Hotel: The Somerset Hotel arranged for transportation from the airport  so we didn't need to hassle about a cab, however we did pay double what it would have cost us. Next time we will be smarter. Anyway, the Somerset Grand Hanoi (AKA Hanoi Towers) is an excellent place to stay. Our rooms, on the 22nd floor, include a full kitchen, laundry, a master and spare bedrooms, two bathrooms, a nice living and dining area, lovely pool and a great albeit hazy view. The hotel is built on the site of the former Hoa Lo prison, home for many US POW's during the Vietnam War. That evening, we mostly dozed, ate, sniffed around a bit.

 

Love at First Sight: On Monday, we waited for IMH to contact us regarding next steps. We couldn't stand the wait, so we called to bug them about it. That worked out great since they said we could go to the orphanage (really called a "Home for Orphaned and Malnourished Children") that morning. Way cool! IMH arranged for transportation to the Cau Giay (pronounced "co ziay?") district of the city and the orphanage. Along the way, we stopped at the Claudia Hotel and picked up Tom (from Toronto) and Teri & Danny (from Decatur) who were also going to meet their children for the first time. Upon arrival at the orphanage, Dr. Quy, director of the place, met with us briefly then she brought little Nguyen Thi Ly (her American name will be Emily with a middle name made up from her Vietnamese name) to Mary's waiting arms. What a thrill! We spent about an hour with her, counting toes, fingers, ears, other body parts; checking hair (man, she's got lots of hair!), making sure everything worked.  She checks out fine. We did not want to leave her there even overnight.

 

More Paperwork: In the early afternoon Bobo (from IMH) took us to the Justice Department where the official we were supposed to meet was out until 3:00. We could have spent more time at the orphanage (sigh). We took advantage of the delay to fill out, sign some additional paperwork, and have lunch. When we met with the official, we signed some more papers (all in Vietnamese) and we were done. I mean DONE. We were prepared to stay in Hanoi for a full five working days (I guess sometimes the officials are really hard to find, or some families show up without all of their paperwork in order and have to visit various US and Vietnamese officials).    Anyway, the rest of the week was ours.

Daily Routine: Each day after breakfast, we take a cab to spend time with Emily. We arrive usually around 09:30 and stay until about 11 or 11:30 or until they make us leave. The orphanage is located about 20 minutes by cab (60,000 VND) from the hotel in a circular building with a central open area surrounded by seven small rooms for the children and a medical station. There are typically four cribs in each room with sometimes two children per crib (the older kids have their own cribs). Most of the children are in the 2-6 month age range; however there seem to be some older special needs kids. The outer "ring" of the building houses two additional children's rooms, bathing rooms, kitchen, storage, offices and a conference room. The place is pretty clean and needs paint inside and out. The staff is wonderful. It is easy to see that they are dedicated to the children and it is very clear that they love them very much.It appears that there is one caregiver per room. The grounds, surrounded by a 5-foot wall, are not much to speak of, mostly dirt, and grasses, a parking area, clotheslines. A highlight of the second day was to meet with Cherie Clark, Director and founder of IMH. Cherie is a very personable woman with a deep love for Vietnam and these children. Cherie was there for the dedication of a new annex building.It looks designed to house additional medical facilities.Our afternoons are spent shopping, hanging out, seeing some sights, sending e-mails to friends and family, fending off the street vendors (they seem to think that everyone needs six or seven books about Vietnam, a bunch of postcards and a map - even if you show them that you already have them all) and waiting for the next day so we can see Emily again.

 

About Hanoi:Hanoi in many ways is similar in appearance to other cities we have visited in SE Asia.Many people, shops spilling out onto the sidewalks, every imaginable item for sale.The shops tend to cluster close together by type of merchandise - for instance, near our hotel is what appears to be the "appliance district" where shops selling refrigerators, microwaves, TVs, Stereos, etc. are located in a stretch of about three blocks.Down the street the other way is a cluster of stores all selling clothing items.Another area specializes in zippers and buttons.Strange. The climate this time of year is quite mild and pleasant. The days are overcast, not too humid, with temperatures in the mid to high seventies.The evenings can be cool and sometimes require a light jacket.The streets are constantly full of bicycles, motor scooters, cars, Cyclos (pedicabs) and foot traffic all going as fast as they can.The centerline on the streets seems to be merely a guideline and is often ignored.For instance, to turn left, most drivers will drive in the oncoming traffic lane until there is room for them to merge to the right (yes, they do drive on the "correct" side of the street).Motorbikes are parked everywhere on the sidewalks sometimes very thick forcing pedestrians out into the street. Since the primary methods of transportation are the bicycle and motorbike, it is common to see them heavily loaded with everything from live chickens to construction material.We even saw a casket carried on a motorbike!Crossing the street is a challenge with the constant flow of traffic.What seems to work best is to walk slowly but deliberately which gives the oncoming traffic time to see you and where you are going.All the while keeping an eye out for traffic that is not looking at you.

 

Two items of note regarding transportation:First, anyone with a horn is constantly honking it (actually, the pedicabs or Cyclos have bells which are constantly ringing).At first, I thought maybe it was to warn others that they are being overtaken ask them to move over.Nope - it seems that they are just for honking/ringing.No one pays attention to anyone else.It is the music of the city.I wonder if Emily will be able to sleep in Hillsboro without the cacophony of street noises.The second thing is shifting.I notice that the cab drivers are in a real hurry to get their cars into second or even third gear.This usually takes place at about 3 MPH.Then, of course, they want to accelerate.

 

Next Steps:Most adoptions from Vietnam require two trips.This is our first.We will be returning in about two months for up to three weeks to complete the process and bring her home.The second trip will include a visit to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).

 

I have organized this portion of Emily's web page as follows: This document Six sets of daily pictures of the kids and families taken mostly at the orphanage - predominately Emily (of course). Day 1 - Day 6. The Hoa Lo Prison Miscellaneous images taken in and around Hanoi More pictures from Hanoi Noibai International Airport Bangkok

 

Returning Home:The hardest part of course, was to leave little Emily and head back to Oregon.We hope that the time until our next trip (about two months) will pass quickly.Since we were pretty much at the mercy of United Airlines' schedule, we ended up with three extra days on the back end of our trip.We decided to burn some Marriott points and spend the time in Bangkok, decompressing from the week's activities. Our flight on Thai Airlines left Hanoi on Sunday March 17 at 10:40 AM and arrived in Bangkok at 12:30 PM.Our return itinerary from Bangkok to Portland is: Bangkok to Narita (2:10 layover) then to Seattle (1:35 layover) to Portland (BKK - NRT - SEA - PDX).We depart BKK at 07:00 AM on Wednesday, 20 March and arrive in Portland at 10:19 AM that same morning.