Been doing a few things with my days off these past few weeks.

One Saturday I went for a walk part way across Long Bien Bridge to get to the island that is in the middle of the river. It is a little bit of countryside in the middle of Hanoi. To get to the bridge I walked along the main road, which was a pit pollutiony, but has a mosaic along its length. I was also able to finally snap a photo of the goldfish vendors I've always seen around town when I don't have a camera!

Just before you reach the bridge there is Long Bien market, which on that day appeared to sell nothing other than watermelon! Once on the bridge there are some nice views back to Hanoi, and then when you get down onto the island there are fields and banana trees which is pretty awesome!

I ended up walking back across the bridge as the sun was setting, which was pretty.

Another day my day off coincided with a friend who has recently moved up from HCMC so we spent a day out and about in the city. We drove a few common routes to give her some confidence (just like my friend did with me when I was first getting to grips with Hanoi's roads!) and stopped in at the fabric market to get some ideas (I'm addicted to tailoring). We then headed into the centre for a spot of cardigan shopping, before heading to the Metropole hotel for a drink and a posh bite to eat. It wasn't nearly as expensive as we were expecting, so we lingered for a bit and enjoyed an afternoon people watching.

  

The massive typhoon that battered the Philippines bought a bit of wind and rain to Hanoi, and once that had cleared up it left behind some really clean air (for a change). It was so clear you could see the mountains in the distance!! That's rare in Hanoi! Met a few people by the lake to enjoy the sunset and it didn't disappoint.

I also decided it was time to visit some of the museums I've been wanting to go to for a while. I went to the Fine Art Museum which had some nice stuff in it, including lots of lacquer paintings, and then I went to the Women's Museum, which is supposed to be one of the best museums in Hanoi. One of my old students works there so she gave me lots of info, and the museum itself is actually pretty well done. It has a lot of information - something that is often lacking in other museums. Quite often here you'll see an object that might have a card next to it saying what it is and when it's from, but there's only so much you can learn from "Ring: 1975". In contrast, the Women's Museum gives you a bit of history behind the objects - who the ring belonged to, why it was important, and so on. They also had a bunch of info boards telling you about the different areas of life the museum focuses on. I actually learnt something! Also got to take another photo I've been trying to get ever since I've been here:

A dude precariously dangling down the side of a building.

Full set of photos here