Just like Frogger...it's all in the timing

Well, we've managed to navigate our way through most of Hanoi's Old Quarter without being side-swiped by cars or the omnipresent motorbikes. There are few actual cross-walks, so crossing most streets really is just like the old Frogger video game. Our new motto: "never let them see the fear in your eyes". It's difficult to walk on the sidewalks because most of them are filled up with parked motorbikes, so that forces you into the streets. Keeps you on your toes, for sure - and forces us to burnish skills that we don't often use in "cross only with the signal" Seattle! And also different from Seattle is that here everybody honks constantly, like every 5 seconds - to warn other drivers or pedestrians...shoot, we think it's just a natural reflex for drivers here. It becomes a soundtrack for the visual scenery - starts early in the AM and lasts through the night. As I typed the last sentence, I heard at least 30 honks.

Our breakfast of champions, Vietnam style: Pho followed by a chaser of pain au chocolate. The pho was $1 for two bowls - best stuff is bought from someone cooking it right on the sidewalk -and you sit on these tiny, tiny plastic stools - they're about a foot or less tall - either on the sidewalk or in a narrow alcove. Totally feels like you're an adult sitting in a grammar school desk. The pastries reflect the history of French influence in the region and are delicious enough to make us consider vacationing only in former French colonies from this point forward :-) Yum.

Also saw the water puppet theater - a Hanoi special, and began the shopping circuit...lots of silk here and shoes, shoes, shoes. Amazing. More later...it's nap time followed by our first hunt for a foot massage :-)