What a week its been! I survived my first week in Hanoi and first week at work.
After a delayed flight out of Sydney Monday morning, I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) at 5pm, with just under an hour to process through customs to get Vietnam visa on arrival, collect baggage and transfer to a domestic flight to Hanoi. With the help of airport staff, I was able to get to my next flight's boarding call in record speed. How so?

Airport staff whisked me through the airport in a wheelchair.
Even though I was in Ho Chi Minh for a short time, I felt the humidity and heat (32°C) outside when I transferred from international to domestic terminals. I arrived in Hanoi around 8:30pm local time, and was met by the Projects Abroad staff driver, who safely delivered me to my new home in Hanoi.

My first impressions of Hanoi - I was first struck by the Vietnamese driving and motorcycle habits. They drive on opposite sides of roads, u turns are legal and are done with incoming traffic coming up the back of you, many text or talk on phone whether driving or motorcycling and honk their horns continiously. It seemed chaotic and crazy at first, but now starting to consider this normal.

Hanoi is a motorcycle city, there are more motorcycles on roads than cars. It Is a prime mode of transport and you can bypass traffic easily on a motorbike. It is quicker to get to places in Hanoi on a motorcycle. And yes, I rode on the back of one in my local area on my second day. It was fun and safe.

Crossing roads in Hanoi seemed scary at first, but you have to be quick to cross. There is not a moment where the road is safe to cross, you just have to cross and the incoming traffic will go around you. They don't stop, instead they weave around you when you cross road.

Our volunteers got a crash course in cultivating their physical and psychological well-being at our weekly social event. This past Friday we gathered in the Hanoi Botanical Gardens to unwind from the week and learn how to relax. Our teacher, ??ng V?n Hà, taught us the basics of the ancient art of tai chi (TIE-chee), which uses gentle flowing movements to reduce stress and improve health.

Tai chi is a noncompetitive, self-paced system of gentle physical exercise and stretching. To do tai chi, you perform a series of postures or movements in a slow, graceful manner. Each posture flows into the next without pause, ensuring that your body is in constant motion. There are many forms of tai chi, but all forms include rhythmic patterns of movement that are coordinated with breathing to help you achieve a sense of inner calm.

What made the event even more spectacular was the setting. A hidden oasis in the middle of the big city, the botanical gardens or what many locals call the “the park with hundreds of trees” is a place for locals and travelers to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. A temple, two ponds, a small island, sculpture garden and minuscule zoo, which includes monkeys and peacocks, can be found throughout the 50 acres of lush landscaping.

One nice thing about living in Hanoi is that when you need to buy dishes for a new apartment, there's a 600-year-old pottery village right next door.
Bát Tràng village (the word Bát means "bowl"; Tràng means "workshop" or "guild") lies on the bank of the Red River, about 13 km. from Hanoi. To get there, you cross the Ch??ng D??ng bridge out of central Hanoi, turn right onto a dilapidated, heavily pot-holed road, and try to avoid being hit by the buses, trucks, and motorcycles that jockey to overtake each other in both directions. Before long, the city's urban streetscape gives way to a surreal blend of building settlements, old temples, and dime-sized rice fields that characterizes so much of suburban Hanoi. Bát Tràng lies less than 30 minutes away.

The historical record places Bát Tràng's origin around the 14^th or 15^th century, though folklore places it much earlier. An abundance of white clay made the area suitable for ceramics production. There are various theories as to how the village developed its craft; quite likely it was, like so many Vietnamese traditions, imported from China, then given a local twist. At its height, Bát Tràng pieces were prized by the Imperial Court, and shipped as far as the Middle East. Centuries of pottery production eventually exhausted the local clay supplies, but white kaolin clay still gets shipped in from nearby provinces, helping the village maintain an annual export trade worth around US$40 million.

Source: Get Vietnam Visa

This summer remember traveling to Cat Ba Island
The beauty of the island of Cat Ba a king over all feel of the familiar tourist Dean Wickham on his blog below, will make you want to travel to Cat Ba Island right and always in the summer.
If you want to travel Halong Bay, I recommend starting the trip from Cat Ba Island. By Cat Ba not only owns a wild beauty, dreaming that owns this place beautiful Lan Ha Bay and some other remote destination of Halong Bay. There are many interesting things for you to do here, but the most interesting is enjoying delicious dishes and kayaking and exploring the caves.

During the Vietnam War, the island of Cat Ba is used as refuge of many revolutionaries. A giant cave on the island, used as a bomb shelter and field hospital during the war, where the scenery is wonderful to visit. When we visited the cave interesting, then only we are guests here, but the guides there were very enthusiastic tour guide us around. Besides visiting the cave, you can rent a motorbike to visit Cat Ba National Park.

