Hanoi, Vietnam
April 9-10
So we got to Hanoi pretty late, but thankfully we had arranged for a hotel room and a van to pick us up from the airport so we didn't have any issues getting to our place. I say no issues getting there, because we had a few issues once we got there; the hotel which we dubbed Tom Thumb (due to our inability to pronounce it's actual name) was not as Lonely Planet had described it. After shimmying our way up the narrow, crumbling plaster staircase we hopped over some brooms and cleaning supplies to our room. Let's just say it felt as though we were in a musty insane asylum with cracks in the white walls, a musty odor and humid stickiness. Our bathroom door was just a shower curtain and our shower was a hose that had to be attached to the faucet in order to work. I guess we were a little better off as Josie and Mark slept in a room literally on the roof and next to the water heaters so they got to hear every sound the city made all night long.
Morning found us awake at an unnecessarily early hour, due to the boisterously loud neighbors we managed to be placed next to, and out the door to a find a new place to stay. We lit
erally took our bags half a block to the Rose Inn which was our saving grace. A HUGE clean room with HUGE beds, tv, air/con, a real door on the shower, etc. Sold! After getting our things set up we made our way to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex. It was definitely worth seeing, but was somewhat eerie. The people of Hanoi are still in 
love and awe of HCM and treat him with an incredible amount of respect. We had to pass through some security and leave our cameras, etc. as we were put into two single file lines and made to walk through the mausoleum. It was basically a freezer box of granite and marble until you come to this big room with a huge communist flag and Mr. Minh in a glass casket. It was really interesting to see how much he still affects the people of N. Vietnam. We spent some more time wandering the grounds of the complex and stopped for
a minute at the One Pillar Pagoda which is a temple that sits atop a small pond supported by one pillar (clever name right?) :) Next we walked through the city a little bit, taking in the cool French-Colonial influence in the architecture and ending up at the Temple of Literature. This is a cool walled in complex that served as the first university in Hanoi and a huge Confucian learning center (dating back to 1070!) It's a beautiful area with 5 separate courtyards connected by 3 symmetrical
paths that go through the whole complex: the first 2 courtyards are landscaped with ponds and trees where the scholars relaxed, the 3rd is a large ornate square surrounded by giant turtle statues (steles) that are engraved with the names of scholars who received doctorates, the 4th is where the great Confucian scholars studied and the 5th is where the pavilions and first university were located. It was a very peaceful place located in the middle of the city and provided some cool insight into the way Hanoi was hundreds and hundreds of years ago.
erally took our bags half a block to the Rose Inn which was our saving grace. A HUGE clean room with HUGE beds, tv, air/con, a real door on the shower, etc. Sold! After getting our things set up we made our way to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex. It was definitely worth seeing, but was somewhat eerie. The people of Hanoi are still in 
love and awe of HCM and treat him with an incredible amount of respect. We had to pass through some security and leave our cameras, etc. as we were put into two single file lines and made to walk through the mausoleum. It was basically a freezer box of granite and marble until you come to this big room with a huge communist flag and Mr. Minh in a glass casket. It was really interesting to see how much he still affects the people of N. Vietnam. We spent some more time wandering the grounds of the complex and stopped for
a minute at the One Pillar Pagoda which is a temple that sits atop a small pond supported by one pillar (clever name right?) :) Next we walked through the city a little bit, taking in the cool French-Colonial influence in the architecture and ending up at the Temple of Literature. This is a cool walled in complex that served as the first university in Hanoi and a huge Confucian learning center (dating back to 1070!) It's a beautiful area with 5 separate courtyards connected by 3 symmetrical
paths that go through the whole complex: the first 2 courtyards are landscaped with ponds and trees where the scholars relaxed, the 3rd is a large ornate square surrounded by giant turtle statues (steles) that are engraved with the names of scholars who received doctorates, the 4th is where the great Confucian scholars studied and the 5th is where the pavilions and first university were located. It was a very peaceful place located in the middle of the city and provided some cool insight into the way Hanoi was hundreds and hundreds of years ago.On our way back to the hotel we stopped for a bia hoi at one of the 
famed sidewalk stops. Basically bia hoi is some of the cheapest beer on earth (about 25-30 cents for a pint) and is a staple of the Hanoi culture--it's brewed fresh everyday so there is no real cost in bottling/production. People meet at
bia hoi stands to eat and socialize and stay in touch (much like tea houses or coffee houses) and the cheapness of the bia is denoted by the chairs and table outside the shop--the smaller the tables and the the shorter the stools the cheaper it is. Naturally we went as local as we could find and sat on a set of small children's picnic furniture whilst enjoying the people watching--I felt like Alice in Wonderland when she drinks the potion that makes her giant.
famed sidewalk stops. Basically bia hoi is some of the cheapest beer on earth (about 25-30 cents for a pint) and is a staple of the Hanoi culture--it's brewed fresh everyday so there is no real cost in bottling/production. People meet at
bia hoi stands to eat and socialize and stay in touch (much like tea houses or coffee houses) and the cheapness of the bia is denoted by the chairs and table outside the shop--the smaller the tables and the the shorter the stools the cheaper it is. Naturally we went as local as we could find and sat on a set of small children's picnic furniture whilst enjoying the people watching--I felt like Alice in Wonderland when she drinks the potion that makes her giant. 
For dinner we ate at a Vietnamese restaurant that was near a big lake in a more colonial part of town. The lake was packed with motorbikes and people strolling the paths, eating and enjoying the oasis. We met up with some of Emily's friends from school and had a great night wandering the streets, sitting at a table on a balcony and exchanging stories amidst the lights and traffic of Hanoi. We didn't have any trouble falling asleep as another early wake up call was in our future: Halong Bay in the morning!
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