Trip to Thailand, Laos, Vietnam: Hanoi and the Train

There are still lots of peddlars traveling round the Old Quarter in Hanoi, my favorite section.

The Tamarind Cafe. My favorite local restaurant.

Ahhhhhh...Mango and sticky rice in a cocoanut milk sauce. Just as good as a banana split.

Another street seller...this time with sugar cane. While the streets have good sidewalks they are full of motorcycles or people eating. So pedestrians walk in the roads with the traffic. It is an acquired art.

A shop window on the "silk street" now full of upscale shops.

In the afternoon when I was waiting for my train I spent a little time sitting in the park at the edge of the lake near the Old Quarter. A local girl sat beside me and struck up a conversation. Her name was Linh and she was a 19year old college student just wanting to practice her English. Often people who chat with you are trying to sell you something...she wasn't.

The backside of a nice restaurant by the lake with a big government building behind it.

The famous pagoda in the middle of the lake.

I found a lovely "cafe" in the upscale shopping mall at the end of the lake and stopped in for some delicious caramel cheesecake.

I am not sure what this traffic cop was about...he seemed to be ignoring the traffic.

Statue in a park beside the lake.

A big government building by the lake.

The Hanoi train station. There are only six tracks and you climb over them to get to your train.

The inside of my train coach. It was not as comfy as I had hoped. The beds are narrow and the foam mattress could easily pass for industrial concrete. As this class train was a "soft sleeper" as opposed to the "hard sleeper class" I can only imagine what their beds were like.

The corridor of the train.