October 28. As is often the case, one of the highlights of the day was not even on the itinerary. Carol and I arise early and head off towards the lake. En route, we encounter in close proximity, but seemingly oblivious to one another, badminton, tai chi, Zumba dancers, soccer games, ballroom dancers and more. It’s an incredible scene and Carol and I marvel and smile for about 45 minutes straight.
            After breakfast with Chet and Nancy at the hotel, Hoan takes us an orientation tour of this French accented city with pride tree line Boulevard’s in colonial architecture. We pass Hoan Kiem lake in the heart of the city, where legend has it that in the 1400s a deity arose from the lake and reclaimed the magic sword of them for Emperor Le Thai To, which he had used to drive the Chinese from Vietnam. We also see the marvelous Temple of Literature, founded in 1070 and dedicated to Confucius – it later became Vietnam’s first university and today remains an active place of worship. A group of recent college graduates were there to celebrate.  We visit Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, a massive granite tomb complex inspired by Lenin’s mausoleum in Moscow. Hoan gives us an excellent, concise history of Vietnams occupancy by other countries in the past 2000 years.
    Interestingly, Ho Chi Minh wish to be cremated, but the nation so mourned him that they chose to construct this edifice to house his remains. Inside, Ho Chi Minh rests in a glass sarcophagus visible to onlookers (but not to us, because it’s being repaire). We also see the bright-mustard French colonial presidential palace, and the 1000 year old one pillar pagoda, built on a single stone pillar to resemble a lotus blossom. (You probably notice that I take few photos of buildings and monuments, because I find them pretty boring to photograph, though sometimes interesting to visit.)
We stop at the terrific Fine Arts Museum, where Hoans commentary on everything from the art work to Buddhism greatly enhances our enjoyment of the work.     After stopping for (an air conditioned) lunch, we we proceed to visit the Hanoi Hilton (or Maison Centrale). The infamous Hoa Lo Prison was built by the French in the early 20th Century and was given the name Hanoi Hilton by American prisoners of War held here during the Vietnam War. 
The signs in the prison talk about how horribly the French treated the Vietnamese who were held there and how well the Vietnamese treated the American prisoners. There’s a photo of John McCain in a hospital bed being tended to.
Following this, we take a one hour cycle ride (we are cycled in buggies) through the narrow streets of the Ancient Quarter (more commonly called the “36 Streets District”), where goods of all types are bought and sold, along side houses and temples. There are so many shops, in fact, that each has its own separate Street – Shoe Street, Paper Street— to help direct customers to their desired product. The trip was quite harrowing, so I’m including photos to try to capture that and some of what we saw.        After the biking, we stop for a drink, then, in the late afternoon, we visit Vietnam’s most famous performance art form, the Water Puppet Theatre for a one hour show. During the performance the puppeteers stand submerged in the water behind a screen and direct the puppets through the use of long sticks. Traditional musical instruments are used to accompany the story, and the four of us found the music at least as entertaining as the puppets.    
After the show, we returned back to the hotel to relax and clean up. Walked to dinner on the lake. Lots of activity, involving young kids and parades, and more dancing, on this Saturday night. Dinner is just okay, but it’s a lively Saturday night experience.     We return to the hotel to pack, blog and sleep.
October 27. After breakfast, we are driven to the airport for our 10:30 flight to Hanoi, passing kids posing for a school picture and viewing many typical motorbike/shop street scenes.  Clearly, we are becoming accustomed to even higher levels of being spoiled. It used to be that, for a short flight, we’d eschew business class, suck it up and fly coach to save some money. Increasingly, though, I’m feeling that business class is worth it just for the short check-in lines, access to the business lounge prior to the flight and much easier boarding. Yes, disgusting, I know.
The flight is a bit over an hour and upon arrival in Hanoi, we are met by our guide, Hoan (yes, same name is our Saigon guide and pronounced “Juan”), a completely charming 34-year old artist, who guides for four months a year. She also does modern choreography and dance. She showed us a short video of one of her dances and a photo of one of her paintings, both of which were terrific. We are already talking about adopting Hoan and taking her home with us. Hoan takes us to the beautiful Sofitel Metropole Hotel, considered to be the finest in Hanoi.  
After checking in and having a good lunch in the hotel restaurant, we taxi to the 54 Traditions Gallery and meet Mark Rappaport, an American and the owner of the gallery, who spends an hour and a half showing us around the five floors of his amazing collection of all types of tribal art from the Central Highlands. Mark is extremely knowledgeable and anxious to talk about his collection.
  Mark is originally from New York and served as a doctor in the war in Vietnam. He and his wife, Jane, originally from Ohio, decided to make their lives here and have lived in Hanoi for 25 years. He owns one of the finest authentic galleries in Hanoi and we were introduced to him by our travel agent, Jean.
We taxi through heavy traffic to have dinner with Mark and his wife, Jane, at their favorite Hanoi restaurant, Don’s.  Don is from Montreal and is a friend of Mark and Jane’s. Dinner is delicious and we have a wide-ranging discussion with Mark and Jane, who love Hanoi and have written a small book called 101 REASONS TO LOVE LIVING IN HANOI, which they gave us a copy of. Jane did graduate work at the University of Chicago in political science and worked in the areas of womens rights and in environmental protection, for which she was honored with the highest civilian award in Vietnam.
After returning to the hotel, Carol and I walk a few blocks to experience the lively night life, which features music, dance and strolling, much of it done by families with small children. It is, after all, Friday night.
.   Hard to believe that our trip is more than half over. But it is.
