Hanoi, Vietnam

After returning to Vietnam (the night train gets you in around 5am) we went back to the hotel to sleep a bit and to get some breakfast. After that, however, there was no rest for the wicked. It was time to do a city tour of Hanoi and actually learn a little bit about Vietnam culture.
We started our tour with a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and museum. The security to get into the mausoleum was crazy. You could not carry any big bags (think bigger than a small fanny pack), you had to take your sunglasses and hats off; you couldn't walk with your hands in your pockets or behind you. You had to walk in twos and follow a red carpet on the floor. It was crazy because there were armed guards (with bayonets and automatic rifles) every couple of feet. You could not walk very slow because they kept you going through the highly protected room. It is actually kind of sad because I learned that Ho Chi Minh actually wanted to be cremated and laid to rest that way, but the government had other ideas.
The compound where he stays and where the museum is actually has a bunch of other stuff as well. It contains the house in which he lived and worked and the cars he drove. It was kind of cool to see and our guide (Ta - pronounced ti - the same guide we had for Sapa) has a great amount of information and really made the experience a learning one.
The museum was an interesting thing to see. It talks a bunch about Ho Chi Minh's philosophy, how he spoke, how he had a 99% approval rating in Vietnam (at least Northern Vietnam) and it told the story of the Vietnam war from the North Vietnamese side. It was very interesting to see Americans portrayed as the aggressors and as the enemy when I have grown up learning the exact opposite. There were some very interesting articles that came out when the war ended and how happy they were that the Vietnamese were victorious. A very odd perspective to see.
One of the most interesting things was to see what the most important vehicle for the North Vietnamese was during the war. There was a bicycle laden with faux guns and rice and tons of other things. It looked like it should not have been able to move because it was so over burdened, but it was how the N. Vietnamese got the supplies they needed. Crazy to think that the bicycle played such an important role and that the Ho Chi Minh trail was such an important means of transportation.
After the museum and all we went to the first university in Hanoi (started in the 11th century). Again Ta was very knowledgeable on the subject and it was nice to see the history of education and hear about the importance that is still placed upon it today. Many of the buildings are re-done (due to bombings and weather) but you still get the idea of it all. One more trip before lunch found us at a temple in the middle of one of the lakes in Hanoi. There is a red bridge that takes you out to the temple island and it is pretty cool to see. (I will try to put names to all of this later, but can not remember them at this time.)
Lunch was good and big (as usual) but it afforded us some good relaxation time. Then it was off to do a one hour bicycle tour of the city. We thought it was going to be us riding the bikes, but we were wrong. We were driven around the city on bicycles, but it was pretty cool to see the different streets that they have. Then it was off to the water puppet show. That was an interesting one, but it is hard to explain on a blog.
After walking around the night market Katie and I decided to call it a night. We got up the next morning and took it easy. We walked around another market for a while and then got some Pho (ok it was actually Bun, but the same idea). I had to get back to the hotel so I could make it to the airport so we took motorbikes. It was actually really fun and the driving was not as crazy as I had once thought. Ta was at the hotel when we got there so I ran up to the room to get my stuff, said my sad goodbyes to Katie and Patrick and hopped in the car. The next adventure is to meet up with Rob in Siem Reap, Cambodia.