August 11, 2007

Hanoi (VIETNAM)

More Time in Hanoi and Catching a Bus South

The taxi driver shown to the right wasn't the only one who decided to sleep in this morning - I was dead to the world until around noon. There are only so many over-night bus rides, long days of physical exertion, and general nights of sleep deprivation the body can handle. It is far worse than exam week because at least then the end is always in sight.

Anyway, after showering and pulling myself together I set off to book an open-tour bus ticket that would allow me to hop on any bus between Hanoi and Saigon (now called Ho Chi Minh City). I would catch the first bus later in the evening, and although I would like to stay in Saigon for a day or two more - not so much because I am enamored by the city but because I am in need of a little more consistency - there is too much ground to cover if I am ever to make it to Singapore by the end of this trip.

For my last day in Hanoi I wandered around Ho Tay (West Lake) where there are a variety of pagodas, temples, and government buildings. I stopped to enjoy the cool breeze and shade near the lake, and I read in my tour book that the American senator (and Presidential candidate) John McCain was actually shot down into this lake during the Vietnam War. Speaking of the Vietnam War, all the travel books I have come across (both Lonely Planet and Rough Guide) call it the "American War." I will write about this more at a later time, but being in Vietnam has been a strong culture shock for me.

Jin and I walked down the heart of the government district, and with red flags prominently showing the hammer and sickle it was obvious I was in a communist country. I was somewhat surprised to see such things because I always thought the hammer and sickle was a Soviet Union invention, but obviously not. I suppose I should also mention that I went by Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, but I was not at all interested in going inside to see his preserved body. Maybe some people are interested in seeing such things - likely just so they can say they did it - but that is not something that seems particularly appealing (especially because I do not particularly care for the man or the things he did in his life).

Before catching my bus for the evening I had one last try of street food, and this time all the meat on offer was related to a pig. Since I don't speak the language and there was obviously no menu you might wonder how I knew it was all pig. Well, the picture to the left says it all: I can make out a tails, hooves, noses, and various other insides that could only come from one animal. Yum.

At 1900 Jin and I boarded a bus with seats that only reclined a few degrees, and without even giving it a second thought I knew it was going to be another long night.