Doc's Photos - Hanoi and Hung Yen

Last week, Janine, Luka and I spent three thrilling days in North Vietnam.

We took a flight from Hong Kong to Hanoi and stayed at a lovely 4 star hotel resplendent in former glory.

It was called The Asean Hotel, on Chua Boc Road. The staff were exceptionally attentive and the service on all fronts was wonderful.

Hanoi's an interesting place. It's not as run down or as backward or awkward as the books first lead us to believe. While we did have a phrase book, map and 'Lonely Planet' it was surprisingly easy to get around using English.

One thing though, everything we read raved about the coffee. Bah! Black syrupy mud that you could stand your teaspoon up in, that is if it doesn't dissolve in the coffee first. And there's no Starbucks or MacDonald's as a fall back either.

They do have KFC, complete with kidies playground and a surprisingly good coffeehouse franchise called Highlands Coffee - the one place where we managed to get a 'good' cup of coffee. Needless to say, I drank Lipton's Yellow label most of the time.

After cruising around Hanoi for a day and a bit, we went a little way south for a day trip to a place called Hung Yen. Here we discovered the vast great divide that exists between the capital and the outlying villages. We finished up our trip with a quick visit to Ho Linh Dam, on the outskirts of Hanoi, That was a cool and interesting side trip.

Anyway here are a few pics from the trip, hope you enjoy them.