Trying to catch up on the blog and edit the photos when I am not at the computer is hard, so thought I would jump ahead to today and fill in the gaps when I can. As just about all museums and sights of interest are closed in Hanoi on Mondays, I intelligently planned two Mondays here so had to make the best of today, Tuesday. Started the day at Hoa Lu Prison, the "Hanoi Hilton" as it was called by the Americans imprisoned there during the Vietnam War. The prison was built by the French in 1891 and used before that to imprison the Vietnamese who rose up in rebellion against them for their independence. It seems as if much torture was inflicted on the Vietnamse and prison conditions were dismal. Viewing pictures and captions about the Americans imprisoned there generated mixed feelings, commiseration with men who were/are my contemporaries and older who were shot down and captured and the resurgence of feelings from the 60's protesting the US involvement in the war.

Many Americans maintain that the Vietnam war was based on the fear of the "red tide" taking over the world. Learning more about the history of this country, while it was the Communist party that instigated the resistance beginning in the 1930's , the impetus was the Vietnamese desire for independence that predated Communism back into the late 1800's. Ho Chi Minh could only find his voice heard and his cause validated by the Communist Party and thus history has been made.

After leaving the prison I went to the wonderful Vietnamese Women's Museum that shed much insight into the various ways that women are part of this country - from the plight of those who are street vendors, often leaving family in rural villages to try to make a little money in the city to women who fought for independence. Exhibits covered pregancy and childbirth, marriage in both matrilinear and patrilinear ethnic groups, and fashion, both of the various ethnic groups (54 I believe in Vietnam) to high end fashion design today. There was an exhibit about 200 single mothers who live in one community (being a single mother is pretty much unheard of here). Support has been provided to them by the Finnish Embassy in providing financial support so they can raise animals, develop job skills, learn how to use cameras and tell their own stories. The stories were varied from the occassional woman who got pregnant before being married to the women whose husbands died at work, to those who left because of domestic violence (physical and emotional), to those who chose to be single mothers despite all odds against them. We do not know how easy we have it.

Museums close at 11:30 so time for lunch. I was in the French Quarter, wider streets, some newer buildings, and only slightly less frenetic than the Old Quarter. I was on a small street with several recommended restaurants and checked out the menu at Le Verticale, a Viethamese-French high end restaurant with one of the top chefs in the country. The prix fixe lunch was too good to pass up and I really needed some food that wasn't noodles, so for $15 I had a glass of French cabernet sauvignon, a starter of shrimp with mango and mango salso, lamb with 5 spices, and cheese and fig dessert. There were very few people there and the atmosphere was calm and serene and just what I needed. Then around the corner was a well known Vietnamese cafe that reportedly has ca phe chon, the coffee (like one of the most expensive in the world) that comes from the civet or weasel eating and then excreting the beans. I think that is what I ordered, but while it was good I couldn't say that I could tell the beans had already been in some other aninmal.

This afternoon I visited the Museum of Vietnamese History which had information over the past 2000 years about the different dynasties and ceramics and artifacts. It was interesting to see the artifacts. Little was translated into English so hard to get the big picture. Then I went across the street to the Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution. I didn't quite finish because it closed, but got there much of the propaganda and information about how bad the French and Americans were. The experience of being there complemented the way I started the day at the prison.

Had a small dinner, some soup and spring rolls, and then back to the hotel. I sent out some laundry yesterday which wasn't back when I arrived, so thought I may only have one thing to wear for the rest of the trip, but was assured it would be here by 9 PM and, sure enough, it was.