Wooo Hanoi! Not woo jetlag. Spent the first day not really sure when the last time I slept was, and was never too confident about what time it was either. Sitting in the empty Hong Kong airport, deliriously watching episode after episode of Parks and Recreation for ten hours did something to my consciousness. But I slept it off and managed to make today a damn busy day.
Empty.
Started things off with a tour around the old city district. A few of the staff members at the hostel took us around, showed us the sights, pointed at some fun places to hit up. Apparently the Vietnamese gods are major party animals, cause there were a bunch of stacks of beer set out as offerings at a temple. Multiple stacks. Of beer. In a temple. Passed through various markets, filled with everything you'd expect of an Asian market (ie. everything.). The live fish stalls surprised me though. Even had live eels and squid. The woman there was beating something concealed in a towel repeatedly with a hammer. Probably the best job there is.
Second to whatever his job is, of course.
Wandered around for a while after that, even made it to the Hoa Lo Prison, colloquially known as the Hanoi Hilton. It was used to house American POW's during the war, and political prisoners of the French regime before that. Half the museum was devoted to how horribly the Vietnamese prisoners were treated pre-1954 (under the French), while the other half showed how lucky the Americans were to have been captured by the Vietnamese. Double standard? Nahhh, though there was no shortage of phrases like "American imperialists" and "Saigon puppet government" and whathaveyou. Totally not a state-run museum.
Afterwards I hung out by a lake that's supposed to have a giant turtle in it to read. Got about two and a half pages in during the two hours I was there. Vietnamese students really love to practice their english. They just kept coming. Sometimes a pair would be sitting with me and another few would come up to join. Had this one-legged woman come and start talking to me. Then she wanted to sell me something, so I figured what the hell, she hobbled over here I'll give her some change. After insisting that I take a piece of candy in exchange, she told me not to tell anyone about her and left. I do not intend on eating this candy. Off to grab some dinner now, which is like $3 for a giant bowl of pho and a liter of beer. Yum.
The umpteenth group of friendly conversationalists.
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