We got into travel mode again as we made our last plane trip before heading home. The two hour flight to Hanoi from Saigon was largely uneventful.

The name Hanoi means “inside the bend in the red river” and was established in 1010 AD. It’s original name was Hung Luang or Soaring Dragon. This image remains an important one in the community.

We immediately went for lunch at a local restaurant. It was our first opportunity to deal with crossing roads in Hanoi. Our guides encouraged us to be like “sticky rice” as we waited for a lull in oncoming traffic. The idea is to find the gap, walk slowly and confidently across traffic and expect people on scooters or in cars to go around you. So far so good!

After lunch we headed into the downtown area and toured Ho Chi Min’s mausoleum. Ho Chi Min had originally wanted to be cremated and have his ashes divided between the three parts of Vietnam (north, central and south). The government decided to ignore his wishes and arrange for him to be embalmed and enshrined in the capital. The building itself was designed by Russian architects. People can see his body in the mausoleum on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. The site is closed for a few months every year when they re-embalm the body. They used to take him to the Soviet Union for this task but are now able to perform it locally.

We also saw the single pillar pagoda. An 11th century king of the area prayed to the lady Buddha to help him have a son. His wife became pregnant soon after and he built the shrine in her honour. The original shrine was rebuilt in its current form after the French left. It was initially built on a wooden pillar and was somewhat larger. The current pagoda rests on a concrete base. It is an active shrine.

Our next adventure was an electric car tour of the old city. This warren of market stalls was incredible. The chaos was overwhelming. Historically the markets were organized by streets dedicated to selling specific goods (e.g., shoe street or metal working street, etc.).

We then checked into our hotel and, after happy hour, went to find dinner. We have yet to find the method of ordering the right amount of food. We ate family style and still had too much! However, it was too much of a good thing and we retired for the night comfortably sated.

Tomorrow we are off for a cruise to Ha Long Bay on a Junk ship. The ship will likely be filled entirely by our tour. It should be exciting.