The end of a long, but very interesting day in Hanoi. We fly down to the Imperial City of Hue early tomorrow morning. Today was filled with visits to many key sites and landmarks. After Breakfast here at the Apricot Hotel, we headed to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. There were literally thousands of people in line to get a chance to quickly view the embalmed remains of Ho Chi Minh. Our guide had secured a pass that allowed us to get into the front quarter of the line. The changing of the guard was quite impressive. Security is very tight and no electronic devices except turned off cell phones are allowed anywhere on the entire complex. This especially includes cameras. Also contained on this complex is the Parliament House. This area

also included stops at the Ho Chi Minh Museum and the complex where he actually lived most of the time from 1954 until his death in 1969. His compound was only steps to the Presidential Palace, but he chose to not live there. He only greeted visiting dignitaries there. Most of his time in his residential complex was spent in what was known as the Stilt House. It appears that he was a very austere and unassuming man. We rode through the area of the City where most of the Foreign Embassies are located. We had Lunch in a very highly rated restaurant, that is known for its serving of multi course Vietnamese style food. Our menu consisted of Jicama and prawn salad with grated young coconut in sweet and sour sauce, Hanoi fried spring rolls with minced pork, mushrooms, onion, and carrot, Beef Ragu with carrot, potato, tomato, red wine and five spice sauce, grilled fish with galangal and turmeric in a banana leaf, and stir fried seasonal vegetables in garlic sauce. Dessert was various types of sliced fresh fruits. After lunch, we stopped at the memorial near a lake that John McCain parachuted into when he was shot down over Hanoi in 1967, while making a bomb run in an F4 attempting to bomb a power plant. He was captured and spent about six years as a prisoner in the "Hanoi Hilton" prison. We next toured that same "Hanoi Hilton", which dated back to French Colonial days. It even has a guillotine! Our next stop was a tour of the North Vietnam Army Museum. Finally, we went on a ride in six man electric carts to tour the "Old Quarter" which also largely dates back to French Colonial days. It has very narrow streets and is locally called "36 streets with 36 wares". Streets are organized by what types of goods are sold in all the shops in that area. Traffic was very tight given that it was a Sunday. They have an interesting tradition here. From Friday night, until Sunday at 12 midnight, they close down large areas of the city to any type of vehicular traffic. It turns them into huge pedestrian malls, that are fully utilized by the citizenry of what has grown to be a 6-8 million person mega city area. We had Dinner at a Vietnamese Style Pizza place. The Pizza was what we would call white Pizza and came with the usual several courses.

Picture from roof of the Apricot Hotel, showing some of the Hanoi skyline.

Another shot of Hanoi skyline. Note how smog obscures some distant buildings.

Yet more of the Hanoi skyline.

Closeup of Pagoda in middle of lake, as seen from Hotel roof and our guide pointing out points of interest on the memorial to the previously referenced landing site of future Senator John McCain.

Picture at Army War Museum of the Tank that broke through the front gate of the South Vietnamese Presidential Palace in Saigon. This happened in 1975 and effectively ended the long war that resulted in victory for the north over the south.