Well folks it’s been a few days and Kim and John have been busy in Vietnam! Today is the day that they start exploring other parts of this beautiful country.
They have loved Hanoi…..it is a very diverse city that combines the new and modern with the traditional. You might see some new cars and motorbikes on the streets, and iPhones everywhere, while at the same time you will see sights like the ones below. So amazing!
Kim and John had a free day to explore the city….no planned tours. They enjoyed walking along Hoan Kiem Lake, where some local students and their teacher asked them if they could practice English :).
They visited the Ho Lo Prison Museum where many Vietnamese political prisoners were held by the French and it also held some American POWs from the Vietnam/American war.
And…they saw a cultural show at the water puppet theatre. Dating back over a thousand years, puppeteers stand in waist deep water and manoeuvre the wooden puppets to music…..there were even fire breathing dragons! All set to traditional music and songs…beautiful!
On Sunday night they officially met up with the tour group they will be on for the rest of their trip. It is the Real Food Adventure, Vietnam with Intrepid. They had a great cooking class at Hanoi Cooking Centre.
Before the class, they had some free time and explored the Temple of Literature. This is the oldest architectural complex in Hanoi, founded in honour of Confuscious. It was a Center for higher learning, educating future mandarins. Amazing architecture!
There you have it folks… Kim and John love Hanoi, for the culture, for the food, and most of all for the people! The people are so friendly and welcoming and have such pride. They feel so privileged to have been able to visit here!
My Teddy Tales aka Freddy’s Fables 
”pawsome” trip– the doglets may say.
cant wait to find out authentic way to make that egg coffee–google has few varieties but —
asked the fellow at thien viet nam 2–he made a horrid face–shook his head and left!! maybe he doesn’t like it!!!
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Haha! I’ll have to google it and try to make it. It is delicious…..very sweet, almost a dessert
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Is the Vietnamese coffee better there than anywhere else?
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It’s delicious! You can order it with milk, condensed milk, and egg…we like the iced coffee with condensed milk or milk the best….shot of espresso with just enough sweetness. The egg coffee is very sweet….more like a dessert latte :). They also have weasel coffee here….very expensive….we will tell you more about it!
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