Our guide, Hio, and our driver
picked us up at the hotel and, after a drive along Dien Bien Phu, Embassy Row, our
first stop was Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum.
Because the building was closed for maintenance, we didn't get to see
the father of the country under glass. We did get to witness the changing of
the guard and learn in some detail from Hio the story of Ho's background, political formation and
determination to break France's colonial grip on Vietnam. We also talked about the American War and the
fact that, given the destruction and death (if not defeat) it caused here,
American tourists are welcome here now.
Nearby was the One Pillar Pagoda, symbol of Hanoi, and a temple complex.
At the Museum of Ethnography,
we learned about the many ethnic minorities that compose this country through
displays devoted to their homes, tools, rituals, dress, crafts, and work.
After lunch, we stopped at the
Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest in the country, on the shores of Lake West. Hio explained some of the characteristics of
Vietnamese Buddhism and the difference between temples, which honor kings or
national heroes, and pagodas, built for religious purposes.
Temple of Literature honors
Confucius and became the site of Vietnam's first university. Though it is no longer a university, it is a
mecca for students who come, dressed in traditional garb, to pray for academic
success. We also witnessed the
celebrations of many students who had come from their campuses to mark their
graduations.
We bid our driver farewell at
the Jade Temple in Hoan Kiem Lake and, after visiting the temple to the
country's first great general, we walked around the shops of Old Town Hanoi
before returning to the hotel and saying goodbye to Hio.
After another very inexpensive
dinner steps away from last night's "find," we headed back to the
hotel, stopping briefly at a Buddhist temple where we were drawn by a beautiful
chant, to prepare for tomorrow morning's departure to Halong Bay.
Hanoi is a crowded, very busy,
city where the chaos of the streets easily distracts from the charm of the
bordering colonial architecture, where much of life (including cooking, eating
on low plastic stools, and washing the dishes afterwards) is lived right on the
sidewalks, where tourists are welcomed and where crossing the street is an act
of courage!
Because we'll be spending
tomorrow night in a junk on Halong Bay, tomorrow's post probably won't be
uploaded until Thursday.
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