Bird Flu and "Moto-bikes"

Okay - I'm sure someone is wondering, so thought we'd mention that there are no chickens in the city. No chicken meat or eggs sold in the markets; nor are chicken or egg sold in restaurants. We even passed a billboard today about the bird flu (or we presumed since it showed a chicken with a circle/slash and H5-N1 written on it). They're not playing chicken with this one! (apologies for the pun, but still have some benzene in my brain)

The last fact to note about Hanoi is that it wakes up very early. We're on vacation, but we've woken up on our own at around 6:00 a.m. every day. Those of you who know our love for sleeping in may be amused. The reason: the motorbikes start moving around at that time, and as noted in an earlier post - they honk their horns at every opportunity. Plus, you hear music and general commerce starting at that time. It's pretty cool, though, to be up and about that early - we have gotten to eat pho with locals and schoolkids who are starting their days, and we get to observe the older people doing tai-chi in the local parks. A cool sight on both counts, and probably worth the early morning rising.