Vietnam! Ho Chi Minh!

So our first week in Vietnam has passed, and we have passed it rather well. After our brief stay in Sapa, we took a night train down to Hanoi. Hanoi is one of the craziest cities I've ever been too.. the traffic alone is complete chaos... but it is really rather charming. We were stationed in the Old Quarter of the city, where most of the hustle and bustle of daily Hanoi life goes on. There is also excellent shopping. The next morning we took a bus, and then a boat to Catba Island, off the coast of Halong Bay. We spent a night on the island, then spent the next two nights on a small boat that we rented out with two other couples we met in Hanoi and Sapa. It was a pretty good time, complete with meals, kayaking, snorkling, caves, and glow in the dark plankton. As restful as our three days at see were, Catba was a bit of a tourist trap and there were a few scams along the way. For example we were told that everything was included, except for the drinks on board the boat. We agreed to this and brought our own stash of water, and bought a few drinks while on board. At the end of the trip we were presented with an outlandish bill to be split between the three couples that included no only the few drinks we purchased, but everything the captain and his mate decided to drink. And they drank quite a bit. It was pretty annoying. But that just seems to be the game when you are a tourist. We came back to Hanoi today to do some light shopping, and are headed off to Nimh Binh tomorrow. I would have pictures, but this computer won't load Facebook for me so I can't upload right now. Hopefully in a day or two there will be pretty photos for all of you to look at. Tonight we are going to nurse our sunburns and enjoy Hanoi.