Arrived Hanoi

We arrived in Hanoi around noon on December 27. We flew on Eva Air via Taipei. The airline was very nice and allergy friendly so we felt comfortable and safe with Aidan. They offered us nut free meals and did not serve peanuts as snacks. I was extremely nauseous due to a bad migraine; so not very much fun for me! First time in my life I had to use the barf bag on the plane - not pretty!

We are staying at the Somerset Grand Hanoi in the French Quarter, which is quite pricey but has apartments with kitchens so that we can cook for Aidan. We didn't see much the first day as we needed to grocery shop and we were tired.

 Today we started with pho for breakfast and then visited the Museum of Ethnology, which features artifacts from the various ethnic groups in Vietnam. The kids enjoyed checking out the various ethnic houses in the museum courtyard. We had lunch at the museum restaurant that overlooks the courtyard.  

Next stop was the "Hanoi Hilton", the prison where the French incarcerated the Vietnamese and where American POWs, like John McCain, were held during the Vietnam War. 

We ended the day by taking in a water puppet

show, complete with live music.  The kids really enjoyed it!

Starting the day with pho and bun cha

First stop - Museum of Ethnology to learn about the 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups

Maya pointing to her birth province, Ba Ria Vung Tau

Much of the museum shows handicrafts, marriage and death ceremonies

The kids enjoyed exploring all the ethnic home replicas in the courtyard

They also had an interesting southeast Asian exhibit

Next stop was the "Hanoi Hilton" prison, which showed the vicious treatment of the Vietnamese by the French

Stone carving in the prison courtyard showing treatment of prisoners

On to the water puppet show, with traditional Vietnamese musicians 

There were some fireworks

 And the usual stories about rural life and fishing. All storytelling was in Vietnamese

At the end the performers (puppeteers) dressed in their hip waders come out to take a bow

We walked back along Hoam Kiem lake and bought some delicious inexpensive chocolate coconut ice cream for 7000 dong (about 40 cents Canadian).