Hanoi

Farmer and local graves

From HaLong Bay to Hanoi is a 3 1/2 hour bus trip, three hours on a two-lane road plus a half hour for rest rooms and shopping. The narrow (4M), long (15M) three story housing is even more predominant here then it was in the South. Most have a shop in the bottom floor and house multiple generations above. Almost the entire trip was spent traversing villages with rice crops between the towns. It was transplanting time for the rice, so we saw a lot of


farmers in the water with their conical hats (very useful for sun shade, carrying your lunch, fanning yourself or dipping water).
Hanoi has been the capital since about 1000 AD. It lies along the Red river which was pretty dry today, but has historically flooded often.
Our guide was superb, telling us about life in Vietnam. Her husband's father was a South Vietnamese government official, who didn't escape when the South fell. His son couldn't get an education, join the army or work for the government because of his father. His son will also be restricted because the government looks for 3 generations of loyalty. She had a traditional wedding: the first day in traditional red dress with her family, the second day in a western white dress celebrating with both families. The date was selected by a Buddhist monk based on the time of her birth.
Similarly funerals are two day affairs. The body lies in the house of the first day and then is buried on the second day at a time selected by the monks. The spouse will pray three times a day for one hundred days in mourning. The body will be reburied after three years, the bones rearranged in an ornate tomb.

Temple of Knowledge

We walked the old town: lots of narrow streets with stores on all sides and motorcycles everywhere.
Our next stop was the Temple of Literature built in 1070 by Emperor Ly. This is a Confucian temple where (as in our story) people studied to become Mandarin.Around the temple are 82 turtles bearing plaques with the 1040 names of the graduates who passed the highest level of exams from 1000 to 1922. The visit was enhanced because we had graduates of the University of Hanoi in their traditional robes and dresses getting their graduation pictures taken.

University of Hanoi Graduate

After lunch, we went to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum and independence square. Nearby is the Presidential Palace built by the French and a short distance from there is the House on Stilts used by Ho Chi Minh from 1954 until his death in 1959. Finally we saw the Pagoda on a Column originally built by the emperor to celebrate the birth of a son.
Then onto the bus for another 3 1/2 hour trip to the ship, arriving about 7:30 PM. Dinner was pizza.