Off to Hanoi

After our big Seoul day we decided to take it a little bit easier the next morning. We slept in a bit, had a late breakfast, and Paul called his boss. The call lasted long enough for Paul to find out he will be working in Burlington, Iowa next year. Next we grabbed some bubble tea and headed out to check out the nearby Hongik University.

Hongik University was surprisingly slow and empty even though it had some massive buildings. We did however come across some scholars playing soccer on their sweet recreational facilities. 

After a disappointing walk through campus we decided to go check out the World Cup stadium, we had heard that it was recently opened to the public. Unfortunately though the stadium was closed due to a super famous Korean boy band concert and the accompanying thousands of teenage girls. So instead we checked out the practice field and the footsal courts and headed over to the museum. 

Some more hot Korean food for lunch!

Next we went to the airport to head off to  Hanoi. On the way there Paul ended up having to check his bag because it was just so heavy. Next, in the line to get into security they scanned our passports and Hunter and Nola's set off an audible alarm that brought up a very brief moment of terror. I'm not sure what the deal was but they let us through. The plane itself was very comfy and was probably the closest thing we will ever get to first class.

Paul even got his own entire row. You still can't lay down for take off though. 

This is the best picture we could get of one of the most epic sunsets of all time. 

Again, Vietnam Airlines proved how lavish they could be with the airplane food. Yes, that is cheesecake in the lower right. 

When we arrived in Hanoi the real fun started as we realized we needed to pay $95 for our visas and our earlier payments were for visa pre approval. We decided to head over to the ATM to complete this last step only to find that there wasn't one and they did not accept cards. The picture below is of my personal military escort on my way to the ATM which was on the otherwise of customs. She did this purely out of kindness and I'm not sure what we would have done without her. For that we are very thankful to you Mrs. Communist Military Lady.

After a long and terrifying taxi ride we finally made it to our hotel and fell asleep almost immediately. We woke up to a cold rainy day and set out to see as much as we could before our hiking trek picked us up in the evening. The results of that day are coming soon.