09 March, 2010

Hanoi and bye bye Vietnam!!!

From Hoi An, we continued to Hanoi, with a short stop in Hue, where there is not really much to do or see, but Blondie couch-surfed there with Simona, a very nice Italian NGO employee, so all in all, had a nice time.
So, Hanoi is a home of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Ethnology Museum of Vietnam and the Hoan Kiem Ho - Lake of the Restored Sword..The story behind the name is a Vietnamese variation on the Arthurian legend of Excalibur.
In 1418 Vietnam was once under attack from its powerful Chinese neighbour. Le Loi, a wealthy landowner from Thanh Hoa province (you'll find a street with his name in every Vietnamese city or town)looked to heavens for assistance. The tortoise (I truly love those creatures!!!)of Hoan Kiem lake answered his prayers by presenting him with a magic sword that flashed lightnings from its blade. Sword in hand, Le Loi saw off the invaders. Once the Chinese were defeated and gone, the tortoise swam to the surface of the lake, the sword promptly leapt from Le Loi's scabbard and vanished to the bottom of the lake....yeap....here you go, a bit of Vietnamese legends and believes...
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is a real fun on the other hand! I mean, don't you dear make fun of it when you're there -it's like visiting Queen of England or Pope...There a numerous security checks, you can't bring in your camera, and then you march to the mausoleum building through the squares and alleys, ordered in pairs, like in an army or kindergarten and the security is watching you. You have to have decent clothes of course! There is no way you can get in if your knees or arms are not covered and your head is! The whole arrangement is just so funny!!!
Next stop was Ha Long Bay and a 2 day cruise around the bay...Nothing special, considering the very Irish weather...I bet the views would be stunning if you actually saw them...we saw mostly thick fog...
And now, we are in Sapa, where experiencing equally Irish weather, just colder, as it's mountains after all...and considering that I have one fleece and one pair of long trousers, which just washed yesterday - I am not warm here...!!!!
Laos here I come!!!!!!!! soon!!!!!!

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