2011, DEC 8: VIETNAM, HANOI-A

We arrived at the Noi Bai International Airport at Hanoi last night around 10:30 p.m. by a Korean Air flight. After getting through immigration, we were escorted by Mr. Nam, our local guide, to the Sheraton Hanoi Hotel, located by a lake, about 40-minute’s drive from the Airport.

Like many other places throughout our travels, the Hotel Lobby was all decked out for Christmas

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Check in took a few minutes before we were in room to get a few hours of sleep before starting our first day of sightseeing next morning.

Slightly larger than Itlay, Vietnam is S-shaped, broad in the north and south and very narrow at the center, only about 31 miles at one point.

Although politically the country is communist, most people profess Mahayana Buddhism. There are a few adherents to other faiths alsoFor centuries the Vietnamese language was written in standard Chinese characters. But since the 17th century the current Latin-based script has been used.