Hanoi: 26 April – 1 May

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam but is smaller, less brash and supposedly more sedate than Ho Chi Minh City. To us outsiders though, the energy, bustling people and traffic of Hanoi was virtually on a par with HCMC particularly in the Old Quarter around our hotel where the bulk of the hotels, restaurants, shops and markets are located.

Our bus back from Halong Bay dropped us at our hotel in the late afternoon and we had an early dinner before catching a Water Puppet show, literally puppets that dance on and in a pool of water that forms the 'stage'. The puppets are accompanied by a band playing traditional Vietnamese instruments and accompanying singers giving the puppets voices. The show lasts an hour and consists of a number of short scenes re-enacting various parts of Vietnamese life such as rice growing and harvest to religious processions. We left feeling quite the culture-vultures.

We were up early the following day for Chris' last full day in Vietnam. We spent the morning seeing the sights, the first of which was Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. Having bypassed the Lenin and Mao mausoleums earlier in our trip, this was a new experience for all of us. We joined the long stream of people queueing for the (free) entrance and wound our way around the park that the mausoleum is set in. Being a school day there loads of class outings and streams of schoolchildren, some of whom were really young – Ho Chi Minh and Vietnamese independence must be one of the first subjects covered at school. After 15mins or so we entered the mausoleum building itself where armed guards kept everyone quiet and moving briskly passed the glass coffin in which the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh lay. We walked around three sides of the coffin and were in the room for less than a minute. Quite a sobering experience and not one either of us are keen to repeat. Ho Chi Minh's body almost looked as though it was made of wax.

Interestingly, Ho Chi Minh himself wanted to be cremated on his death and have his ashes spread throughout the country, not a fact that seems to be widely publicised..

Next to the mausoleum is the Ho Chi Minh museum and a reconstruction of the one-pillar pagoda (the original was destroyed) – a small pagoda balanced on the top of a single pillar as the name suggests! The museum looked very impressive and very modern but it was quite difficult to follow any sort of story or learn much about Ho Chi Minh without spending hours reading through newspaper clippings (in Vietnamese). A bit disappointing.

The final 'sight' of the day was the Temple of Literature. Built in 1070, but expanded and modified over the years, it is Vietnam's primary Confucian sanctuary modelled on his birthplace in Qufu, China (we are getting closer and closer to China now). The temple was also the first Vietnamese university where Princes and high ranking officials were educated. It was a picturesque and peaceful spot in the middle of the hectic city.

A late lunch and a couple of drinks in the old town were next on the agenda. While there are no 'old' sights as such in the old quarter, the narrow lanes and streets are very characterful and packed with hotels, eateries and shops. Traditionally all of the shops were grouped together according to trade and that pattern can still be seen: some streets feature rows of shoe shops or paper goods, or kitchen accessories. It makes for a fascinating place to wander around. That evening (over a few beers) we reflected on Chris' time in Vietnam, discussing matters such as Favourite Place (Halong Bay vs Hoi An) and Best Spring Rolls (Louisanne Brewhouse Nha Trang vs Cargo Restaurant Hoi An).

Chris left for home after breakfast the following morning. After saying goodbye, it was an odd feeling watching his taxi disappear into the manic traffic. We had a great, full-on two and half weeks then suddenly he was gone and it was just the two of us again.

After a hectic couple of weeks we were feeling particularly exhausted and in need of a bit of pampering so we checked out of the hotel we were in and relocated to a 5-star place not far away for which we had found a really good online deal (sorry for saving the good hotels until after you'd left Chris!!). We were there for 3 nights, watching the Royal wedding(!!!), using the pool, relaxing and only really venturing outside for snacks and drinks but it did us the world of good and prepared us for the next leg – up to the very northern reaches of Vietnam and the mountains around the town of Sapa.

Hope you are all well at home,
Dan, Sue and (for the last time in Vietnam at least) Chris