Day 5 - Hanoi, Vietnam

We arrived in Hanoi yesterday evening. On the drive from the airport to our hotel, our driver drove us right through the middle of some celebration that seemed almost the equivalent of Times Square on New Years Eve. Our car inched through the sea of people until it could go no further. We were stuck! Our driver got out and left us alone in the car for a bit, while the locals peered in at the helpless foreigners. After a few minutes, the driver returned, presumably having scouted a way out. As our car pushed through the mob, the people must have thought we were VIPs. We eventually made it to the hotel a few blocks away where we found out we had driven through the Hanoi Flower Festival.

Good morning Vietnam!

Today we hit Hanoi, a bustling metropolis of over 6 million people. First stop: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and his stilt house. Ho Chi Minh was the founder of the Vietnamese Communist Party, fought and gained independence from the French, was the first president, and obviously was the mastermind behind reunification and the Vietnam (aka American) war; he's pretty much the man as far as the Vietnamese are concerned.

Ho Chi Minh lived and worked in a small two-room "House on Stilts" while he was president (opting not to live in the palace next door):

Next we stopped at the One Pillar Pagoda and got a crash course in Vietnamese religion. The Vietnamese practice a different flavor of Buddhism than the Thais, one that is more Chinese influenced, and mixed with Confucianism, Taoism,animism, and ancestor worship. We also swung by Tran Quoc Pagoda on the shores of West Lake.

Next up was the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university founded in 1076.

After lunch, since all of the museums from our original itinerary were closed on Mondays (doh!), we visited Hoa Lo prison (aka the Hanoi Hilton) per Brian's special request.

Since the prison was built by the French in the late 1800's, much of the museum was dedicated to the Vietnamese that were held captive by the French up until they gained their independence in 1954. There were a few rooms dedicated to the "American War". There was obvious propaganda as the exhibits showed how the American invaders/imperialists indiscriminately bombed hospitals, schools, and civilians in Hanoi with B52s (the display made sure to mention that it is not possible to perform precision bombing raids with B52s). Then when bomber pilots were captured, another exhibit showed how well the prisoners were treated at the Hanoi Hilton, getting to play games, eat big meals for the holidays, etc. We spotted John McCain in a few photographs. Below is McCain's flight suit from when he was captured.

We later took an hour-long rickshaw (or cyclo) ride through the Old Quarter. In the hierarchy of low-occupancy Vietnamese vehicles, you have motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles, and then the lowly rickshaw, which only seems to be used by tourists these days. Rickshaws are somewhat similar to tuk-tuks, except they are super slow (being human-powered and all) and the passenger seats are in front of the "driver" instead of behind. This makes it perfect for sightseeing. To my surprise, tuk-tuks (which I have now concluded are the demon spawn of the rickshaw) are nowhere to be found in Hanoi.

The Old Quarter is made up of tons of small shops, each highly specialized and organized by street. We went down rug street (which also had a few tape, twine, and rope stores mixed in), candy street, lantern street, flower street, and the quintessential gravestone street.

After recharging for a bit at the hotel, we headed back out to see a water puppet show and stopped by Hoan Kiem lake.

Water puppet theater is a traditional Vietnamese art form that farmers used to perform in the rice paddies. The show was accompanied by traditional music played on Vietnamese instruments (which was apparently very soothing because I had to nudge Brian to stay awake a few times).

After the show we got dinner and I had my first bowl of Pho (beef noodle soup) - delicious! There are Pho "restaurants" everywhere in Hanoi. Basically anywhere you can put a pot and some plastic stools qualifies.


Hanoi Notes:

Everyone in Hanoi drives a scooter or motorcycle, even babies:

No trumpets allowed in Hanoi:

The traffic in Hanoi is ridiculous. No lanes, no signs, no traffic lights. All of which makes crossing the street a bit precarious. The first time we had to do it by ourselves, we were crossing the street to meet our guide after lunch. We kept waiting for a lull and hesitating and our very reserved guide started laughing at us. We made it- the trick is to just go and keep steady momentum, and the bikes will go around you as long as they can predict where you're going, so if you stop or hesitate, you're toast. We were pros by the end of the day.