Long nailed taxi drivers, the stair master hostel and the quest for Vietnamese Mangos

34 °C coupled with 100% humidity hits you like an unforgiving stone wall when walking off the plane in Hanoi. Immediately AC becomes one of your top priorities, second only to the desire for the custom's officers to over look the fact that your visa doesn't start for another 2 days. Thank you kind customs officer for not making me live in the Hanoi airport for 2 days. It was touch and go there for a while, I started seeing a combination of Tom Hanks' roles in 'The Terminal' and 'The Cast Away' being in my near future.


In Canada waiting outside custom the doors are loved ones, in Hanoi its taxi drivers sporting their children (probably for a competitive edge) and long finger nails (symbol of non-physical labour employment status). Although I'm almost certain we paid more than we should have for the ride (roughly $15 USD for 50-60min drive), they got us to our bizarre looking hostel so all's well that ends well. “What's so bizarre about the building?” you ask, its 9ft wide and 4.5 stories tall. But with AC and wifi, the questionable cosmetics are total forgettable. Being in the highest possible room is a double edged sword, on the one hand you have a breath taking view, on the other hand you're breathless from lugging your luggage up roughly 110 steps.

The market, at long last! Kiosks far as the eye can see. Overflowing with brand imitations, incredible hand made crafts, pho (Vietnamese noodles) and most importantly FRESH TROPICAL FRUIT! Not Canadian “fresh” tropical fruit, Vietnamese fresh meaning picked within the last 24 hrs, yum.... so good!

PS Asian airlines destroy American/European airlines! Congrats Air Canada you've been out done by a developing nation