Hello, Madam

I'm beginning to think that's my name, usually followed by moto? cyclo? bananna? pineapple? But despite the usual amount of street heckling, I have really found Hanoi to be a wonderful city. It's a little rough at the edges, and crossing the street often turns into an unwanted adventure sport, but there is much to see and in general the people are warm and friendly. Even though there are traffic lights at most intersections, the legions of Moto drivers tend to view them as suggestions, rather than required. The trick to crossing the street with all of the turning moto drivers (even though you have the right of way) is to walk very slowly so that they can judge their progress and thus avoid hitting you. craziness.

Yesterday I went to pay my respects to Mr. Ho Chi Minh. He is preserved in a mausoleum, much the way Lenin is in St. Petersberg. Since he died in 1969, I find this more than a bit creepy. The room is quite cold, and he is placed in repose, as though merely sleeping. It could very well just be a wax figure, which i would find infinitely less disturbing.

I intended to go straight from there to the Temple of Literature, the site of the first university in Vietnam, founded in 1070. Due to my fabulous sense of direction, however, I wound up getting a longer tour of the surrounding neighborhood than I had bargained for. By the time I reached the Temple, I was starving and had a great lunch of a falafel wrap and this mint-passionfruit shake at a restaurant which trains street kids for careers in the hospitality industry. Then it was on to shopping at Craft Link, which is a non-profit organization selling handicrafts from minority peoples in Vietnam.

This was my big splurge of the trip thus far, as I decided to buy a large piece of Ikat, which is very intricate hand-dyed and hand-woven silk, for the enormous sum of 975,000 Dong. That's only $60, but it was quite a big purchase. I also bought two smaller pieces of weaving. That quite satisfies my shopping bug for the moment, leaving me free to sightsee!!

I did finally make it to the temple of literature, which is an amazing complex of restored historic buildings, including 80 something stellae on the backs of turtles containing the names of everyone who passed their doctorate examinations in a certain year. It is good luck to rub the turtles' heads, despite the numerous signs in Vietnamese asking visitors to refrain. I once again got lost travelling from there back to the hostel, and actually had to break down and take one of the ubiquitous motos.

Happy hour at the roof bar quite restored my equinimity. We then attempted to find a Bia Hoi place (one of the fresh beer joints that pop up all over Hanoi and are frequented by locals). We thought we had found one, stuck our behinds on the tiny little seats on the sidewalks, only to discover the liquid being served was hot tea!!! Boy did we feel stupid, but politeness dictated we really had to drink it. I think the lesson is that Bia Hoi must be found and consumed earlier in the day!!