Hanoi

Has been a rough few days for us here in Hanoi. Our hostel is situated in the middle of the Old Quarter - a place I first described as being great for people watching. Second impression: filthy (raw sewage everywhere), smelly (the sticky pungent aroma of rotting urine near vendors selling raw meat), crowded, and loud. Probably exactly what you would imagine as the stereotypical South East Asian big city. Being exhausted from our train ride (our friendly roommates got up at 345 and, apparently excited about getting to Hanoi, launched into an obnoxiously loud conversation) we weren't really excited about walking through garbage caked streets. Adding to our frustration, the streets are ridiculously unorganized and, literally, change names randomly. Random isn't really true because the street names are based on the market groupings. Names used to correspond to what was sold, but they're fairly unrelated these days. Great idea unless you're trying to read a map and have no idea where you are.

We spent the first day walking around the city and getting our bearings. That evening we watched a show at Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre. I was prepared for the worst, but it was fairly entertaining and impressive. Instead of strings, the puppets are controlled by poles concealed under a pool of water while the actors are hidden behind a bamboo screen. Pretty cool effect.Yesterday it started raining - a constant drizzle similar to rains in the NW - making our walks through town fairly uncomfortable. After deciding against Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum (the lines were too long - it didn't really seem worth waiting in the rain) we visited the Temple of Literature, an ancient university dedicated to Confucianism. Afterwards I went to the National Museum of Vietnamese History while Nicole did some shopping. Everything from 15th-20th century was being renovated, so the museum was a bit of a let down. Nicole found a nice silk blouse.As usual, we're not really enjoying the big city and ready to move on to Sa Pa - located in the Northern mountains just South of the Chinese border. I think we would have enjoyed the city had it been earlier in our travels. We're both feeling drained by the travelling lifestyle and struggling at times to find the motivation to keep going. I think it's just a combination of being tired and frustrations with the Vietnamese culture. It's not that we don't enjoy the people we meet or interact with, but there are certain aspects (smoking in closed spaces; extremely loud conversations while simultaneously playing music from cell phones, computers, stereos, and TVs; lack personal space; constant harassment by cyclo drivers) that are starting to take their toll on our patience. Hopefully a few days away from the city will help us get back into the groove.