Day 46-49 31st Aug,-3rd Sept - Hanoi
A funny thing happened on the 14 hour bus, I was looking out the window with my earphones on when I was tapped on the shoulder. It was Richard Clifton Smith from school I was in his brothers year, and he was in Greg’s(my brother) year! He is travelling for 6 months with a mate Lachlan Robison (also St Aloysius ‘01). So we got chatting and we ended up sharing a room in Hanoi. The bus was pretty good considering the length, having two seats makes the difference. We were in the heart of the old quarter and 100m from 15 cent beers so that was the main thing.
We found a hotel with three beds fairly easily and it was only $3 a night so that was a bonus. Time for breakfast we decided to go to a cafe where they teach street kids to cook and about hospitality, the meal was great and I would thoroughly recommend Koto. Then it was off to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, but we arrived at 11:30 and it was closed. What about the museum, well that closes at 12. So after making a the decision to lye on the grass and have a read until it reopened at 2pm it was finally time for a rest. When 2pm came around we went to the door and found out that it was not open in the afternoon on Fridays for some strange reason, at this point it was home time via the market for some fried dumplings YUM! The rest of the day was chilling out, it was so hot there that it was hard to want to go outside, i know why they sleep between 11-3.
The next day Rich and Lachlan went to Halong bay and I stayed behind as I was doing it later. I thought this would be a good opportunity to go and check out Ho Chi Minh. I did not realise how crazy it would be on a Saturday of the Independance day weekend, the line was about 2km long, security was tight and it was bloody hot! He looks in very good nick (no photos allowed anywhere near there, wouldn’t take one even if they were), there is a joke that it is a wax body not really him. The main guards are like the guards at Buckingham palace, they are perfectly rigid and do not move (unless you watch them for a while). After this I went around the grounds where he worked and lived. He must have been a very humble guy because he could have lived in palaces had anything he wanted, but lived in a two room stilt house next to a lake! If i ever get some land I would love to build a place just like it, really simple, but everything you need at the same time.
The next day was a day was Vietnam’s Independence day 2nd of September. I could not find any particular celebrations but there were a lot of people around. I went for a long walk around town and then it started pouring for about an hour, I was soaked through, by the time i made it home to the hotel it looked as if I was swimming in them. I didn’t mind this break from the heat it was a welcome distraction really, and well worth it too.
On the 3rd it was raining so I took it easy and planned my trip to Halong Bay the next day. It is time for a rest this makes it 7 straight weeks on the road and I am getting tired. I think four days lying on a beach should sort that problem out for a while! I will let you know.
Tags>> Hanoi Vietnam