October 12, 2012 Hanoi

October 12,2012

LAT Report

**having problems downloading pictures, IPAD allows only one picture at a time, so will add when I get home the majority of the pics but wil always try to post a couple to the web.

Oh my gaud it's  hot here  .. now I know why we have so many people from Vietnam in th US  I would move also.  it is the humidity....and all the water and even the beer they serve is medium cold.  My stomach continued to give me some angst so I had a very moderate breakfast and no lunch then we did a  course dinner that I liked only the soup course of...we so not much there either.  The day had several tours and honestly I almost passed out it was so hot.    We went to tthe Temple of Litature   the Museum of Ethnology that showed the different groups of people that live here in Hanoi/Vietnam and there orgin and a little hstory on thsm... then we did the Ho Chi Min Mausoleum, well we did it from abut a mile away as they will not let you get any closer they gaurds armed with AK47's and they do not look friendly.  So we looked at the buildng and heard about its occupant who died in 1972 and they are trying to figure out how to preserve his body... I personally think by this point it is a moot point....there are only 3 million communinists out of 89 million people..and most who are are dignataries or officials... not well thught of over here lots of complaints about taxes and the cost of thngs ...they say the rich are rich and the poor are very poor... kinda like what  Mitt and Ryan are striving for..We then went to the Hanoi Hilton or what is left of it, that was sad and interesting...oh my how they treated people, the cell that John Mc Cain was in is no longer in existance but they did have examples and it was a a very HOT place!  Still getting to know eople and rn into our first a__hole republican...who said Obama was going to win but that is state Wyoming was going to do their job to help Romney...good luck with that big electrial count!!  Most of the people we are hanging with our blue like us...except for a nice Canadian couple and they are neither....  

LMR Report

Busy full day in Hanoi - Had early buffet breakfast with the tour group.  We weren't really sure what day t was- still kind of rummy, but we had a newspaper at the door that told us the date.

We took a tour of several site and visited Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, as well as the educational building and the museum of Ethnology.

Traffic is chaotic, six million people and 3 million motor bikes!

At the education building we were met by vendors at the us who swarmed me, Linda ha to rescue me from their clutches, They really wanted to get my money, going so far as trying to reach into my purse.  They did have cute t-shirts for all.  We bought post cards and mailed them off.

At Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum I needed to use the "Happy Room"  as it is called here, the woman at the door would not let me in without paying and then only gave me two squares of toilet paper.  I didn't have any tiny bills so borrowed the oney frm our guide (Kong), i we him 2000  dongs.

There is a neat park by our hotel where young couples go to have wedding pictures taken.  Our guide said that many couples don't end up marrying but do like the photos.  The brides were totally drssed in beautiful log whte dresses with veils and the grooms in tux or nice suits.

Tonight was a six course Vietnamese dinner, with an interesting menu and bd wine choices, limited beer menu, too.  Wine was very expensive ($10.80) for a small glass and I gave it aay!

**Special note to Patsy--we have not found the hotel bar---cannot go without you!!

Linda did not serve in any medical capacity at the dinner , her nursing skills are becoming a bit rusty, but we have another group dinner tomorrow night in Cambodia.





LMR REportPics 1-12-2012