Note: I will try to catch up with Angkor Wat real soon. I was sick during that time, fine now, but didn’t put the time into the blog.
Flew from Siem Reap last night to Ha Noi. Yes, they are spelling it differently then we do. Interesting, our three bags, (one full of dental instruments) was 20Kg over the limit, so we were told by the guy checking us in that we would be charged for the overage. No way out of it; we asked how much, he said he would only charge us for 10Kg and it was $70. We thought outrageous, but didn’t feel we really had any say in the matter. Gloria gave him two 50’s, he reaches in his wallet, and gives her $30 in change, he puts the two 50’s in his wallet and that was that. Now we are both outraged and screwed. We checked our bags and boarded the plane.
Our guide, Duc, met us this morning for our day,s activities. First on the agenda was Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Museum. This guy is revered much like Mao is for the Chinese and Lenin with Russians. I admit he was quite a guy, but I really don’t believe that he spoke 24 languages!
Since this was our “Communist” day, we wore red.
He died in 1969 and the war dragged on for 6 more years. The North’s biggest challenge was to first get him embalmed, (fast), and then keep him from being obliterated by US bombs. Some good stories about those two objectives.
Indeed, they still send him back to Russia every year for three months to get him “freshened up”, or should we say “detailed”. Today, the door was closed, he was in Russia.
He is revered much like the North Korean’s worship Kim Il-Sung. Ironically, the government has abandoned most of his economic policies since the mid-1980s. Also, he was very insistent as to his cremation and scattering of his ashes on three mountain tops in Vietnam. Instead, he spends fall in Russia with the technicians from Madam Tussand sprucing him up!
We continued with the Ho Chi Minh Museum. Really a history of modern Vietnam. Also, quite interesting. The last 200 years has been that of being conquered and imperialism. First the French, then Japan for a while, then the French again, finally the US in the 60’s and 70’s. And those pesky Chinese kept showing up by the 100.000’s, sometimes to help the Vietnamese, some time to declare war against them.
They did OK as long as their Big Brother was the Soviets. When the Soviet Union shattered in 1991, the Vietnamese realized they either had to “sink or trade”. They grew up real fast and became the manufacturer for the world right behind China. And that is where they are today.
We did spent some time on a “cyclo”, this was part of the “tour” and one I would not recommend. It is like a reversed tricycle, with you in the front with the pedaler in the back. They pedal so slow you could walk faster. Add to that the dust, dirt and exhaust from 3 million motorcycles and and unknown number of busses and cars……
This was my view. No, nobody even saw us as they zoomed by. You feel like a red blood cell with millions of other cells in an artery.
Here’s Gloria, before we started, she is still smiling.
Finally, here is my latest menu shot. There is always one good laugh when you eat at foreign restaurants. Alex, Greg, remember the item on the menu in England? I just read recently that restaurants have tried to rename it! For the rest of you, sorry, family joke.
Bon Appetit
