Part Two.

So, after learning to cross the road on day one it was time to actually explore the city and find out if we liked it. We had been told that Hanoi was pretty, but to be honest we didn't really see it. There are some great French colonial buildings dotted about the place and some other more recently built buildings that are certainly very grand but I think we had been spoiled a bit in New Zealand for scenic beauty and Hanoi left us a bit cold on the front. For example there is a lake at the centre of the Old Quarter where we stayed (Hoim Kiem from memory) and there is a temple in the middle which is nice but the water itself makes the Thames look clean and drinkable. It's said that there are giant tortoises living in it but we aren't so sure. There are definately smaller ones in there though as we watched some locals fishing them out, within hours they would be on the menu in a local cafe.

People watching is probably the best thing to do in Hanoi. The city is big although not as big as London, but it is infinitely more chaotic and some good fun is to be had sitting back either by the lake or even better in a nearby bar, just watching everyone go about their business. Of course it will only be minutes before someone comes up to you trying to sell you postcards, photcopies of Lonely Planets, fruit, drinks or anything you care to ask for. It's a bit tiring but there are so many other 'marks' for them to hit that a couple of firm 'nos' or just ignoring them usually sends them on their way.

One thing Rhiannon didn't like in particular is the attention from the men folk of Vietnam as Charlie does enjoy a good stare at the Western women. They aren't even subtle about it either, just a blatant fixed stare, up and down and when you aren't used to it or expecting it then it can be very annoying and Rhiannon hated it at first. Tehy don't grab a hold or feel up as they do in other countries but it's still not nice. Since then she has been getting used to it a bit and Hanoi has been the worst culprit out of all the places we've been to. For my part no-one seems to want to stare at me and to date no women have come up to me saying that "they love me long time". I blame Rhiannon, she puts them off, perhaps I need to leave her for an hour or two!

To travel around the city you can perch on the back of a moped (xe om) and take your chances or you can walk; which was our preferred option as you get to see and experience the city a lot better if you wander the streets and almost certainly get lost.

Our first expedition was to the Temple of Literature which is obviously a temple and a big one at that. Pleasingly no doubt to all of the tourists inside it is free of touts once you get in there so is quite a nice place to rest and have a drink of water. Drinking water is a full time job in Vietnam and the rest of Asia as it's so damn humid and you sweat buckets just strolling around. Well I do anyway. Moving on we went to the Ho Chi Minh mausaleum to see where he was buried. Uncle Ho for those that don't know was the Communist leader of Vietnam ever since he declared their independence when the Japanese left after WW2 and then subsequently fought off the French when they tried to reclaim it which all led to the Vietnamese (or American) war.

Unfortunately the mausaleum was closed as it was the afternoon so we settled on the museum instead and got a guide to take us around. He was "lovely" (Rhiannon's word), a student at the university and a big fan of Uncle Ho. The museum itself was dedicated to the big man and his life so we got chapter and verse on his every move and how he was loved by every country in the world, did a great job overthrowing the capitalist oppressors and is generally the greatest guy you would ever like to meet. "You see how everyone love Uncle Ho" our guide pointed out before adding "do you love Uncle Ho?". "Hell yes!" we replied. Just in case they were listening, but he seemed like a nice chap and I can't see any reason why they would lie. We even saw the gifts given to Vietnam from various countries, proudly he showed us the one from the UK which must have been the smallest one there and we didn't have the heart to tell him that it looked like somethingyou could buy at poundstretcher.

Continuing the theme we also hit the war museum which was in fact an old prison used firstly by the French to hold Vietnamese suspected of wanting to overthrow their rule (pre WW2) and then later by the Vietnamese themselves to hold captured Americans. Obviously there was a fair bit of propaganda here but it looks like the Frenchies didn't treat the locals very well tiny cells, maggot ridden food if they were lucky and a mass of torture. Conversely the pictures of American PoWs made it look like a holiday camp as they all played sport and celebrated Christmas and yet still the Yankee pig-dogs dropped their bombs. Very uncalled for. There were also pictures of presidential hopeful John McCain on the wall both from his stay there during the war and on his visit a few years back to reminiss.

There are actually quite a few Americans travelling around Vietnam and we have met quite a few. It's a little awkward for them when they go on tours and the guide turns around to them and says "and this is where you bombed us, destroying a hospital and killing many little children" Cue much looking awkwardly at the floor by the American and maybe a mumbled "erm sorry" when you can tell that some of them are dying to yell "well you deserved it you pinko swine. And by the way you didn't win the war, it was a draw!" Whatever.

I think that's it for Hanoi, it's certainly all I can be bothered writing. We did tours out of the city which i'll write about seperately. At the time we didn't really like Hanoi that much, too busy and too noisy; with the much anticipated smell of napalm in the morning replaced by deisel fumes. Hindsight has been good to it though and looking back we think it was ok. Not the best place we have visited but not the worst either. The staff at our hotel were great and left us with a good impression of the locals, the food was good, although we've had better since. Perhaps we needed longer in the city, when we were in a group walking the streets and going for a drink the city seemed a lot better than when just the two of us. The touts and moped drivers don't like approaching groups so much and so there is less hassle. Although humourously (for me anyway) when walking alongside Rhiannon and an American girl Stephanie (hello if you read this) one of them obviously mistook me for their pimp and offered me five dollars. I said no by the way, but if he'd gone to 20...........