Today, we had Mexican

Although the Vietnamese food here is very good, we decided that we needed a break, so we headed to Hanoi's only Mexican restaurant. The place was an outdoor cafe in a a walled garden. Proper Mexican motif. Even the menus had the proper south-of-the-border flourishes. Unfortunately, this was only a Mexican themed restaurant... all the food was traditional Vietnamese. Oh well.

Today was another long day that started in the main market at 6am. Except for a two hour break before lunch, we were out on the streets until 6pm. What I'm saying is that this is turning into a working vacation. The day ended with a lecture and slide show of Art's work. This was really good stuff, and the hour went past very quickly. Today was a good day.

Tomorrow we are off to Ha Long Bay where will be staying three nights on a junk. I'd like to say that it is a luxury junk, but I'm not that hopeful. From there, we will head south to Ninh Binh for a couple of days. This is a very rural area with few um... amenities. In any case, I probably will not have internet service for the next few days. If you don't hear from me in a week, please call the US Embassy.

Final note: Most of us passed on Dinner tonight as we were more tired than hungry. Art and a couple of others decided to go out anyway. They just came back, and they brought me pizza! I am so happy!