Touring Hanoi

     Busy day-one of the first things you notice driving during the day in Hanoi is the incredible sea of motorbikes-mostly scooters and bicyclettes but also motorcylces. A perpetual stream of traffic weaving in and around cars and trucks, following no set of traffic rules, going with and against traffic even on one way streets. Absent is the piercing whine which accompanies these machines in europe. Morning traffic seemed to move smoothly, afternoon was like sludge in a drain. You are fearful that they will be hit by one of the cars or trucks but they seem to flow around them escaping injury. People make do with these machines for tasks usually reserved in the US for vans and trucks, so that fruit and flower vendors as well as office supply vendors are all carrying their wares on their machines. 

     Our first stop was Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, the former governor's palace, Ho's offices and residences and a museum of ethnology.  Ho Chi Minh enjoys a status akin to George Washington and Gandhi here. In a country constantly battling for independence over its history he is seen as the father of Vietnam's independence from France as well as the inspiration for a strong, independent country during the "American war" Much superlatives are associated with him , from the sage advice that he is quoted to have given to his people as well as to the principles that he advocated to mold the country into a strong independent nation.

And nobody can say that this man didn't know his cars. Oh! I forgot to mention, the uniformed soldier seen at the beginning (having trouble arranging things) was widely dispersed at the Ho mausoleum. There could be little question you were in a communist country during the viewing. No talking was allowed, you had to keep your hands at your sides (god forbid in your pockets) and you could not deviate from the path.
     The ethnicity museum was interesting, there are over 50 ethnicities living in vietnam the largest by far are the Viets. There are many "primitive" agrarian tribes mostly in the north most without electricity and often dressing in aboriginal like clothing...also check out the housing