Saturday, a respite from classes. Our younger mates took a day trip to Ha Long Bay while we slept in, had a late breakfast, and went touring in the heart of Hanoi, around Hoan Kiem lake.
Susan and I were joined by two of the Vietnam staff and 2 stateside visitors from Wheaton College, here to observe our training sessions. They just happen to spend their summers on Long Lake in Traverse City, MI - small world! More new friends made.
We visited the 18th century Ngoc Son (jade mountain) Temple, built on a small island in the lake and reached by crossing the red The Huc (rising sun) bridge. What a restful place in the middle of the chaos of Hanoi!
As the morning warmed up, on its way to a high of 95 degrees, we all jumped on individual cyclos, bicycle powered rickshaws, for a ride through the Old Quarter, to see myriads of shops and a few historical places.
Back at the lake, Susan and I left the group (they had a planned meeting) and found a wonderful Italian restaurant in the international district...calzones and eggplant parmesan...Yay! After lunch we walked a few blocks to Fanny's for wonderful ice cream. Then it was a taxi back to our air-conditioned hotel room and a nap. Not only are we getting more comfortable here, we now embrace the challenge of crossing the road. Is anything impossible?
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