Day One, morning: Hanoi

Breakfast?  Was awesome!

Good morning, Viet Nam!  Breakfast at the Metropole.

Have you ever eaten in one of those restaurants with bamboo ceiling fans and a French Colonial decorating scheme?  Maybe with a nice sun room and some tropical plants outside?  Well, the hotel restaurant in which we had breakfast this morning is the original Real Thing upon which all those pastiche-y places are based!  Amazing!

The morning's program, and our official AMA Waterways tour, started with a briefing by our tour manager, Son, who will be with us for the entire two weeks.  He is 30 years old and totally adorable, with a big smile and a nice twinkle in his eye.  We all assembled in a meeting room at the hotel and he gave us an overview of what we will be doing for the next two weeks, all of which sounds completely amazing.

We are divided into two groups of about 20 people, each led by a local guide.  We are the Orange Group led by the indefatigable Hoa (pronounced, approximately, “Wah.”)  After the briefing we piled into two waiting motor coaches and proceeded through town to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

Hanoi traffic is amazing and consists mostly of millions and millions of motor scooters, some carrying two or even three people, and some carrying truly amazing amounts of cargo!

Upon arrival at the Mausoleum, we went through extensive airport-style security and finally filed past the perfectly embalmed body of the man Hoa described as the “father of all Vietnamese people.”  It was unexpectedly moving, not least of all because I saw my son the Marine in the face of each and every one of the young, white-uniformed soldiers guarding the site.  One of the ladies in our group had trouble with the many stairs inside the mausoleum, and the soldiers gently and politely took her arm and helped her up and down as needed.  I damn near cried.

The Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh.

After the mausoleum we went to the Temple of Literature.  It’s a thousand-year-old-plus Confucian temple that housed Vietnam’s first university, which was established by the king in 1076!  It consists of several courtyards leading to the temple itself. 

Inside the Temple of Literature

One of the courtyards at the Temple of Literature.

Apparently students come to have their photos taken here, and these two young fellows looked very dapper indeed!

And this young lady and her friends were as lovely as they were giggly!

Our last stop of the morning was the infamous “Hanoi Hilton,” the prison where American pilots were held for years during what the Vietnamese call the American War.  We were amazed to find that it is right smack in the middle of town!  The visit was sobering, and not a little uncomfortable.  Let’s just say that history is written by the victors and leave it at that.

From the Hanoi Hilton, we went back to our hotel, where we had a two-hour lunch break.  We decided to take advantage of the sidewalk French café in the hotel, and got a table for two outside, with a great view of the park across the street.  Within minutes of sitting down, we were surprised to see a bride and groom, in full wedding regalia, walk by!  They stopped a few feet away from our table and were joined by a photographer and his assistant.  As we looked around, it became apparent that the park was crawling with brides and grooms!  We asked our waiter (who was only too happy to practice his English with us) about it, and he explained that the Metropole hotel, the park, and the surrounding buildings are the very most popular spot for pre-wedding photos because of their European charm.  He told us that the parade of brides and grooms is a daily event, and that on the busiest day in memory, the restaurant staff counted 140 brides!  Such enjoyable people-watching!

Not a bride, but so chic, so beautiful!