Hanoi is a bustling city, where crossing the street is an extreme sport. There are motorbikes absolutely everywhere, and traffic laws are just light suggestions. So, to get anywhere in a normal amount of time you have to just step off the sidewalk and keep walking at the same pace, while the motor bikes avoid you. Really scary at first, and actually it never got less scary, but I did get much better at just going for it after the second or third time. Shopping in Hanoi is spectacular, and so is just walking around the old quarter and the French quarter. Once you can get past the extreme NOISE pollution of the horns, it is a great city to spend 3 days in.
The first day in Hanoi was our first experience with the tremendous rain fall in SE Asia, and mother nature did not spare us one bit. After a lunch in the old quarter, and some pirated DVD shopping, the sky opened up, and we were too stubborn to buy ponchos from the street ladies, and also to get into a cab. By the time we realized the pouring rain was not going to let up, we were so wet, it was too late to do anything about it. After about a 30 min walk back to the hotel (walk/ death race through motos to cross streets!) we arrived completely DRENCHED. That evening, I was not impressed with Vietnam at all. I was overwhelmed by the motos everywhere, wet, and just not happy with the day we had. Thankfully, the next day was a lot better, and my opinion of Hanoi and the rest of the country quickly changed.
The second morning we went as a group to see the preserved dead body of Uncle Ho (aka Ho Chi Minh). It was really strange lining up to see him. We had to stand in two straight single file lines and walk on a small red carpet up the stairs and through the halls to the room where the body is displayed in a glass case surrounded by 4 guards. You have to stay in your lines the entire time, and so you walk by rather quickly. The body could have been a wax replica, and it would have looked exactly the same, and I wouldn't be surprised if in 10 years, they reveal that is! Apparently most Vietnamese try to come see Uncle Ho once year, or at least once in their lifetime. Every year for 2 months in September and October he is sent to Russia to be preserved again.
Once that was finished we walked with our Vietnamese guide around the palace and the former home of Ho Chi Minh (very simple, and not that interesting). The most interesting part was talking to our guide at the end. He is rather young, had recently finished business school, which he said was really hard to get into because of how popular it is right now, and also how hard it is to get a job once you get out. Because he knew English well, he had a much better advantage. He then told us that the young people do not like Communism because of how corrupt everything is, but they aren't looking to do anything about it right now because of the stability it provides. He remarked that in their country they are not afraid of terrorism like many western nations, so they just are doing the best they can with what they have for now.
When the morning was finished I went exploring around the city with Lynda and Sean for the afternoon. There was some great DVD shopping and really interesting art work and crafts to browse through. That night our group went to a water puppet show, which was really miserable. It consisted of really annoying Asian music being sung by two women who sounded like they were shouting over the not that great Asia instruments and then these puppets popping out of a pool. All the stories were in Vietnamese, and the audience was all white, so needless to say not many people really understood the cultural significance of any of the acts.
After Hanoi, we drove to Hue where we spent one night.
The second morning we went as a group to see the preserved dead body of Uncle Ho (aka Ho Chi Minh). It was really strange lining up to see him. We had to stand in two straight single file lines and walk on a small red carpet up the stairs and through the halls to the room where the body is displayed in a glass case surrounded by 4 guards. You have to stay in your lines the entire time, and so you walk by rather quickly. The body could have been a wax replica, and it would have looked exactly the same, and I wouldn't be surprised if in 10 years, they reveal that is! Apparently most Vietnamese try to come see Uncle Ho once year, or at least once in their lifetime. Every year for 2 months in September and October he is sent to Russia to be preserved again.
Once that was finished we walked with our Vietnamese guide around the palace and the former home of Ho Chi Minh (very simple, and not that interesting). The most interesting part was talking to our guide at the end. He is rather young, had recently finished business school, which he said was really hard to get into because of how popular it is right now, and also how hard it is to get a job once you get out. Because he knew English well, he had a much better advantage. He then told us that the young people do not like Communism because of how corrupt everything is, but they aren't looking to do anything about it right now because of the stability it provides. He remarked that in their country they are not afraid of terrorism like many western nations, so they just are doing the best they can with what they have for now.
When the morning was finished I went exploring around the city with Lynda and Sean for the afternoon. There was some great DVD shopping and really interesting art work and crafts to browse through. That night our group went to a water puppet show, which was really miserable. It consisted of really annoying Asian music being sung by two women who sounded like they were shouting over the not that great Asia instruments and then these puppets popping out of a pool. All the stories were in Vietnamese, and the audience was all white, so needless to say not many people really understood the cultural significance of any of the acts.
After Hanoi, we drove to Hue where we spent one night.
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