Breakfast on (official) Day 1 was in the hotel's French restaurant but we chose to sit outside. It was just so lovely to sit and watch the people go by. We had a Western breakfast but oh so nice! My omelete was made in front of me (Jess: reminiscent of the cruise - but not as cute!) and was just devine.
Chinh, our guide, picked us up at 9.00am and our 1st port of call is Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. The line to get in was massive but it is constantly moving. Before entereing all women must have their knees and shoulders covered. We are not permitted to take cameras, mobiles, food or drink inside; also no hats or sunglasses. We then slowly file past the actual body of Ho Chi Minh. He is one of only four leaders who have been embalmed, the others being Lenin (Russia), Kim (Nth Korea) and Mao Tse Tung (China). Quite a sombre experience.
Once outside we went into the gardens of the Presidential Palace, just behind the Mausoleum. The residence is not lived in today - the President lives in Saigon. It is used for meetings with visiting dignatories etc. Speaking of which, at our hotel we get a complimentary newspaper (in English) each day. So on our very first mornng here I get the paper and whose face is on the front page? Our very own Kevin Rudd who was here yesterday!
Ho Chi Minh refused to ever live in the Presidential Palace as he didn't believe he should be any better off than anyone else. Instead he lived in a 3-room bumgalow nearby, and then in the "House on Stilts", which was only 2 rooms!
More sightseeing at the One Pillar Pagoda, the Museum of Fine Arts (Tyrell's fix!) then to the Temple of Literature. After having worked at the National Gallery of Australia in my early days it was quite interesting to be able to wander through this gallery with absolutely no climate conrol or guards telling you not to touch. The Temple of Literature was an interesting place & makes you aware of how little we appreciate our scholars. For a period of time the top scholars (I suppose you could say the Dux of the University) had their name and details carved into a stone for future generations to know who they were. Today a uni degree lets you wait tables in a coffee shop!
Time for lunch. We defer to Chinh for suggestions and he tells us about a place nearby owned by a Vietnamese man who lived in Australia for a number of years before returning home to open a restaurant and employ & train underpriviledged kids, similar to Jamie Oliver. So we had lunch at "Koto" and it was sensational. We shouted Chinh and the bill came to $33 for all 4 of us!
Our next port of call was the (euphamistic) Hanoi Hilton, a prison originally built by the French - what a sadistic bunch of bastards they must have been back in the day! We watched a short film there about the "American War". It doesn't matter which side you're on, war sucks.
Then to another temple on an island in the middle of "The Lake of the Restored Sword", a similar legend to King Arthur. A short walking tour of the old quarter and then to a water puppet show (which was pretty lame!) and our day is finished.
Tomorrow is a free day so we asked Chinh what he suggests. He tells us we could take a trip out into the country to the ancient capital (Ninh Binh) and have lunch at a pace renowned for serving goat.
Tyrell is keen to go as she has read about all the places he has told us about so we asked him if he could arrange it. He apparently has a day off so offers to moonlight and take us himself!
We are more than happy to pay him rather than a tour company as we have clicked and he has been absolutely fabulous so far and he is offering a personalised trip we wouldn't have otherwise done. (Thanks Dad!)
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