Day 11 - Hanoi

I slept in today for the first time in a while. I feel like I'm missing so much when I sleep late, but I really needed it and man, did i enjoy it! Getting up before 7:00 is for the birds. Or farmers. Either way it's not a label that fits me too well.

With five of us traveling together I'd forgotten how different solo traveling and group traveling are. It's great being around friendly faces and having friends to converse and go places with, but even the smallest decision when traveling with a big group becomes an act of congress.

Did a lot of sightseeing today, so I think I'm sight-seeinged out for a while. The day started off great at the Confucian Temple of Literature. It's a beautiful, peaceful place with a lot of history, some of the buildings dating back to 2001 AD. Then it was downhill to the Ho Chi Minh mosoleum - sans the body of Unlce Ho who is vacationing in Russia. After a lunch of SPAM spring rolls and warm beer, the the letdowns continued at the HCM museum, which was interesting for its communist symbology, but unremarkable for its collection of HCM memorabilia. Then onto the "Hanoi Hilton" prison, which we found to have been replaced by a highrise office building leaving one small wing of the prison complex intact. The prison museum thoroughly documented the abuse suffered by the Vietnamese prisoners at the hands of their French capteurs, and showed the smiling faces of American servicemen as they vacationed in their plush living quarters within the compound. Maybe I'm just a cynic, but the museum was too propagandized to effectively pay homage to everyone who was encarcerated and suffered there. I did get to see John McCain's flight suit, though, which was pretty cool.

Not wanting to see any more sights, it was back to the French quarter for strolling around the lake, dodging scooters and souvenier sellers, and stopping periodically at cafes for beer or coffee. I then met up with everyone for a traditional Vietnamese water puppet show, which was well worth the hefty $1.25 price tag.