Hanoi Day 3

Today we had quite the adventure...mom and I spent a chunk of the day riding on the backs of motorcycles...not one person per bike (no we are cheap and cheerful backpackers, so we need to save money...or so I keep trying to explain to my mother, who still isn't quite clear on the meaning of backpacking...but since I said it would be okay for her to bring her roller suitcase instead of an actual backpack, i guess we are broadening the meaning of backpacking as we go along.) Anyhow, there were 2 of us stacked on the motorcycle...behind the driver. Along with all of our shopping bags and daypacks (mom did bring a day pack...so technically she could say she backpacked thru Vietnam)...couple the tight quarters on a bike with the insane traffic in Hanoi, and you can only begin to imagine how scary (and I suppose exhilarating) the whole thing was. We survived the first ride and decided to continue using the motorcycles whenever necessary (which means, whenever we can't find a cyclo driver...you know the rickshaw-like things, where the guy pedals a bike and pushes the people, who are seated in a big basket in front.)

During the day we managed to see the Temple of Literature, the museum of ethnology, have coffee on the West Lake, eat at an awesome French resturant, and do alot of shopping (yeah, I am not being a normal backpacker on this trip either, as I know I can send anything I buy home with my mom, so I have had a lot of fun at the markets and the galleries!!)