Day 2 & 3 - Hanoi

I've been here for 3 days now, but somehow it feels as if it's been waaay longer. It could just be because I haven't actually properly slept yet. So far in Sophie vs. Jet Lag, Jet Lag is still winning. But thank god I'm not beat so easily and I've managed to do a lot these past three days. I've befriended one of my dorm mates, an American, and yesterday we explored Hanoi together, starting with a visit to the Women's Museum: entry fee 1 euro...and to think that back home we often pay 15.

The museum gave an overview of the role of women in Vietnamese history. I was especially impressed by the part about women in the war. These girls were bad-ass; leading combat units, fighting, treating the wounded...there was even this one woman, who at age 21 captured four enemy soldiers with...her bare hands...no weapons...pretty much unimaginable.

On the way back from the museum we decided to be daring and eat in a typical Vietnamese streetside eatery. We just pointed at some stuff and were directed to a table with stools. For me, however, this "table" wasn't even high enough to qualify as a coffee table, so I had to sit with my knees to one side. That being said, the food was great and it didn't get me sick. Neither did the whole frog and baby chicken that were part of our dinner that evening. Oh, and I totally ate the little chick's brain. Also had one beer too many for Mr. Jet Lag to handle, but who can blame me when a beer costs 1 euro.

Then today (Thursday 12), I went exploring by myself again, highlight being a visit to the Temple of Literature. It is one of Vietnam's most important historical and cultural sites and is over 1000 years old. The temple was dedicated to students and Confucian scholars and was used as a place for training talented men. On the day I visited it was quite busy because it seemed a ceremony was being held for graduates, which resulted in some funny pictures of traditionally dressed-up girls together with a male tourist who decided to create a laugh for everyone around. I wasn't just taking pictures of them however. At one point I was sitting on a bench and was approached by one of these beautifully dressed-up girls. If she could please take a picture of me. It resulted in almost a sort of photoshoot as about 3 other girls also decided I was interesting enough to be posed with.

The rest of the day I've spent just taking it easy, shopping around and booking a hotel for my next stop...the ancient city of Hue. But first I'm off to Halong Bay for a 2 day boat trip. It's supposed to be one of the highlights of Vietnam. Read if that's true in my next post. This is all for now. :)

xoxo