It's been a week since we left home. Can't say we miss the winter climate at all! We have met people while here who marvel when Greg shows them the pictures of our house with the huge piles of snow. They can't believe it & wonder how we can survive!

Today its +25 with no rain or drizzle. Humidity here has been pretty consistent at about 90% every day. Saturday is projected to be +29 and Sunday +31.

We had a fairly lazy day today. After scoping out a lot of stuff over the last 4 days we actually did some shopping today. Prices here are quite low, especially with the local street markets. Also when we buy from the street merchants there is no added VAT (tax). The more elegant the shop the more you can expect to pay! On the street we are expected to barter - usually starting at half of the price asked and not settling for less than 25% off. We have been looking to replace one of our carry-on suitcases for a while now. The lowest price we found at home was one at Walmart for about $100. We got one here for just under $25. CDN. 

There are so many shops & most of the time, especially in the Old Quarter, the same types of shops are on the same street (it's how the streets got there names years ago - textiles street, hardware street, etc.). So if one merchant doesn't make you happy, there's another one next door, and next door, and next door!

For lunch there was a restaurant about 2 blocks behind our hotel. We splurged :-) and chose this restaurant as it had inside seating with chairs and tables at a regular height. We're getting a little old to sit 8 inches off the ground! We ordered the Sea Crab spring rolls, Greg had the Pho beef & noodle soup and I had the Pho noodle & grilled pork soup. It was delicious and cost us about $12. CDN 

We walked around the Hoan Kiem Lake and checked out some more shops. Greg got a pair of shoes, and of course got them down in price.

We stopped in at the Haagen Dazs shop thinking we'd get a simple ice cream. It turns out it was a Haagen Daas restaurant with some pretty scrumptious items on the menu. Greg had a blueberry float & I just had a scoop of Cantelope melon & mango & raspberry ice creams. It was delicious. Maybe we'll go back & try something more decadent next time!

This evening we had tickets for a performance of the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre. They perform one of Vietnam's oldest art forms. They say it originated in the 11th century when rice farmers would entertain each other during floods. Tonight's performance was accompanied by 7 musicians & 2 singers. Some of the musicians played some traditional Vietnamese instruments, like the Dan bau, which were very unique, especially in how it was played. The water puppets (controlled mostly by long bamboo poles under water by puppeteers in waist deep water behind screens) performed tales from Vietnamese folklore. It was very unique & entertaining! Tickets were about $10 CDN each and it was a full house.

We made one stop on our walk home... Beer street which was just a few blocks from our hotel. Very quiet during the day but at night the place was transformed into crowded pubs, restaurants & clubs. Just people everywhere! Each place had a hawker trying to persuade customers to come in. We picked one bar (Hay Bar) and spent a few hours just watching all the people. This bar had loud dance music going but just as we were leaving a live band started, playing tunes in English. After 4 draught beer, a cocktail and a plate of chicken (total about $30 CDN) it was time to call it a night.