Hanoi: Serious OH&S issues

5 June – afternoon

Even though I am in Vietnam, I ended up having dinner in a Chinese restaurant- I was powerless to resist the lure of air conditioning (plus a nice lake view).  I have not been very hungry due to the heat, somewhat derailing my plan to try lots of street food.  I did have a pork roll for breakfast, the pork cooked on sticks over a charcoal brasier by a random seller I walked past.  I also had a fresh squeezed peach juice from another stall this afternoon.

Before I had dinner (or late lunch, it was about 3:30) I had another wander around the Old Quarter.  I finally found the Ancient House, a merchants house open as a display, which I had looked for and not found yesterday.  I also managed to direct some other lost looking tourists who were looking for it.  The house is only one room wide, with 2 levels.   There are two courtyards which bring in light.

After looking through the house, I had more of a wander.  I found the habadashery area, and also wandered through areas with coffins and funeral flower arangements, a hardware section, and an area that was basically full of $2 shop items.

I then found a street which I had heard about, but have only found general directions for, so was not sure exactly where it is – it is not named or marked on any of the maps.