I made it safe and sound to Hanoi last night. I couldn't have asked for a better situation; Kiem & Son from Handspan met me at the airport with a sign that was advertising 'JEREMY IRWIN'. Both of the guys were very friendly, as we talked during the entire ride from Hoi Bai airport. I've heard of so many scams with taxi drivers, and I was very happy to not be a target.

After a very restless night of sleep, I walked to Hoan Kiem Lake to hang out for a while. While I was sitting by the lakeside writing in my journal, I heard someone say my name. I glanced up to see that it was a guy named Chanh who I had sat next to on my flight from Tokyo to Hanoi. We chatted for a few minutes, but I was thinking how strange it was to have run into him.

I'm very proud of myself that I haven't been hit by any vehicles yet. Crossing the street is intimidating; there are hundreds of motorbikes swarming around you and there aren't any crosswalks. I did exactly as I had read before coming to Vietnam; walk slowly (so that they can anticipate your path) and look them in the eyes. After a few days this was very natural and I was no longer concerned about my safety at each intersection. I wish I had had a video camera to capture all of the motorbike traffic, as it's spectacular.

Today has been filled with interaction with the locals - all of whom command a great vocabulary of broken English. I had a long conversation with a young man selling postcards. His pinky finger nail was extremely long. I'm not sure what the significance of this was, but I couldn't take my eyes off of his finger as he was paging through his postcards. I know that in some parts of the world, a long fingernail (on a male) means that he doesn't do manual labor, and it's more of a status symbol. About 10 minutes went by before we was frustrated that I didn't want to buy a postcard. Shortly thereafter, two young women approached me to take a survey. They were students at a local college, majoring in tourism. I must have answered 30 questions, in between their smiling and giggling.

After spending some time at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, I headed back to the lake to relax. While I was sitting there, two guys sat down next to me so I smiled and said xin chao. I was surprised when one of them, Shawn, introduced himself and Tuan in English. We chatted for a while, and then decided to grab a cup of coffee from one of the cafes around Hoan Kiem Lake. Shawn was a doctor specializing in laser reconstructive surgery, and was teaching at one of the Hanoi hospitals. Shawn had brought Tuan to the lake to meet some foreigners and practice his english. I really didn't mind - I was only reading and I liked the idea of having someone to talk to. We talked for a few hours before saying goodbye. They had dinner plans to go to.

I grabbed some indian curry for dinner, and headed back to the hotel to get some rest before my Halong Bay trip with Handspan.