Hanoi

Walking around in Hanoi during the daytime has been like a session of bikram yoga; you end up tired and dripping with sweat. Even though the official temperature was a balmy 94 degrees this afternoon, it actually felt more like 106 with the humidity at 86%.

I have met up with my tour group, and I'm really enjoying the experience so far. The group is relatively small (15 people), so it has been easy to chat and get to know the others.

And because I am lazy today, there will be few words, mostly pictures.

Lady hawking her wares, including shrimp and what
looked like maggots.

Buildings in the Old Quarter

Birdcages in a storefront

Motorbikes everywhere. I saw a whole family
of four on one motorbike yesterday.

Ho Chi Minh mausoleum site, guarded by dozens of armed
soldiers. The enbalmed body of Ho Chi Minh can be
seen, and it is CREEPY. No pictures allowed inside.

Tower at the Military History Museum.
Climbing up and down the steep stairs felt
wildly dangerous.

In addition to the military history museum, we also visited the Hao Lo Prison. Whereas art has been the primary focus of museums in Europe, the intent of the museums here so far has been to remind visitors of the hardships that this country has struggled through. Both the prison and the military museum highlighted war, with very blatant displays of death. Death row prison cells were open for visiting, and graphic pictures of de-bodied heads were shown next to a guillotine. I ended up going through the museums in deeper thought than anticipated, and it didn't feel right to take pictures. 

TANK.

Look how close the tracks are to the houses!

Pho. Yummy.