This One's for Ho Chi

A full day in Hanoi. We had a very busy day planned and started with our orientation, which gave us entirely too much information, and every time it seemed like it was over, someone would ask a question that had already been answered. I am not judging - it was a lot of information and my listening skills are so great that I ended up at the wrong place. Oriented, we climbed on the bus with the intent to go to Ho Chi Minh's tomb, but when we got there it was closed for a dignitary, so we went off to a 10th century shrine.

Vietnam seems in some ways to have combination religion - mashing together Buddhism, animism, Taoism, and Confucius(ism). The temple is in use and there were some cool things inside. There were these things that looked like grave stones, but they were actually used for people to inscribe their achievements and each stone was on a stone turtle because turtles are magical - hear that dad?

There were also these cool cranes at the entrance - standing on a turtle - that everyone rubbed for luck and a long life. I did watched horrified and amazed as a guy rubbed up and down the leg a bit vigorously with a very intent look on his face.

After the temple, we went back to Uncle Ho's place and walked around the mausoleum and then the palace and the places he actually stayed. The mausoleum was on the same place where he declared Vietnam independence, and interestingly, he died on the same day as he made that declaration, but several years later at the age of 79. Uncle Ho wasn't into the snazzy palace and instead lived in some little huts in the back. It was at this point that the guy from Chicago piped up and said where is Jane Fonda's hut; this flummoxed Quyh, but made everyone laugh.

Quyh said the majority of Vietnamese would like to have democracy, but they know they cannot afford it. And I thought well that hasn't seemed to stop the rest of us - can't you get a loan from the Chinese.  

I do find the land system by interesting, every 3 or so years, there is a lottery. And you pick out of the lottery and the place you pick is yours until the next lottery - even if you just got the place you are currently at, just how you like it.

We headed off to the art museum and did a quick run around. They are famous for the multi-hand Buddha. The theme of much of the art was centered around the war; this bothered some of the people on the tour.

Now it was time for lunch - like an hour late in my opinion. We went to a place in the French quarter and had spring rolls - cool and tasty and then got to order off of the menu. I had fish stir fry with tamarind and spicy sauce. It was tasty. All the entrees came out at different times so the first person that got their meal was done when the last person got theirs. It didn't really matter, but Tour Guide Sue did not seem happy.

Fed, we went off to the Hanoi Hilton where John McCain was held during the war. Interestingly, the vast majority of the exhibit was not about America and instead was about how the French used the building to house people that tried to promote independence. They even used a guillotine and the conditions were horrendous, particularly for the women. There were two small rooms about when the building was used to house American prisoners, and from their perspective, they did their best to take care of them. They had McCain's uniform on display and an interesting photo of several guys fishing him out the lake he fell into - he didn't look so good.

After this, we went back to the French quarter and each got a bicycle rickshaw, this was very comical as it took a long time to get everyone to understand we needed 17. Once we had the right number, we all picked one and headed off. It was hilarious, up and down the streets, the traffic, the noise, the people - loved it! My guy was sort of slow, and we got passed by several in the group. He would only speed up when we were at an intersection and that was only to use another one as a shield.  

Then he pulled over and told me to get out and I said out? And he said yes, so I got out and off he went. My group was nowhere to be seen. I thought huh? And then walked over to the lake because we were supposed to see water puppets. When I didn't see anyone, I lingered for a bit and then I headed off to the hotel stopping for Moshi. I called Sue so she wouldn't worry, and then I went down for a glass of wine.

Blog note: Everyone seemed very puzzled by my choice to go to Vietnam so I always told them the same thing, which was I had this great cat as child - no childhood memories without him - and his name was Ho Chi Minh. I loved this cat even though he was the cause for my first and only spanking. This resulted in puzzled looks and always made me smile because it's all true.