Today, I continued exploring parts of Hanoi’s Old Quarter that I didn’t get to see yesterday.

My first realization when I started out my day today was just how much having San by my side yesterday had kept me from dealing with scammers targeting tourists. I haven’t had to deal with this in any of the cities I’ve visited on this trip so far (with a brief exception in Bangkok), but you’d think that I’d be prepared to deal with scammers as someone who lives in New York City! However, I was not prepared for the lady this morning who tricked me into paying far too much money to buy fritters that she had basically shoved into my hands. Luckily, I had the presence of mind to stay away from her two friends who, seeing me getting suckered, came running over. Unfortunately, this put me in a sour mood for the morning, and I became even more annoyed whenever someone else tried to pull this same trick, which kept happening throughout the day.

Anyway, here’s a photo of some sort of fritter a lady made me buy.

I went to the Temple of the Jade Mountain, which we had looked at but did not enter yesterday. This temple floats out in the middle of the lake and is quite beautiful. Here, I learned more about the story of the turtle who delivered a magical sword from the lake, and about the Vietnamese respect of turtles in general.

Then, after a cup of coffee, I walked over to a heritage house in the Old Quarter that is set up as it would have been in the late nineteenth century. This was a small museum, but it offered a nice peek into the lives of shop owners from this time period.

I had some lunch and then some of the fresh beer that this area is known for. This beer, called bia hoi, is brewed daily and is incredibly cheap, and is sold throughout an area referred to as Bia Hoi Junction. The beer was very light and refreshing on another hot day.

I spent much of the rest of the afternoon walking the city. There weren’t any other major sights that I saw, but Hanoi is a beautiful city and I had a nice afternoon of walking.