Those of you who read my blog regularly may have noticed my absence over the last few days. My apologies for neglecting my blogging duties, but I’ve been having too much fun to stop and write about it.
As mentioned in my last entry, there are many other cool travelers staying at my hostel, and several of them have been helping to keep me entertained.
On Thursday morning a Dutch guy named Hans and I decided to explore Hanoi on foot, and spent the next six or seven hours wandering random streets and alleys. 
We discovered that Hanoi has many “themed” streets, where virtually all of the stores sell one type of product, such as the large coils of wire street, the coffin and headstone street, and the air conditioner street. Over the course of the day we learned how to navigate Hanoi’s traffic, walking straight into the throngs of motorbikes and taxis without even looking, just as the locals do.
We also became experts at rebuffing (or negotiating with) aggressive street vendors, though I did cave to the persistent women with the sweet smile who gets tourists to pay for photos wearing her hat and basket getup. I was walking by and she had the whole getup on me before I even stopped walking, but she was so cute about it, I couldn’t help but laugh.
That evening as we were in search of dinner, we heard voices calling from above us on a random street, which turned out to be Luke and Nick*, two crazy Australian guys from the hostel. 
They taught us about the wonders of Bia Hoi (“bia” is Vietnamese for “beer”), and after “just one more round” about six times, we finally peeled ourselves out of our chairs and tracked down a street kitchen serving a spicy noodle soup for dinner.
That was my first of many soups in random street kitchens and food stalls. I’ve had three different noodle soups, of which Pho Bo is my favorite. That one is noodles with beef, mint, basil, lime juice, garlic and chilies, and is a traditional breakfast option. Yum! I’ve also had Com (which is sort of like Vietnamese tapas), a deep-fried pocket snack that’s like an empanada, and a hard-to-describe but tasty dish of rice, broth, various vegis and pork meatballs. The best part is that these meals typically cost less than a dollar, maybe two with a beer.
In between eating and drinking, a group of us also visited the ethnological museum, where we learned about the various minority ethnic groups around Vietnam, and saw reproductions of typical minority houses 
(which these groups still live in today in remote areas of the country), including one surrounded by phallic and pregnant wooden statues. Aside from the museums official displays, I particularly enjoyed their signage (click on the images to read the signs).
Adding to the cultural exploits, I took in a water puppet theater show today with Hans. Water puppetry is an ancient Vietnamese tradition, and while it wasn't intellectually stimulating, I am glad I had the chance to see it once.
After all that activity, it was almost a relief to get on a train tonight to head up to Sapa, a town in the northeast mountains of Vietnam. I’ll have a couple nights up there to see the reportedly beautiful views, enjoy the fresh air, do some hiking, and enjoy a bit of solitude before returning to Hanoi on Wednesday.
Many more photos at http://babas.typepad.com/photos/my_gap_year/.
*Note: Luke and Nick aren’t actually kissing in the above shot, but it has become known at the hostel as the kissing picture. 
In fact, Luke is sniffing Nick’s armpit, which is actually grosser (I imagine) than watching them kiss. I’d try to document all the other crazy things they did and said, but this is a family-friendly blog. To give you just a taste though, here’s a photo of the scratches Luke got when he paid a bike-cart guy to let him drive the cart himself, while drunk, and crashed it into a taxi that was standing still.
Upon checking in, I was delighted to learn what $45 gets you in Vietnam. I was greeted with delicious ginger tea, as well as fresh flowers and a fruit basket in my room. 
The room is beautifully decorated, with high-quality bedding, fluffy towels, a TV with DVD player and a selection of DVDs, free wi-fi, and even flower petals on the bed! I can see why past guests said their stay here was the highlight of their Vietnam trip.
