Hanoi

Our first evening in Hanoi involved a walking tour of the neighborhood surrounding the hotel. There were plenty of things to see. Hanoi is similar to many Asian cities we've visited: streets crowded with motor bikes, sidewalks cluttered with people selling their goods or sitting to chat with neighbors, plenty of dirt, plenty of smells.

A unique item was the bamboo water pipe used for smoking tobacco (and presumably other noxious weeds). Many people have these, and for a few Dong (the local currency -- 22,000 to the dollar!) some will rent the use of theirs to passers by. Our guide demonstrated, and offered the rest of us a hit. There were no takers.

Sidewalks, while wider than those in Malta, are even more likely to be rough. Electrical wiring is on par with that in India and Thailand. Our welcome dinner, however, was excellent. It began with this artfully served pumpkin soup, and got better from there.

Our first morning in country, Saturday, began with a visit to the tomb of Ho Chi Minh. Uncle Ho is laid out in Communist splendor, like Lenin and Mao before him. The guards strictly enforced rules against talking, hats, cameras, or cynical smirks from tourists. But our lack of seriousness was offset by the reverence displayed by the hordes of Vietnamese, of all ages, who came to pay their respects. Even with our guide helping us to cut in line, we stood in the queue for more than half an hour.

After viewing Ho, we had opportunity to walk around the gardens, which included the French colonial mansion and more humble dwellings in which the great man lived and worked. These, too, were very crowded with Vietnamese, many school groups, who were invariably friendly and anxious to wave "hello."

We paid a brief visit to the "single pillar pagoda," a famous Buddhist shrine in the same complex. Despite official Communist atheism, there were many burning incense at this shrine.

Next stop was the Museum of Ethnology, dedicated to the minority groups within the Vietnamese population, such as the Hmong and other hill tribes. Most of the collection involved textiles, but the grounds outside included houses in the designs used by various tribes.

Of particular interest was a "tomb house" in which up to 30 villagers were to enjoy the afterlife -- apparently in ways involving a lot of sex, at least judging from the exterior decor.

After a bit of down time, we were taken by bus as far as possible before the streets got too narrow, then walked to the home of a couple whose life is devoted to Vietnam's famed water puppets. Water puppet shows are big business all over Hanoi, but we got to meet the guy who actually makes the puppets.

He's the seventh generation of his family to do so, and is training his son to be generation #8. We got the show as a bonus, along with a chance to drink tea in his living room and chat with him in his workshop. All very cool.

The food has been phenomenal, and we are eating exceptionally well.