Day 11: Hanoi: Hot, Humid & Hasseled

So today was day one in Hanoi. After breakfast (which is always an event worth mentioning), we decided to go exploring with our buddy family. Mind you, this took us until nearly lunch to accomplish as both girls have a 9 o'clock nap. We went to lunch at a restaurant called The Wild Lotus--this is the point at which we discovered we haunt the same the same neighborhood at home (we also both reacted to a restuarant called baguette and chocolate). The Wild Lotus was a fancy schmancy place but the kids did very well. There was no running around or screaming. Molly slept through the whole meal. Naturally, this didn't stop the restaurant staff from petting her or commenting on her temperature. (She was dripping sweat from the cab ride and the Baby Bjorn combined)

In a moment of brilliance, we asked the taxi that delivered us to pick us up from the restaurant at 2pm. At least that's what we thought we asked. However, at 2pm, there was no suitable taxi in sight. We are 7 in total, so we require a large taxi. We finally used the cell phone to call a reputable taxi company. Amazingly a taxi from that company did arrive at our location a few moments later but it was a smaller variety-- still, we opted to pack ourselves in. Not ideal, but doable.

We went to the Temple of Literature. It was very park-like with spaces of water and grass amid the structures. It was very peaceful and I enjoyed wandering through it and considering the significance. Still, I think I might have appreciated it a great deal more if I hadn't been carrying 18 very sweaty pounds of child on my front.

Doesn't this tree look like it came straight out of the Wizard of Oz-- you remember the trees that got made and started chucking apples at Dorothy?

When we left the Temple of Literature, the fun began. The street vendors and cabbies started attacking like mosquitos. One cabbie offered to take us to our hotel for 70,000 dong. Having heard the stories, we avoided this guy on principal. It sounded fishy. But we were stuck standing there because there were no reputable cabs around--and so the hassling continued. We were hot, sweaty, burdened with children and the vendors just swarmed us. Somehow we got the cell phone out and called the same cab company. Again, a taxi arrived at the right place moments later--but it was a small one. But we climbed in again--despite the fact that this time we were sweaty and gross on top of being crowded. (Turns out the 1st cabbie had tried to double the price--the taxi only cost us 35,000 dong).

After all that, we headed back to the hotel. We let the little ones nap and then ordered pizza in. It was a big day and the little ones needed some floor time. They've really become very good buddies. I'm glad we'll live so close.

Note: Molly (apparently under the influence of peer pressure) decided to take another shot at formula today. We tried her buddies formula instead of the stuff that was sent for us. It was a huge hit. She looked so happy and content once she'd finished the bottle.

Tomorrow we are hoping to see the water puppets and to visit the old quarter. Our Visa Applications were submitted this morning and we should be able to complete the Visa process on Wednesday.