Hanoi

After leaving Hue I headed north to a place called Nin Binh. . . . just a little town out in the country surrounded by some awesome scenery. Unfortunately, I lost my camera in Hanoi, along with all of my pictures of Nin Binh. I spent a day bicycling around the area, climbed a few hills, and, at one point, went down a river through a series of caves. It was awesome. The following are a few photos of places I visited in Ninh Binh that I stole from the web:

So anyway . . . . loosing my camera was a bummer, but its all good. I consider myself to be quite fortunate. Asside from one place, I had already uploaded all of my favorite pics and I was able to go get another one. Hanoi was an awesome city to visit. I loved it there. . . . it was one of those especially colorful places that I never want to leave. I stayed three days, could have stayed alot longer.

This is the Temple of Literature. . . . it sits in a park close to the city center. It was built around 1050 as a Cunfucian Temple but a few years later it became Vietnam's Imperial University used to educate government officials.The temple and the grounds are open to the public:
Each year, graduates names were carved on stone tablets on the backs of turtles. Turtles are considered a sign of good luck here.









Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. open every day from 7:30 - 10:30. Folks come from all over Vietnam to take a peak at the man's perfectly preserved body. . . . apperently the lines can stretch for several kilometers. I'm not a big fan of Uncle Ho and even if I was I wouldn't have wanted to stare at his corpse. . . . seems stange to me. Its ironic that he wanted to be cremated. Other travelers who did see it described it as looking like a wax dummy and questioned wether or not it was real.



Ho Chi Minh museum, opposite the mausoleum. . . . I stayed out of this one. . . . by this time I'd seen enough communist propaganda to last me for quite a while.




The greatest thing about Hanoi is its streets. . . . colorful and chaotic. I loved wandering. . . . no surprise, I always do. Hanoi just celebrated its 1000 year anniversary. The streets here are like a maze. Some become increasingly narrow and dead end, others widen again. They run all over the place with no sense of planning. They also change names every few blocks. This is the easiest city for a stranger to get lost in.m Everything here happens in the street. Its hot here and no one has AC. Space is limited. There are always hundreds of things going on all around you, all at the same time. Everyone is tring to make a few dollars.

Sidewalk barber shop: