More from Hanoi

February 5
We begin our first first full day in Hanoi with an early morning Cyclo ride through the Old Quarter. My Cyclo driver introduces himself, and it sounds like "Phong." He repeats my name and does a better job than I. We've mastered "hello, goodbye, and good morning" which is the same word ---"xin chao"-- and "Thank you" which is "cam on." But names are another matter. We're having to sharpen our listening skills.

Seeing the street shops and people from a lower perspective is enlightening but intimidating as we compete for space with motorcycles, bikes, busses, cars and pedestrians. People wave and smile as we zip along. We see Linen Street with piles of towels, Spice Street with its exotic aromas, and even a Bamboo Street. We also see pots and pans stacked high, flower sellers on bicycles, pole vendors selling everything from vegetables and fruit to fish from their hanging baskets. (How do these tiny ladies manage the weight on their shoulders for so long?)


We leave the cyclos for a look at the Temple of Literature, both a temple honoring Confucius and Viet Nam's first university. Outside the walls are calligraphers selling painted symbols representing peace, health, prosperity and other blessings of life.



In the afternoon we visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in time for the changing of the guard. It's a study in contrasts when, a short time later, we attend a performance of a unique Vietnamese form of entertainment - a water puppet show. Lasting an hour, the show features puppeteers who stand in water and manipulate beautiful carved puppets in stories illustrating agricultural life.





The next morning we drive 90 minutes to an island village called Thoha where the entire village is engaged in the production of rice paper which is made into noodles and wraps for spring rolls. The children follow us down streets and alleys where thousands of woven frames are stacked against the walls, allowing the rice paper to dry in the sun.



We're invited into the home of one of the villagers, Viet and his family, where his wife is making wraps. We're offered rice wine, and Viet plays several instruments for us.


A centerpiece of the home - as in all Viet Nam homes - is the family altar.










On the road we encounter a festival in Lang Lim and stop to sample the sights and sounds of a village celebration. But the most interesting experience is stopping at a corn field where we watch laborers (one of whom, above left, is 76-years-old) hauling water from an irrigation ditch and watering small corn plants by hand. Most are women and again, we marvel at their strength. Lam has told us that the women were responsible for preserving Vietnamese culture during the 1,000 years of Chinese occupation (from 179 BC to 938 AD). Seeing these women in the fields makes us believers.

On the way back we stop at the "Hanoi Hilton," now a museum, where American pilots were imprisoned during the Viet Nam War. It had been built by the French in 1896 to house political prisoners. The history of atrocities committed there to both men and women during that long ago war between the French and Vietnamese and the photos and artifacts chronicling the imprisonment of the American pilots are a somber witness to the horrors of war. Everyone is silent and subdued on the return to our hotel. [John McCain's flight suit and parachute are on display.]

Tomorrow we travel to Halong Bay to stay over night on a replica of a Vietnamese Junk. We fortify ourselves for the journey by eating at a restaurant where we're the only Caucasians. The Cha Cá Restaurant serves only one dish - a grilled fish brought to your table where it simmers on a brazier surrounded by bowls of greens, noodles, peanuts and sauces. Travel and Leisure Magazine has described it as "the one dish you must eat before you die" They weren't kidding.