Our day began as it did yesterday with a very yummy breakfast before meeting our group. When it comes to bread, baguettes or croissants you really can't beat the way the French make them. Those extra calories and carbs were just too good to pass up. I want to take this opportunity to explain how my wife and I chose this particular tour of Southeast Asia. Actually to be honest my wife chose it. We've traveled on Gate 1 tours before but this was our first Deluxe tour by Gate 1 we chose. We really liked the itinerary and also the fact that we fly between cities. That's the one thing I dislike the most about organized tours, the fact that you spend so much time on a bus between cities. Another factor was that all of the hotels on this tour are 5 star, and they really are. Finally Gate 1 has always been easy to deal with and very responsive to our needs. Our tour manager went by Ray and was from Thailand. He will be with us for the entire tour. We will also have local guides at each city we visit, and Ray will act as our local guide when we are in Thailand. This tour is limited to 24 persons but we only had 22. There turned out to be 2 rather interesting points about our group. About half of them were traveling together and also come from the same state as my wife and I do. As a matter of fact the area they are from is about 30 minutes from where we live. The second point is that there were quite a few medical professionals in our group, actually more than just a few. After quick introductions by everyone we set out for our Cyclo tour of Hanoi. Now we were going to be in the middle of all this crazy traffic. Our group was ready and we all got into our cyclo's. It was a little chilly and overcast but we pressed on. There was a photographer there waiting to take photo's of all of us and I'm sure at the end of our ride she'll be there with prints ready to buy. After the pictures were taken we were off. Our Tour manager Ray was also taking pictures of everyone in our group. As we proceeded on scooters, cars, buses and even trucks weaved around us and of course the symphony of horns was with us throughout our ride. Cyclo's and Scooters and Buses, Oh My! The ride went on for almost an hour. We saw all kinds of interesting things going on all around us. As we approached an intersection it seemed like it was a free for all getting through. It doesn't work like when 2 boats are crossing each others bow. It seemed like the biggest and most powerful vehicles always went through and everyone else, cars, scooters, cyclo's and bicycles always gave way. It was everyone for themselves at intersections All kinds of business's were on our route Eggs neatly stacked and delivered on a scooter The people really make their resources work for them as is shown above with this egg delivery person on his or her scooter. We saw numerous examples of items stacked way up there on scooters and even on bicycles being taken from point A to Point B for sale. Say Hello Barbara! We were going along and I was just soaking up all of the interesting sights when all of a sudden I noticed my cyclo coming along side of my wife. Our tour manager Ray capturing the moment Our tour manager Ray kept appearing every so often taking pictures of our group. I was starting to wonder if he was twins or even triplets. He arranged with his cyclo driver to get him to specific places on the route ahead of everyone else so that he would be able to take many photo's during the ride. A typical power pole at an intersection with multiple connections We saw all along our route these power poles with cables coming in from all directions. It reminded me of a birds next. It's not exactly up to our standards but it seems to work for them. Parking right on the sidewalks The streets were so narrow so everyone parks their scooters and bicycles on the sidewalk right in front of all the shops, restaurants and hotels. Again what ever it takes works for the local people. Fast food too! As our ride progressed we eventually got out of the Old Town area and the streets became wider. We started to see schools, various government buildings and some nice hotels. And there was one more thing I started to see. Traffic lights, thats right actual traffic lights. Wow, a real live Traffic light Vehicles waiting for the light to change Our ride finally came to an end and just as I thought the photographer that took our pictures at the beginning of our ride was there with our photo's all printed out. She wanted a dollar per picture. She actually wanted a dollar not 22,700 VND. Our ride ended outside the entrance to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. The size of the area where the mausoleum is was quite a bit larger than I thought it would be. Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum Maybe they hold parades and other ceremony's here on important dates. It sort of reminded me of a scaled down version of Tien Men Square in Beijing. The happy couple visiting the Mausoleum When we walked through the mausoleum to view his body it was very serene. We had to walk in single file and of course all hats and sunglasses had to be removed and no talking was the rule as a show of respect. I read that Ho Chi Minh had wanted to be cremated but after his death the ruling party decided to preserve his body for future generations to be able to see. From here we walked a bit to see the presidential palace that Ho Chi Minh actually didn't live in. He considered himself to be a man of the people and as such he chose to live in a more simple dwelling. The presidential palace was formerly the French Colonial Governor's house. The Presidential Palace was not used by Ho Chi Minh Several cars that were used to drive Ho Chi Minh around The house he chose to live in was built on stilts surrounded by gardens, tall trees and a small lake. It follows the design of the traditional Montagnard stilted structures from the far northern region of Vietnam. As you can see from the pictures below he lived very simply. One of the rooms in Ho Chi Minh's house The house was built on stilts We continued on around the lake filled with huge gold fish and made our way towards an open area. We wound up at the One Pillar Pagoda, a historic Buddhist temple thats dates back to the middle of the 11th century. It is designed to resemble a lotus blossom which is the Buddhist symbol of purity. The One Pillar Pagoda Tributes left in the temple We boarded our bus and headed to visit the Hoa Lo Prison. Also known as the Hanoi Hilton as this is where many American pilots that were shot down during the Vietnam war spent their time in captivity. Actually the prison was built by the French in the late 19th century and was used to incarcerate many Vietnamese political prisoners, both male and female. The conditions were quite ghastly. It was not only used as a prison but a place for interrogation, torture and also execution by the French. Probably the most famous POW taken there was Senator John McCain who at that time was a Lt. Commander and Naval Aviator. Conditions as they were in the prison Female political prisoners held by the French Absolutely terrible conditions and treatment The Guillotine, Yikes! The Hanoi Hilton's most famous guest We finished our brief visit at the prison and went to lunch. By the time we got to the restaurant our appetites had returned. We had a traditional Vietnamese lunch at least thats what were were told at the restaurant. We had Pho rolls, grilled fish with sticky noodles and fish sauce, fried rice mixed with stir fried vegetables and fresh fruit with ice cream for dessert. YUM! Everything was quite good. Our group went on to the Jade Temple that we had seen yesterday on our own. After a nice visit we went back to our hotel for a break before our evening activities and dinner. Before our dinner we went to the Water Puppet Theater to see a performance depicting ancient Vietnamese folktales. The tradition dates back to the 11th century, farmers and villagers would use the flooded rice paddies to make entertainment by standing waist deep in water with the puppets performing over the water. This is unique to North Vietnam and performances are accompanied by musicians playing traditional music. A Water Puppet performance We proceeded to the Wild Lotus restaurant for our groups dinner. After a very nice meal and getting to know our travel companions a little we went back to our hotel for the night. Our dinner selection at the Wild Lotus restaurant in Hanoi Next time we drive to Ha Long Bay for an overnight cruise.
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