HANOI
Vietnam
Still the 14th
Canadian siblings Kurt and Angeline that I hung out with in the Incheon airport on the way to Hanoi
My room at the Win Hotel in Hanoi
Watched Fantastic 4 on the flight in (pretty bad movie, but watchable)
Didn't land until 10:30pm, took out 2.5 MILLION DONG (less than $200) from the ATM
I remember on the cab ride thinking that this guy would be the driver you would want if you were on The Amazing Race- beeping, flashing, having no patience for anyone in front of us. Was he emphasizing communication like a Krzyzewski coached basketball team, or simply a being a jerk? A little of both I think in this case. Or he just obviously recognized that I was an important guy with places to go and things to do.
By that same token I also realized that he could be taking me anywhere and was in a rush to rob me and drop me off in the middle of no where so he could go spend my money, thinking "This guy has MILLIONS on him!"
15th
Looking out into the world from my first breakfast in Hanoi from the hotel lobby
Here you see a delicious bowl of beef and noodle soup, chicken and eggs were not available.
An example of French colonial architecture, and a place around the corner from my hotel I would eat at twice
Hanoi city tour- only three of us total, $15 each, driver and seperate guide in a late model Toyota SUV. Booked through the Nam Phuong Hotel Sinh Cafe next to the real Kangaroo Cafe (wanted to book through them but they only offered private tours)
About a third of the way into the tour it would start pouring rain. We also had an excellent lunch included (I had the fried noodles with beef). The pictures below are from the Tran Quoc Pagoda on the shore of West Lake (Ho Tay)
My tourmates Rachel and Paul- Australians on honeymoon
Ho Chi Minh Complex
More specifically in this picture his mausoleum. We didn't go in because Ho himself isn't there this time of year- in Russia for repairs.
Our guide Hing
Many of the guides were cute twentysomethings that had the chance to learn English
Funny some of the things they put up for tourists. "WOW, is that really Ho Chi Minh's used car?! Awesome!"
And his stilt house
Dragonfruit
I believe all the ones below are from the large complex of The Temple of Literature.
The One Pillar Pagoda (Chua Mot Cot)
Designed to resemble a lotus blossom, a symbol of purity, rising out of a sea of sorrow.
The Huc (Rising Sun) Bridge, which leads to the Ngoc Son (Jade Mountain) Temple
The tour was done by about 1:30pm, so back at the hotel I figured out two awesome sites would be the Army Museum and the Hanoi Hilton,
so I took a cab over.
Entrance to the Army Museum
A Soviet surface to air missle (SAM) that would take down many of our planes
In front of an iconic Huey
Entrance to the Hoa Lo Prison Museum, or "the Hanoi Hilton"
Above are pics of some of our pilots that stayed here, including Senator John McCain (a politician I actually respect), whose uniform is below
I then walked a main street by our hotel and found a tailor to get fitted for two suits, before leaving my suitcase at the Win to take a cab over to Handspan to meet up with my Sapa tour by 8:30pm. Pretty full day!
