On Monday the 27th May we caught the 5pm overnight train to Hanoi. The only available tickets were the top bunks of a six bunk ‘hard sleeper’ compartment. The top bunks were above my head and had so little head room that it was impossible to sit up and the width of the bunk was such that if I lay flat on my back and my arms at side, my fingers hung over the edge of the concrete like mattress. So after 12 hours in these conditions I must admit I was feeling a bit stiff and sore the next day. Bob said he slept fine which I can confirm by the loud snores I heard all night – not sure what the other 5 Vietnamese passengers thought of this! (Yes one bunk had two people in it – an adult and a 4 year old.)
So bleary eyed at 5.30 am we stumbled out
of Ga Ha Noi and to our surprise the hotel we had booked had someone to greet
us. He didn’t actually take us to the
hotel but got us a taxi, then rode his motorbike ahead of the taxi to the hotel
to then lead us down the back alleys to the hotel entrance. The hotel, The Splendid Jupiter, turned out
to be the nicest one we have stayed in so far and only $24 per night. We found out
that the owner of our hotel is a 28 year old man who came from the country to
Hanoi 11 years ago and now owns 4 hotels.
As our room wasn’t ready for us at 6am, we
left our bags at the hotel and walked around Hoam Kiem Lake, a big parkland in
the middle of the city. The place was
teeming with people walking, exercising, doing Tai Chi or group aerobics to
music, fan dancing, ball room dancing – every aspect of life on full view with
no apparent self-consciousness or need for privacy. All this happening before I am usually out of
bed!
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| Early morning aerobics at Hoam Kiem Lake, Hanoi |
Needing a caffeine hit around 7am we
stopped at a café for a Vietnamese coffee – thick, strong with sweetened milk
on the bottom. Sitting across the street
was this wonderful old ‘patriot’, a 90 year old man who fought in the Indochina
wars. He was sitting on one of the
ubiquitous little plastic chairs watching the comings and goings of the neighbourhood
with a far off look in his eyes (no doubt thinking of his days on the HCM trail
fighting the Imperialist aggressors)
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| The old patriot |
until his daughter helped him slowly walk
back to the house around 8 am.
We made a print of the first photo and gave
it to his daughter the next day.
Later in the afternoon after freshening up
we started the tourist rounds. First we
went off to the Hao Lo Prison, the infamous Hanoi Hilton that McCain was
in. Most of the exhibit talked about the French imprisoning the 'patriots
and revolutionaries' but then there was a few rooms exhibiting artifacts when
the prison was used to imprison the American pilots with pictures of McCain and
others. Lots of patriotic language / propaganda but I could see a similar
exhibit extolling the virtues of the American founding fathers. I suppose
it is all a matter of perspective and which side one is on.
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| Hao Lo Prison under the French |
The next day Bob came down with Ho’s
revenge – probably as punishment for all his irreverent remarks against Uncle
Ho, so a quiet day resting. In the
evening, for my birthday, we went to the Water Puppet performance.
Fantastic!
A must see if in Vietnam. I was
especially struck by the orchestra playing traditional Vietnamese
instruments. The Dan Bau had the most
exquisite and haunting sound.
The next day we did more Uncle Ho things –
The Mausoleum and museums. It was all
very formal at the Mausoleum. We had to
march pass very solemn, no pausing, keep in line, guards everywhere ensuring
everyone is respectful and keeps moving and not straying away from the
designated There was a dress code as well - no knees or shoulders
showing. Must say Ho was looking quite pasty having been dead for over 40
years. They really deify him which ironically is exactly what Ho did not want.
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| Ho's Mausoleum |