Most of Cat Ba island is protected and is part of Cat Ba National Park. It is famous as the residence of the langur - the rarest primates in the world. There are many walking routes here, you can be your options for long-haul routes from several km to 18 km in the National Park. We selected travel tours Cat Ba Ventures, with a journey to explore the national park within half a day. Including the climb to the top of a mountain here, visit the caves unique, cost $ 15 if every ride and $ 20 if you go by car.

There are three beaches known as Cat Co 1, 2 and 3, Cat Ba town located more than 1 km. The best way for you to these beaches is renting a bicycle or motorcycle, walking and wonderful views. There is no shortage of hotels in Ha Long located along the main street on the island of Cat Ba, and your job is to choose a suitable place only. We also chose a beautiful hotel prices here are also quite soft, step out balcony you can see the sea, the room is quite nice and clean. In particular, in the tourist area in Cat Ba staff speak English very much. If you prefer a quieter place, it can stay in the cabin is located in the distant island of Cat Ba town.

Some addresses favorite dining on the island
In addition to the hotel, the main street in Cat Ba town also has many restaurants. Most of the food here are quite tasty and cheap. Cat Ba Island is a great place to enjoy seafood, and these are the stores 'gut' is my island.

My Way: We've eaten here a few times and the food was delicious and plentiful. It also has many attractive vegetarian foods, the beer, the price is much cheaper than other places.

Family Bakery: This is where we hang out to enjoy breakfast, with cheap and tasty food. You can eat baked croissants, pastries, sandwiches and breakfast items other familiar local people, as well as enjoying a cup of latte. This really is a good start for a day.

Phuong Nhung: This is a restaurant of locals, a fun place if you want to enjoy the traditional cuisine of Vietnam, we had to eat noodles, spring rolls and cheap beer here.

Source: Dat khach san

Hoi An is really good for cycling around, with several beaches to go too and also out amongst the rice fields and mini-canals. The whole Vietnamese coast between Da Nang and Hoi An overlook the South China Sea and is just one continuous series of beaches. Locally Hoi An has two particular beach areas each of which are around 4kms from the town center. Many foreign visitors use their passport with Vietnam visa to do hire bicycles to get to these beaches - bike hire is around 250.000 VND for a day hire. Cycling can be just a little bit hazardous on the main roads as the local drivers do not exactly follow road etiquette even where other drivers are concerned so are not at times too bothered about mere cyclists. A local area map of Hoi An is available - obtained from where you hire your bike or perhaps from your hotel in Hoi An - this shows the beaches and so on mentioned below.
Remember: Hoi An has a sort of locate tax or entrance fee (around 170.000 VND) do remember to carry this when leaving the town for the day - just in case it is asked for on the way back in.

Cycling to An Bang Beach near Hoi An - Vietnam
As soon as you get a short way out of Hoi An you pass through lovely countryside with rice fields which are regularly bisected by small canals. These canals are often covered with water hyacinths and also there are lots of birds enjoying life flying around. The beach at An Bang consists mainly of white sand and often as not is pretty much deserted - there are several small cafes right on the beach where you can get drinks or have lunch. It is also possible to use the sun-chair and umbrellas free of charge based on using the relevant cafe. You do get a little pestered by local girls trying to sell cold drinks and so on - even if you are sat in a cafe having a drink these girls often come in selling trinkets and this can be annoying after a while.

Bike ride out to Cua Dai Beach which is Hoi An's main tourist beach
Cua Dai Beach is mostly a white sandy beach and is usually much busier than An Bang although both beaches actually merge into each other. Several of Hoi An's larger and more expensive hotels in Hoi An have been built along the road and beach front at Cua Dai so it's best to wander along the beach for a while to find more peace and less hassle from the hawkers. As with An Bang beach if you use the cafes and bars this usually allows you to have free use of their sun-chairs and sun-umbrellas. Cua Dai beach front is especially renowned for its excellent sea food restaurants.

Because the above-mentioned beaches are easily reached if you hire a bicycle - the advantage is then that you can go much further along the coast perhaps as far as the end of the small peninsula. From the end you can then return back through the village - perhaps diverting down side roads or along the river to take a look at village life. There are also numerous paths which can be cycled and these go all over the place amongst the rice fields - often the paths are raised to retain the small canals and dykes. There are often small temples and shrines to be found as well as lots of birds and animals to be spotted - spending a few hours cycling around Hoi An's outskirts is really most enjoyable.

A pleasant Bike ride over to look round Cam Nam Island which is adjacent to Hoi An
To reach Can Nam Island you have to cross Cam Nam Bridge which is just past Hoi An's main market. The island is just right for cycling around - once across the bridge turn right to follow a sandy track which goes alongside to the river. This eventually rejoins the island's main road where there are several riverside cafes selling basic food and drink. Just cycle further along the main road taking every opportunity to divert down the small tracks and paths which go somewhere to cycle around and around enjoying really nice scenery, river views, people fishing the old way with nets and often lots of wildlife.