place, just outside the center of Hanoi, and he and his wife have been very hospitable.
Well, it's been a long day. Bye for now.