JK- Today we had a very early start to join in with some group exercises near Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi. What we didn't realise before was that everyone (including us in the end) would be dressed up as Father Christmas and filmed and photographed. Our exercise involved a few stretches whilst 'laughing' - hence laughing yoga. It was very infectious, and the whole surrealness of it meant that we found ourselves laughing anyway. Check out http://m.vnexpress.net/xahoi/200-ong-ba-gia-noel-thi-nhau-cuoi-ben-ho-guom/2405370/p0 for a few photos of us (hopefully the link will still work).
The rest of the day was spent site seeing around Hanoi. This started with the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. A very important place for many Vietnamese. Inside a very austere building is a glass sarcophagus (surrounded by very severe looking guards) containing Uncle Ho himself. Uncle Ho is honoured for his role as the liberator of the Vietnamese people from colonialism- a really remarkable man. Bizarrely every year he is sent to Russia for 3 months for maintenance! The rest of the complex is made up of old houses that Ho Chi Minh used to live in. Very pretty, but very popular.
We then took a trip to Hoa Lo Prison Museum, all that remains of the Hoa Lo Prison. It is a depressing place with exhibits showing the conditions the people incarcerated there lived with. There is also another exhibition concentrating on the American Pilots who were jailed here and who nicknamed it the 'Hanoi Hilton'. Senator John McCain seems to get a few mentions, including more recent photos of when he went back to visit (probably on the campaign trail), the less said what I think about all that the better.....The American visitors who were there at the same time had a lot to say, so I left before I said anything.
Lunch was at the Vietnamese equivalent of Jamie Oliver's 'Fifteen'. Jimmy, an Australian-Vietnamese chap set this project - KOTO - up to provide career guidance and work experience to disadvantaged children. A great little cafè with lovely food.
Opposite KOTO was the Temple of Literature. A lovely place dedicated to Confucius in 1070 by Emperor Ly Thanh Thong and later became a university for the education of Mandarins. While we were there a lot of young students were having their graduation photos taken and many wanted their photos with our group as well, especially Jules, Emma and Graham!
Tom and I then went to the Fine Art Museum while the others went shopping. There were very few people here so it was a nice break from the madness outside. There are many beautiful things inside, but it was the lacquered pictures that were the most impressive. We had just enough time for a bit more shopping before we had to catch our overnight train to Huè. Lucky me, I had a compartment with Tom, Mick and Jules! So armed with our takeaway from KOTO we hopped aboard for our 12 hour journey south!