Day 14, Hanoi

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It's not every day you get to see a 40 year dead person without having reacurring nightmares. Today was one of thoose raritys. We woke up early, some would argue too early, but i think walking through the Mausoleum and glancing at Ho Chi Minh lying in his golden glow made up for it. After being amazed by Ho Chi Minhs lifeless body we were futher amazed by the how humble he was in life, having turned down the oppertunity to live in the royal palace he decided instead to live simply in a 2 bedroom house, what a man!

Our huge day then took a contrasting turn as we went from the mighty of Ho to the horror stories that occured at Hoa Lu Prison that had shock stories from the prisonduring the rein of the French. It was really quiet eriee as we wandered through parts of a life sized model of the prison and a selection of creepy music didn't help the cause as it seeped from the speakers around the prison.

Our next stop was a doozy, as we steeped off the bus once again and got to visit the Ethnology museum that looks at the differnt varietys of cultures in Vietnam and what makes them so unique, i think we were all a little taken back at the strenght of some of the bamboo floors that we got to wander through in models of traditional huts.

With a weight on our eyelids from our big day we were relieved to have a good solid block of free time after lunch and a chance for a bit of shut eye. We were given free reign of the town and were told to meet for water puppets at 8.30 for a 9 o'clock show. I chowed down some KFC which I'm afraid to say is rivaling mastertons kentucky fired for number 1 taste!

The water puppets show was an experience not to be forgotten easily with an insight into how the Vietnamese were entertained back in the day and a look at the 4 favoured creatures; the phonix, unicorn, dragon and turtle... oh mate what a show!

Peace is not only better than war, but infinitely more arduous.
George Bernard Shaw

With love Seamus
And with a manlier sting than seamus
Geoff

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