Hanoi, Vietnam (12 Mar 2006 - 16 Mar 2006)

Good Morning, Vietnam!

Joe and I have had an unpleasant introduction to Vietnam so far. The flight from Vientiane was uneventful, as was the first day. Yesterday, however, my camera was stolen and today Joe is lying in bed sick as a dog. Unfortunately, my memory card was almost full, so I have lost all of my pictures from Laos past the first day in Luang Prabang. There were some great ones too. On the positive side, Joe still has his camera and I am sure that he will recover from his illness.

Hanoi is a crazy place. The city is bustling with people that all seem to be running ten minutes behind for an important engagement. The traffic is absolutely insane. When you cross a street, you have to just walk into the traffic and hope that you don't get hit. If you stop, you're as good as dead. It's difficult to hear much over the incessant honking of passing trucks and, of course, the ubiquitous mopeds. There is so much honking that it has completely lost all meaning. For some strange reason, however, the system does seem to work.

A note on the old quarter: This labrynthine maze of narrow streets and aggressive retailers would most accurately be compared with Dante's fourth circle of Hell, where hoarders and squanderers mob up, strain against giant weights charging at each other, and then repeat ad infinitum. The narrow streets are shared equally by full size local buses, tourist minibuses, vans, cars, motorcycles, mopeds, rickshaws, cyclos (pedicabs), bicycles and swarms of pedestrians. The sidewalks serve as a parking place for mopeds, a retail area for vendors hawking all sorts of food and knock off items, and, when unobstructed, as a thoroughfare for speeding mopeds (tourists do not count as an obstruction). Most of the streets are no wider than the thinnest one way lane in the States. And did I mention the fact that the vast majority of intersections in the old quarter are uncontrolled (no stop lights, no stop signs, no yield signs-nothing)? The right of way is seemingly determined solely by the boldness (or insanity) of the driver and the size of his/her mode of transportation.

The eighth circle of Hell (the fraudulent) also comes to mind. I have never been lied to more in my life. And quite convincingly, I might add. If I had a dollar for every time someone looked me straight in the face, smiling widely, and straight up lied to me, I could afford to extend my vacation indefinitely. I am convinced that a couple of these tricksters, in particular, could lie through their teeth during a ten hour polygraph session and still pass with flying colors.

I suppose I'll end my tirade at this point, before it becomes subjectively nasty. I should add that my intention is not to make any pejorative generalizations of Vietnam or its people. I'm just trying to relay an accurate description of my experiences, and to omit these crucial details would be a dereliction of this aim.

Other highlights of Hanoi included visits to the Citadel, the Army Museum, Hoa Lo Prison, and a traditional Vietnamese Water Puppet show. The Citadel was imposing, but we couldn't get any pictures. The Army Museum chronicled the triumph of the Viet Minh over French colonialism and of the Viet Cong/NVA over the imperialist American invaders. It was interesting, and I'll end my commentary with that. On display inside and outside of the museum are: a fully intact U.S. Army Bell UH-H1 Huey, various small arms, artillery, fighter planes, anti-aircraft weapons, and Soviet SA surface to air missiles (SAMs). The highlight was seeing the same T-54 tank that infamously crashed through the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon in April 1975, signifying the fall of South Vietnam.

Old Quarter at night, as seen from our balcony.

Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake

Turtle Island in Hoan Kiem Lake

Just when I thought Hanoi couldn't get any worse-it totally redeemed itself!

The Army Museum

US Army UH-H1 Huey Helicopter; background: a tower constructed of the wreckage of American and French planes.


Soviet manufactured MiG fighter jet; background: Hanoi Flagpole, which used to be a guard tower.


Captured US Air Force Dragonfly


Soviet manufactured T-54 Battle Tank - March 2006 (above) and April 1975 (below)

Hoa Lo Prison, a.k.a. the Hanoi Hilton

Hoa Lo Prison began as a French colonial prison used to incarcerate Vietnamese political prisoners. During the Vietnam War it earned the nickame of the Hanoi Hilton because it was used to imprison captured U.S. airmen, among them Sen. John McCain. It is now a small museum that denounces the draconian and torturous treatment of Vietnamese prisoners by their French wardens, contrasted with the hospitable and charitable treatment that U.S. airmen received during their "visit." It was as if Bergen-Belsen were magically transformed to a friendly bed and breakfast.

Water Puppets

The water puppet show was quite entertaining. The puppets float or emerge from waist deep green water, which hides the mechanisms used to move them. The show featured live traditional music/sound effects as well as special effects like fog and fireworks. For such a seemingly simple art form, the overall presentation was quite elaborate. Bravo.