Scenes from Hanoi

After a relaxing couple of flights we arrived in Hanoi at 10:30 p.m. (leaving Honolulu at 11 a.m. the previous day), easily obtained our on-arrival Visas ($25 US Dollars, the only currency accepted at immigration), and calmly found our driver before taking one of the more stressful car rides we've ever experienced.

This is where we were quickly initiated into Vietnamese driving where car honks and headlight flashing are used to announce to the car in front of you that your car is plowing right through so it is best to get the heck outta the way.  We've seen crazy drivers in lots of different states and countries but the Vietnamese might take the cake.

You might think this would make crossing the street a challenge, but thanks to a tip in Lonely Planet we learned that the only way to cross the street unscathed is to walk at a slow and steady pace.  Cars and motorbikes pay attention to what is right in front of them and they will adjust to moving around the pedestrian or car/bike.

xe om
(picture taken while A was on the back of another [moving] bike)

Did we mention the motorbikes?  They are everywhere and even function as taxis, called xe om.  We took at xe om for the 3-kilometer trip from our hotel to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum.  Surprisingly this felt like a very secure means of transportation, though we're sure the helmets are just for show, not safety.

Arriving at the Mausoleum we came across a verrrrryyyy long line.  As we walked to the end of the line we passed droves of schoolchildren shouting "Hello" and waving at us.  We gave them high-fives and felt like celebrities.  We understand that it's likely we are one of the first Westerners they have ever seen. 

Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum Entrance

No pictures are allowed inside the Mausoleum and they have a very good system for bag and camera checking.  Though waiting in line to see a dead guy which may or may not be a wax sculpture might sound silly to some the experience of being in this line of Vietnamese who travel from all over the country to be here was interesting. 

carrying pineapples.  somehow we wound up paying for this experience,
though the pineapple was tasty.

R carried pineapples just like a local!

One of our favorite things in Hanoi was water puppet show, a traditional art form from Hanoi and northern Vietnam where farming families entertained themselves in flooded rice fields.  Puppeteers stand behind a bamboo screen and control wooden puppets with a long stick under the water.  

We ended up with pho for both lunch and dinner and boy was A excited about it.  We paid about $4 for two bowls of pho and a bottle of bia.

We also tried snake, fresh from the snake farm.  They use every part of the snake including a snake skin chip, a dip made from the bones, and many dishes involving the meat.

And Weasel Coffee, a highly sought after coffee for its full flavor.  The coffee passes whole through the digestive track of a weasel where enzymes seep into the beans.  Don't worry, the beans are cleaned before they are processed!

Hanoi has several man made lakes and  we were fortunate that our hotel was very close to Hoan Kiem Lake; we enjoyed walking around the lake and watching the locals and their morning constitutional and backgammon match.

One Pillar Pagoda

Wandering around Hanoi we also visited the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university, and several pagodas and saw lots of funny things, such as rabbits being sold from the back of bicycles.

All that walking earned us a foot massage!