Feb. 24 Hanoi

Hanoi is built along the Red River, this is another river that has its source in China. The Red River Delta is the second largest in Vietnam. Over half the population of Vietnam are farmers. We pass several rice farms on our way to Hanoi. A number of the farmers are out working today, some with their water buffalo.

Our guide tells us that men have 3 tasks they must perform in their lives. First they must build a house, the houses and narrow, usually 4 – 5 meters wide and 10 – 15 meters long. We see this design in the country and the cities. The second task is to get married. This is important for balance (Yin and Yang) a concept we hear often. The third task is to buy a buffalo. Now, for those no longer working on the farm, the task is to buy a motorbike in order to get to work. The house are built so narrow because taxes are based on the frontage. Most houses operate a small business from the room in the front of the house, either a coffee shop, a store selling one product or a motorbike repair shop.

The original name for Hanoi was Tong Long (ascending dragon). Hanoi means city within the river.

  Hanoi is 75 miles from the boat, a three hour drive with horns blaring, motorbikes everywhere and constant habitation along the way. The villages we go through are clean this morning, it looks like the sidewalks and roads were swept overnight. The markets are not yet open, people are washing their motorbikes or transporting goods to the markets. The mode of transporting goods is either a pole with a basket on each end balanced on their shoulder, or piled on a bicycle, or on a motorbike. We pass some women in orange jackets out sweeping the road. As we progress there are more signs of life –  number of women on bicycles balancing the day’s grocery shopping, markets opening, people sitting out at the little sidewalk coffee stalls, more traffic. 

Our first stop in Hanoi is the ” Hanoi Hilton”. It was originally built as a prison by the French. It was used for political prisoners. Totally black inside at that time. Prisoners were shackled on a concrete shelf one beside another, they could sit up or lie down. The prisoners that were signaled out for punishment were shackled on a slanted shelf in a small room, when they lie down their head would be below their feet. The French did torture their prisoners, we saw a couple of pictures and had brief description but the display was tasteful enough not to show that in any detail. The prison was originally built to house 500 people. During the Vietnam war American pilots that were  shot down were housed there, about 2000 men were there. 

According to our guide the French political prisoners were treated very badly, but the Americans held by the Vietnamese were treated well. There were a few men on the ship that would not go into Hanoi because they had been in the war here and didn’t want to see it. The guide told me that he had taken one man around who had been in the prison during the war and he cried the whole time.

Our next stop was the Temple of Literacy, so named as it is the site of the first university in Vietnam, founded 1070. The Temple itself is dedicated to Confucius. There is an image of him and to the sides his four best students.  

Today students have to pass two exams to qualify for university. First they must pass a local exam and if they pass that they go to Hanoi to take the second exam. Assuming they pass then 3 to 7 years of university. If they study medicine, teaching, policing or to work for the government the tuition is $20 per month. If they study anything else the cost is higher. The best university has a $10,000 per year fee.

While teachers are honored their wage is low, $100 per month. As this is not sufficient to live on most teachers have a second job. The yellow brick buildings we pass are all government buildings or schools. Now usually both  husband and wife work. In 1993 the Government decreed that a couple can have only two children. If you work for the government and have a third child you will no longer be eligible for promotion. The government is worried there will not be enough food and things like access to education will be to be restricted so they are trying to manage the population size to ensure the people can all be looked after.

We then went to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh is a cultural hero. He left Vietnam when he was 19 and travelled around the world for 30 years returning to Vietnam in 1945 after the Japanese left. Independence was declared and he was the first president. He brought the model of communism as his preferred political regime. He was president until he died in Sept 2 1969 of a heart attack. It was his wish that everyone will have a house, an education, a job and well being. When we first saw the mausoleum, Gary and I both had the same reaction – it looks like the open air area in Nuremburg where Hilter would gather the masses for his speeches. Apparently it also looks like Red Square in Moscow. The mausoleum is only open in the mornings to visit and there are usually long lines to get in so we were not able to visit. There were several guards and the gardens were cordoned off.

We heard the story of their flag. The red background  symbolizes blood, the yellow colour of the star represents the yellow skin of the people and the five points on the star are for workers, farmers, intellectuals, businessman and soldiers. The Presidential palace was designed as the homes of the farmers, a house on stilts, as the President wanted to live like the average person did. We did not see the house.
He loved to garden and kept a garden at his home – a simple and modest man we are told.

We next saw a small pagoda that had ben originally built in 1049. Inside was a lady Buddha, she has 1000 eyes and arms, which allowed her to look after all her people.

Our last stop was the old part of the city which has an extensive market. You can buy anything you want there and if they don’t have it they will make it for you. The market is along narrow streets, lining both side with goods spilling out of the tiny shops onto the sidewalks. People are sitting on the tiny chairs they use eating, drinking coffee, butchering meat, peeling shrimp, cutting up fish, sorting their veggies, trying on shoes, making shoes etc etc. Each small shop has it’s own specialty there are no supermarkets or department stores. People use any method they can to transport goods, anything but trucks that is. We don’t see many trucks at all.

In 2010 Hanoi celebrated its 1000 anniversary. There were various decorations and other evidence of the celebrations around. To commemorate the event a wall 3.5 kilometers long was constructed and decorated with with a ceramic mosaic. The wall follows along on of the main roads.

Hanoi has more cars than other cities we have visited in Vietnam, combine this with at least as many motorbikes as everywhere else, the constant horns and the normal driving techniques it was an interesting travel day. There are not as many traffic lights as we are used to and I and not sure how the corners really worked. You need to be a very aggressive driver in order to get anywhere. Usually the bus would go around the block to drop us off instead of risking us walking across a road. I did see crosswalks marked but I didn’t see that they were used regularly or that drivers even knew they were there. 

On our drive into and back from Hanoi we stopped at an embroidery factory. The work is done by children and we are told that these are disabled children of people who were affected by Agent Orange during the war. The quality of the work is not as good as what we had seen a couple of days ago. The shop also sold jewelry made from stones mined in Vietnam. There were some beautiful star rubies and star sapphires. I didn’t get anything – expensive!

There is construction going on everywhere and some of the construction techniques look a little suspect, especially things like bamboo supports propping up walls. The usual rat’s nest of wires everywhere. 

We did try to buy some Vietnamese coffee, at the market we asked one woman about her coffee beans. They were in one kilo bags, she said $45. We didn’t buy any and the guide said it should have been about $15 and she would have bargained with us.

Tomorrow a day at sea on our way to Hong Kong.