October 26. After breakfast in the hotel, we take a morning boat cruise (notice on boat says, “Explosives, flammable materials, radioactive materials and cattle are not allowed to bring with visitors in boat.”) on the Perfume River      to visit the Thien Mu Pagoda, which was only moderately interesting.   We were then then driven to the beautiful grounds that included a temple, bonsai garden, theater and mausoleum of the romantic poet/Emperor Tu Duc, which we toured in rain and sunshine. We “learned” a great deal of history, a good portion of which I have, unfortunately, forgotten already.
           In the afternoon, we proceed to visit the Imperial Citadel. The spectacular and expansive Citadel (which was built in accordance to strict principles of geomancy) houses a series of palaces, ornate halls, libraries, residences and an ornate theater.          We meet Mr Phuc, a mid-forty year old, soft spoken master of Hue Dynasty History, who works in conservation of historical sites for the government. Mr. Phuc talks with us and answers our questions about the Citadel, and Hue history and culture. The Citadel was the site of fierce battles during the Tet Offensive in 1968.
We decide to pass on seeing the Dong Ba Market, since we’re about marketed-out for right now. Instead, we return to the hotel, rest and meet Chet and Nancy for a drink in the lobby. As they were tired, Carol and I went out alone to an excellent French-Vietnamese restaurant called Les Jardins De La Carambole that was recommended by Van. The restaurant had the feel of a New Orleans restaurant, and we enjoyed our dinner very much. Food prices in Vietnam are very modest (except at The Four Seasons). Dinner cost us $35, including tip and taxis there and back added $5 to the evening’s cost.
October 25. (First, my back is a whole lot better, thanks for asking. A nurse from the hotel came in to see me this morning and said that we were doing the right things to control the pain.)
We order breakfast delivered to our modest lounge and then set out for Hue. Our first stop is a place where marble work is done, and sold. A key to their focus on tourism is that when we pay for the modest purchases we make, the credit card slip is in dollars.  
Our next stop is China beach, one of the spots American troops landed during the war. What once was sand and small fishing villages around Danang is now hotels, high rises and shops, which has happened in the last fifteen or so years. Progress. Below are some beach patrons, with the white statue of Lady Buddha visible (barely) on the mountain across the bay. 
Our next stop is Danang’s Cham Museum which houses the world’s finest collection of Cham artwork.The Cham people once controlled a large part of Vietnam, dating back to the Second Century, put were gradually pushed South, where they are now a small group of some 140,000 people. The ruins we saw at My Son yesterday are Cham. The work in the museum is terrific and the new gallery, opened only a couple weeks ago, is simple, lovely and well-lit. Our guide, Van, is pictured with one of the pieces.   
In addition to the Cham work, there are some marvelous works on cloth by a Japanese artist named Toba Mika. This special exhibit is set up for the APAC meeting that will start in about a week. The work employs a technique called Katazome, utilizing the traditional dyeing method of Japan, and is visually stunning. It forms a great counterpoint to the fine Champa work.    We head up the mountain and enjoy the lovely, but very foggy, views along the coast in the Cloudy Pass and stop for lunch in the village of Lang Co, then drive (stopping for a photo op of some sanpans)  on to the ancient capital of Hue. We also stop for Chet and me to recruit some more GOATS, and then passing a woman transporting ducks on her motorbike.
 . We check into the La Residence hotel and relax. The hotel is quite nice. Not nearly as opulent as the Four Seasons, but a more comfortable feel. And the view of the Perfume River from our private patio is not too shabby, either.
We meet Chet and Nancy for drinks in the hotel bar, then taxi to dinner in the Old Town at a restaurant called Y Thao Garden, which was recommended by our guide, Van. We were greeted by the daughter of the owner of the restaurant, who told us something of its history. Van ordered a special menu for us, which was terrific, including spring rolls decorated on formed peacock (below), pumpkin cream soup, sauted shrimp with tamarin, Hue specialty pancake, banana flower salad, fried fish with lemongrass, turtle-formed fried rice (below) and dessert of tangerine and Mung bean cake formed fruit (below). Not our typical dinner menu at home.  
October 24. We walk on the beach to another very good breakfast, after which we are picked up in two cars to go to some local villages. Our guide, Van (pronounce “Vung”) rides with Carol and me to start. Originally, we were to ride in a van, then transfer to a hot, bumpy jeep to reach the villages, but we asked whether there was a more comfortable way to go and came up with this solution.
We stop at villages and see active, small markets, including one in which piglets are sold. You can get a piglet for about $50, but we decide to pass.      
We drive to the My Son Holy Land. Formerly the religious center of the Champa Kingdom, My Son has been namied a UNESCO World Heritage Site with over 20 well-preserved monuments. We visit the Cham ruins of My Son situated in a remote jungle valley, the monuments interspersed with B-52 bomb craters.    Unfortunately, I manage to trip and fall. Minor scrapes on hands and knees, but a fairly painful back wrench, which slows and curtails somewhat our tour of the site. The others do not appear to mind the curtailment, because it is hot and humid. We drive back to Hoi An, making a quick stop to see some mat-makers. 
We board our private boat and cruise on the Thu Bon River with a 5-course lunch cooked and served on board. We see the villages from the river and fishermen on the river. We disembark at Hoi An dock and are driven back to our hotel. My back has really begun to hurt, so I book a massage, the cost of which will require selling our condo. The massage is quite lovely and may, very marginally have helped the back pain. While I was away, Carol, Chet and Nancy have kindly decided that we all will order dinner into our tiny living room, which by my pacing off, is at least 900 square feet. We enjoy dinner from room service and return to the room early. The hotel delivers a pad with hot water to help my back pain.
NOTE: something has been screwed up with theblog and notices, so people did not, I think, get notice of what I posted yesterday. If that’s the case, you can still click on previous post when you get this one and see yesterday’s post. If you do that, and succeed, please let me know.
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