DAY1: An Introduction to Hanoi

The trip didn't start off well. First, our flight was delayed, and then when we reached Hanoi, the hotel pick-up didn't show up, which resulted in us having to take a taxi, where the cab driver ripped us off by taking us on a round-about route. I guess this is expected when you pick to visit a third world country and the only thing you can do is take a hot shower and sleep off any frustration.

Hanoi is a rustic city with small narrow streets buzzing with life. Peddlers selling fruits and food, road side stall offering beef pho or bia hoi, cyclo and scooter drivers trying to engage weary tourists. What I don't understand is, why do they make you sit on those tiny stools at the road side stalls.

I haven't figured out how to push puppy's buttons, hence the photo on the left where you can't make out granny.

And of course, there is the food. I had beef pho for brekkie, but granny chose the continental breakfast. For lunch, we went to this cafe by the lake. Granny didn't know I took her photo while she was eating and I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate it if she knew. For dinner, I went to this coffee shop, where I had a nice cold glass of bia hoi, a plate of dog meat and a bowl of snails.

Ok, I know some people will not be happy with my dinner choice, but honestly I don't see anything wrong with eating dog meat, dog isn't an endangered species and it is just something which I wanted to try. But having said that, I didn't enjoy it and it is probably a one off thing. The bia hoi came out of the tank, which looked really unhygenic and the glass looked unwashed, but oh well. Granny chose to rest at the hotel so she didn't come with me for dinner, so I packed spring rolls for her.

This is me, looking all sloshed after just one glass of bia hoi and that concludes day 1.

EGYPT

Isn't she beautiful, my heart still aches each and every time I think of her. We actually took a whole lot of photos. I think we expanded about seven rolls of film in total, but one of our baggage was lost and only two rolls of film came back with us.

When you mention Egypt, people normally think of desert and camels, their mental image would be something like this.

But when I first set eyes on Egypt, it was more this. Grey and dreary, kinda depressing looking, but that's only Cairo.

Egypt is simply wow-some. When you're standing there, looking at the great pyramids of Giza, or watching the sun set as you cruise down the river Nile, you can't help but sigh and exclaim wow.

What's Egypt without hand-woven carpets and heaps of old stones.

Yes, I look kinda dorky in these photos, what's new. And yes, I was pretty young then. If you're wondering why some of the statues are missing their faces, it's only partly due to sand storms and corrosions. The main reason is because some intolerant religious fanatics disfigured them.

I reckon the only reason why they bother to carve these great statues and temples in stone is because they didn't have computers, internet and the television. So instead of being obsessed with the newest game or tv series, they spent all their time with a chisel and hammer. Yes, there's water in Egypt.

The following as well as the first pic are of the great pyramids of Giza, the most famous of the Egyptian pyramids, but contrary to what a lot of people think, there are actually a lot more pyramids in Egypt, there are close to a hundred in total.

One of the earliest pyramids, before the Egyptians mastered the art of pyramid building, they built step pyramids. And yes, there are heaps of camels and Egyptian people, dates and palms trees.

Eyptian art and heiroglyphics.

The Egyptians are pretty fond of obelisks, one of which can be seen in the background of the photo above. A strong Graeco-Roman influence can also be seen in their architecture.

Egypt was one of the best vacation I've had and what made it all the more special was because I had her all to myself the whole time.