Stalled out in Hanoi

We have been in Hanoi almost 2 weeks now! We are itching to get out and explore the country. One of our hold ups is that I am trying to get a license in VN so that I can drive a motorcycle legally. This has been a time consuming process with good information that is hard to find. We are also figuring out that getting proper size (for us) motorcycle is going to quite a bit mor expensive than just getting a scooter. We need something that is going to hold me and L and our luggage and that is starting to look like a Honda CB500 X.    A 500 cc bike is huge over here as most bikes top out at about 125cc. That is great for city driving, but will leave us lacking for driving across country. It's all very confusing, trying to make sure that we aren't getting ripped off and that the papers for the bike are correct. The best thing that we have going for us is that we have time to spare!

The food is great, the accommodations are nice, and we are doing a good job of sticking to our budget. One of the cool things about a big city like Hanoi, is that we will just go walking and never know what we will find around the next corner (except for coffee, coffee is literally on every corner). We stumbled on  bird auction yesterday. I think that is what it was anyway. The people here like to keep song birds in cages to give the ears respite from all the sounds of the city. We might stumble on a market, a temple, a park, we really don't know. It is all very exotic and different from back home and I love it!

This weekend we get to visit with L's sister who is also visiting VN from Raleigh. We are going to Cat Ba to hang out for the weekend. 

I am also working on a youtube channel @BandLera1 , but I have no clue what I am doing.