Hanoi, day one, we're millionaires

Actually it's our second day since we arrived yesterday, but this is my
first post since we got here.

I'd read about the traffic in Hanoi and even seen videos of it, but it's
actually not that bad. Okay, there's lots of it, and it's noisy, but
they do stop for red lights here (most of them), contrary to what I'd
read. I'd definately rather be on foot though than trying to drive
myself or ride in it. The guy that picked us up said, "Vietnamese are
all experts at riding slowly", and I think that's the trick, slow and
steady.

We had a bit of a wander around yesterday afternoon, mainly to find an
ANZ bank ATM as we didn't have any local currency on us. Once we found
one, we became instant millionaires. One million dong is about eighty
dollars Australian. I have a wallet full of hundred thousand and fifty
thousand dong notes.

The only negative so far is the touts following you around trying to
sell you things you don't want. We had a young bloke follow us around
yesterday trying to sell us books, some of which I'd already read. He
didn't want to take no for an answer, and it wasn't until I turned to
face him and said, "look mate, I'm not going to buy anything off of
you!" that he got the message and left us alone.

The cyclo drivers will quite often call to you and ask if you want a
ride, but unlike in Beijing they generally leave you alone if you say
no. Also they don't offer to change our money for you all the time like
they do in Beijing.

Anyway, it's Monday morning now. We've just had a nice western style
breakfast downstairs in the hotel retaurant and it's time to go sight
seeing.