The first day

Planned: Hanoi, transfer to hotel, arrive at hotel, try some street food, rooftop pool.

Did: Hanoi, transfer to hotel, arrive at hotel, try some street food, restaurant, foot massage, night sightseeing tour, ice cream surprise, no pool.

Hotel: The Oriental Jade Hotel. Perfect. An address where all Swiss people will feel comfortable.

Our hotel is located right in the heart of the Old Quarter of Hanoi, as I tried to book. Just 2 minutes away from the hotel and we were right in the middle of it all. It's incredible how big the Old Quarter is, but we only discovered it during the night sightseeing tour. I think it can be compared in size to Paris or Rome. I mean, here there is a huge bustling city, not just old buildings, and there are tourist centers like in Europe. But here the locals are also involved, and some streets are tailored to their own needs.
Vietnam is also not shy about representing its colonial history. Some Vietnam War, obligatory representation of the current system.

A 4-kilometer-long street with one museum after another. Planned and realized, of course, by the current state.

Or that at some point the idea was to plant trees of only one species in each of the old grand streets lined with colonial trees. The now old trees make for a magnificent setting. Very large tree species were selected, including huge conifers.

Some white tourists like me. I knew that I wouldn't be the only one, just like 4 years ago in Bac Lieu. It still affects my well-being. Many tourists from Asian regions, lots of Chinese and Malaysians, as well as domestic tourists from southern Vietnam, form a large group. And of course, Russians. But they were apparently. Hardly any Russians to be seen today, according to a local. I think that has more economic reasons.

When a foot massage (of course, visible from the street) was available and there were no white tourists, I let my feet be pampered for the first time in my life. My feet were tired from the long journey, so it's no wonder they felt great afterwards. Van says I should do it every other day. I will.

When we came back, I discovered a big ice cream stand. That was what we wanted as a final treat. It was from Haagen-Dazs. The originally American company (founded by Polish immigrants) is now owned by Nestle.

And the franchisee here provided the biggest surprise of the day: I have never seen such a presentation of our dishes before! A banana split, which is the best I've had since I was 12 years old in a Porta. Laura got her 'Mysticeu' cup with her matching Hogwarts T-shirt in the dry ice mist. The fruit teas truly deserve their name. In addition, there are probably three or four people here for every employee they would have in Switzerland, and there is always someone attentive.