A few final shots from my trip to Hanoi

This is a local friend that I met, named Vo. Vo is a student who wants to be a tourguide, and wanted some practice, so agreed to take me around town for a day. Here we were at the Temple of Literature, a Confucian Temple that was Vietnam's first university. Vo was a nice guy. It is insane when you think that had we been born 40 years earlier or so, if we had met, we most likely would've been shooting at each other. I guess that's a sign of hope, isn't it?

A couple of people I was hanging out with - Diego, a Spaniard, and Tyler, a Canadian. We were enjoying the Bia Hoi (or draft beer,) which you can drink on the street for only 2000 Dong (about 12.5 cents US!) for a glass. People sit on plastic chairs on the street, drink and talk, and from time to time a car full of policemen comes around. Everyone scatters, or else moves their chairs back a bit so they are not in the street, the police move on, and everything goes back to normal. Hilarious!

A shot from Bangkok's messed-up new Airport, Suranavuvi International, shortly before I left. It's been a disaster, called a "monument to corruption." One of the runways has large cracks in the pavement, rendering it unusable, and causing the old Airport, Don Muang, to be re-opened. And the new airport only opened in September!

More Snake booze, a shot just for my momma.

Fierce looking face at a Confucian temple.

A statue of a bird at a Confucian Temple.

Carving of an elephant at a replica of an Montagnard house.

This is at Vietnam's Oldest University. It lists the names of graduates in certain years. The Turtle is a symbol of longevity, and is considered a sacred symbol in Vietnam.

Mom, do you think I would've qualified to receive some of this money?

On TV in Vietnam, there were several shows showing young girls singing various songs. It was kind of trippy, really.

The People's Army, on the move. Near Ho's home.

Uncle Ho's Bed.

Another Confucian Temple.

Now who doesn't love Lenin?

A local couple, about to take the plunge.

A replica of a Montagnard house. This particular tribe, whose name I forget, is matrilineal. Therefore, Breasts are a symbol of power, and you can see that on this ladder to the house.

A really big Montagnard house.

A scene near the lake in Central Hanoi.

A tomb of a Montagnard group.

Alongside the tomb. Guess it gets pretty kinky up in the hills!

Communism in Vietnam

So as many of you know, I'm massively interested in communism and the accompanying cults of personality that have come with the socialist philosophy in many parts of the world. This was one reason I was excited to visit Hanoi - I'd be able to see Ho Chi Minh, or Uncle Ho, himself! So in this posting, I will show you all some of the markers of communism, which it seems is being interpreted loosely these days in Vietnam, as well as a few relics of the American War, as it's called in Vietnam, or the Vietnam War, as it's called in America.

Don't know how the old-timer communists would've felt about this pristine shopping mall in downtown Hanoi, but I'm guessing it wasn't what they envisioned.

Ah, propaganda! Right across the street from the above mall. Not sure exactly what this says.

This is the desk and chair in Uncle Ho's house, used by the man himself from 1954, when Vietnam defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu and gained full independence, to his death in 1969.

This is Uncle Ho's house. Pretty and pleasant, but seems pretty small for a man who had such an influence on the world, doesn't it?

Not sure what this square is called, but it seems to be Vietnam's answer to Tiannamin Square in Beijing or Red Square in Moscow.

Uncle Ho himself is in this building. I went in to see him, but, alas, no photography is allowed inside. It's a weird ten-minute journey through the Mausoleum. You walk up inside in a line that is moving slowly but steadily, climb some stairs, meet one angry looking guy carrying a rifle with a bayonet, who tells you to remove your had and not to put your hands in your pockets. You go into a room, with a large Vietnam and large Communist flag on the wall, with a bed that has Uncle Ho lying on it, a Vietnamese flag draped over the lower half of his body. He is preserved just like Lenin and Mao, and is flown to Moscow for three months of the year for preservation. He looks like a wax figure, really. The room is heavily air conditioned, presumably to discourage decay. Inside that room, there are six guards standing lower than those visiting the body, immediately around Uncle Ho, and four more above where the visitors walk. They all carry the same bayonets, and will remind anyone who puts their hands in their pockets that this is forbidden. Then, you go outside, and it's all over.
Ironically, Uncle Ho requested to be cremated and have his ashes scattered, and this whole arrangement seems rather extravagent for a man who preferred to live by simple means. Quite interesting, really.

The Ho Chi Minh museum. Some really weird modern art/propaganda exhibits inside.

Around the Ho Chi Minh museum. Vietnam has a cool flag, don't you think?

A slogan to live by.

This was outside the North Korean embassy in Hanoi. If you click on this picture, you can see that there are several pictures of Kim Jong Il. Just after taking this picture, a guard came and shooed us away. So, I'm glad I was quick.

This are the rules for visitors to the Hanoi Hilton. I find #3 particularly humorous. Guess that frolicking is not smiled upon. And you all know how I like to frolic. What a buzz kill.

This is the Hanoi Hilton, or what's left of it (ironically, there is an actual Hilton Hotel in Hanoi now. Wonder if the nickname for this prison hurts their business.) This is where a lot of American Pilots who were shot down during the war, as well as Vietnamese Revolutionaries during the French War, were interred and treated miserably, although you'd think it was Club Med the way they describe the treatment of American prisoners inside of the prison museum. One third of the prison is all that remains. Two thirds was torn down to make way for that massive high rise you can see in the picture behind it.

The prison's walls. Doesn't look inviting, does it?

One of the cells, with leg irons.

The flight suit of the prison's most famous inmate, Senator John McCain. The senator visited the prison four or five years ago. They have pictures to prove it.

Not sure what this tower is, but it looks cool, doesn't it? Love that flag!

"No, Donny! V.I. Lenin! Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov!"