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Published: November 16th 2010
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Our first morning in Vietnam started with a really good breakfast consisting of just about everything you would ever need cereal, toast, pastries, yoghurt, omlette, bacon, and if you wanted dumpling soup.
We met out guide in the hotel lobby and proceeded to the mini-van to take us to our first stop. Our venture out into Hanoi traffic was interesting. Whilst there are 6 million bicycles in Bejing, there are about that many scooters in Vietnam. Imported cars carry 175% tax plus VAT making it too expensive to own a car when you can buy a scooter for as liitle as $500. Somehow, despite all the traffic going in all different directions they seem to miss each other. We headed out to Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, and we had been asked the night before to wear "respectful" clothing, or we would not be allowed in. Just as in China, the outer grounds are surrounded by the military, and all baggage is screened before you can enter. We had to leave all our bags with the guide as cameras and liquids are not allowed in. Some of the other visitors were being handed scarves to wrap round their legs, as
their dresses were deemed to be too short. The Mausoleum had just re-opened, as it is shut for 3 months of the year for "embalming maintenance". We were ushered down the line towards the building, which is supposed to resemble a lotus flower (goodness know what planet the architect had been on!), and we had to remove hats and sunglasses, and once inside were reprimanded for talking. The body is laid out in a glass box, and surrounded by guards, and the Vietnamese visitors looked upon it with reverence, whereas we just wondered if it was worth the hassle, and a Madame Tussauds waxwork would work just as well!
Once we'd exited the Mausoleum building we were allowed to collect our camera's and the rest of belongings and walk round the house's complex where Ho Chi Minh lived. The Vietnamese people believe he lived at this place because he said he wanted to live as the peasants did and not in such granduer and the people loved him for this. But from what we could see there probably aren't too many peasants with their own small lake and air raid bunker even so though the house itself is very
modest.
After a good look round Ho Chi Minh's house we walked round the corner to the One Pillar Pagoda. which in itself was ok but like everything in the asian world it had to represent some deeper meaning. This was supposed to represent love making and fertility so attracted a host of newly weds going and offering prayers and money at it, so as to help them have healthy children.
Once back on the minibus we went across town to a museum calling at the bank along the way. We decided to change around 200 USDollars each as we'd been advised to take US dollars as they take dollars in some of the shops. Yes! at last we were millionaires as there are around 4 Million Dong for 200 Dollars after divideing it up a little so not to keep so much in one place, we continued to the museum.
We first went inside and had a look through the exhibits which was a history of the different people that make up Vietnam as a country and how much populate the country today etc. The exhibits were good and Tu our guide explained things pretty well
and kept it interesting without bombarding us with too much information. We then went outside around the grounds which was great they had reconstucted some of the old village houses so we could take a look inside them and see how they would live and it brought it to life a lot more than just looking at pictures inside the meuseum. We spent a little time walking round then had some lunch in the cafe a set menu for us of spring rolls, followed by a selection of other chinese style dishes with slightly cold rice and followed by the customary water melon. The strangest sight of the day was the number of brides that were having their wedding photos taken in the grounds of the museum. We saw over 10 different parties posing against some of the more "unusual" exhibits which must have made for an interesting wedding album!
On the way to the next stop, our guide asked us if we would like to visit a factory shop where they would show us how the laquer ware that we had seen was made. Not wanting to miss out on the chance of a bargain, we agreed. It
was very interesting and certainly made you appreciate how much work actually goes into making the pictures from start to finish. It takes approx 3 months to go through the process and there are lots of polishing and re-lacquering stages. We also saw they making items using duck egg shells with each piece individually glued in place and then broken on the surface, which was painstaking work. After each making a purchase, we continued to the Temple of Literature.
This temple is dedicated to Confucius, as the Vietnamese combine his teachings with that of Buddism. There were a number of large golden statues in the temple buildings. Previously the building had been university and the names of the graduates were carved on large stone tablets and placed on top of giant turtles which people touch to bring them good fortune. We also saw some ladies performing Vietnamese music on traditional instruments.
From here we returned to the hotel until dinner. We should have been having a cyclo ride around the Old Quarter, but because it was Saturday they could not fit us in, so we were to catch this on our way back from Halong Bay.
Tu
took us to a resturant for the "welcome meal" we had missed when our flights had been delayed. It wasn't like the ones we had been to in other countries where there are lots of tourists together and there is traditional dancing, this was simply a meal.
After the meal, Tu had got us tickets to the Water Puppet show. This is one of the most famous things in Hanoi. It is set in a theatre with a large tank in it, and to singing and instruments, the puppets tell a story. The puppets sit on top of the water and are made from teak wood so are reasonably water resistant. The puppeters stand behind a curtain upto their waists in water and manipulate the puppets on long handles. There was fire and fireworks and was probably the least child orientated puppet show we had ever seen.
Tu had left us at this point, but pointed out that one of the neighbouring streets had a night market we might want to look at. To be honest, it was disappointing, and more like a market for locals with clothes and shoes, rather than any handicrafts. It also gave us
a stark reminder to watch our possessions, as we saw a local crouched on the ground rifling through two purses that still had all their cards in.
We went for a drink in one of the buildings that overlook one of the busiest roundabouts, and watched the chaos below. How the cars, bicycles, scooters and people all missed each other we don't know!
We called it a night, and returned to the hotel to get the last of things together for the early start to Halong Bay. We fell asleep writing the blog before we had chance to publish it.
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