January 26 and 27

It's been two wet cold days. High temperature was 11°. The staff in the hotel are wearing winter jackets and earmuffs. The rooms are cold. Sharon had a flash of genius and was warming the bathroom and bed with the hairdryer☺

The traffic on the streets yesterday, was much slower and shops closed early.  Today the rain was sporadic and everything continued in its chaotic manner.

We walk lots. The sights on the streets are so interesting that we covered the same area again, but continued onto different  blocks. We ate in three different restaurants, enjoying the food at each hoping to come back to try more. We had rice pancakes with pork and chicken. We watched the women making the rice pancakes/wraps. They worked in unison and it was great to watch.

The street markets are so interesting.  I could spend all my time here. We saw the butchering of all kinds of meats: saw a chicken killed, the filleting of sea food, and dogs. Yes dogs, we asked the hotel staff about the dogs we saw. The are raised in the homes and when they are full grown they are butchered at the end of the month to bring good luck in the future. 

The spices, dried fruits, rice, beans, fresh produce and fruit are artfully displayed. 

In the afternoon we went to the Hanoi Prison museum that had be in operation until the mid-70's and held many U.S. fighter pilots as well as many political prisoners. It was interesting but I don't think I would have recommended ithat as a must see sight

Tomorrow we are going to Halong Bay. We have canceled Sapa due to the cold temperatures.