ihearthanoi

it's hooottt.

but fantastic!

yesterday we went to ho chi minh's mausoleum and it was..odd. he's been preserved for forty years and as far as i'm concerned that is TOO long and weird. he looked like a wax figure of himself. it was very serious and hard to not feel so. we got there early so the line wasn't long but it got VERY long by the time we left. us ladies had to cover our shoulders and knees (which is too much when it's so hot outside) and no cameras were allowed. when my instructor was here last august he got rifle butted for stepping where he wasn't meant to -- so i tried to pay very close attention to the rules. incidentally, i was staring so hard at the body as we moved through (there was no time to hang out with ho) i ran into a guard which was startling and frightening (but okay in the end).
we also saw the one pillar pagoda as well as the center of government in vietnam, built by the french, and ho's living quarters.

it's very interesting to hear our guide talk about hcm (our guide speaks perfect english) becuase he is still very clearly in love with this man. i wonder how long this sort of respect and adoration will last? until thre is a regime change, i guess. i don't know anything about him really, so i'll be interested to read an unbias (as unbias as anything can ever be) when i get back to the states.
sometimes communism is very apparent here --
but vietnam and china have made me realize how loose of a term "communism" really is. i think karl marx would roll over in his grave.

we ended up seeing several other important sites in hanoi yesterday -- including a buddhist temple and the temple of literature, as well as the hanoi hilton (which was creepy....) we got back in the early evening and took an hour long ride on rickshaws -- the SLOWEST transportaton known to man -- and that was an amazing way to see the city. in the evening we went to see a water puppet show as this is very big in hanoi. it was a series of scenes including live music and puppets in water. pretty amazing! i enjoyed it, however touristy it may have been.

today we took a 3 hour driver to hai long bay which is surrounded by rock formations and was BEAUTIFUL. we got to swim in the ocean for a few hours and it was sooo enjoyable. i've never been in such salty and buoyant water! no tredding was necessary and floating has never been so easy!



i like it here a lot and hope to come back....i need to get some street food -- i have not been able to because no one else is interested....i will definitely have SOMETHING before the trip is over.

only 7 days left of traveling before KL and that also means only one week until Miles is 21!!!

i'm having the best time -- i wish i could share the full experience more fully.

we move to hoi an tomorrow -- central vietnam -- and i'll be interested to see the differences.

the other thing that's important about vietnam: war is bad. it hurts people.