Hanoing

 A gossip of old crones

We followed the Ho Chi Minh trail north to Hanoi.  The grand old dame of the orient.  According to the Lonely Planet travel guide "Hanoi is the most graceful, atmospheric, and captivating capital in the region."  So our expectations were high and the old dame did not disappoint.  What the guide books fail to mention was just how alive she is and how much fun.  Here the exotic old girl blends seamlessly with the dynamic, exciting and perhaps frenetic pace of the modern and emerging force that is the new Vietnam.

the night market

Hanoi has everything you could want in an oriental city.  Ancient history, French colonial architecture and a very contemporary attitude.  We loved it.

A bar we frequented with our friends called Obamas

where I ended up being the disc jockey

We wandered, ate and partied in the tiny narrow streets of the old quarter, crawled through the amazing market, especially the night market and explored the beautiful French Quarter. Joined the cotillion around Hoan Kien Lake in the heart of downtown mingling with the promenading locals.

Spent an agreeable afternoon with Gerry the pilot from Jolly Olde

An entire floor of the market devoted to an incredible collection of material.

It's genuinely impossible to convey the variety in a photo.

Dried mushrooms anyone?

Hoan Kien Lake in the center of Hanoi

French colonial legay

The most impressive high end shopping mall we've ever seen.

Rolex, Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, Prada etc .etc.

Took some style photos maybe we can copy these when we get home.

One of our most memorable experiences, one we were reluctant to take, was a visit to Hoa La Prison Museum.  What the downed American pilots called the Hanoi Hilton.  It's a frightening relic created by the occupying French in an attempt to suppress the fierce struggle for independence from colonial rule.  The twin French guillotines used to behead dissidents stand as a reminder of man's inhumanity to man and the perseverance and heroic determination the Vietnamese people exhibited to win their freedom.

A small section of the sewer 200 Vietnamese prisoners used to escape.

The Vietnamese have withstood and repelled several invasions over the last few millennia. They fought off the Chinese invasions, the Lao and Kmer. Kicked out the French and finally beat the powerful American army in their pyjamas.  One of the invasions involved a Chinese army of a million foot soldiers and 60,000 cavalry.  The stories are little known outside Vietnam but remembered keenly here.  We visited the museum of Vietnamese history and were fascinated by their past.

Museum entrance

Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum

The president's palace, almost as nice as Rideau Hall

  There is an old Chinese saying that those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.  It's true, I had to repeat twice in grade 11.