Day 83: Hanoi

Breakfast at the hotel this morning was rather impressive, simply because once again we could have omelets, cereal, toast, fresh fruit, and some Vietnamese foods. We met a local tour guide at 8:30am and hopped on the bus to head to two tombs of kings, which were Tu Duc and Khai Dinh tombs. The first one we visited was built in the 1920s, designed by the emperor himself, and he is buried about 9 meters below the ground in the center. The second tomb we visited was for an emperor that died when he was 15. Both tombs had statues of monarchs outside that were life size, so we took a lot of pictures with the stone people. The tombs were rather large considering that they were built simply for people to venerate to dead emperors, and the amount of detail that was in them is astonishing. Each tomb is designed around the emperor's personality, and one had some exquisite details because it is said that the emperor had some very womanly traits. The story goes on to further say that there is doubts whether his son was really his son because historical records quote the emperor as saying that he has no interest in women.

On the way back to the hotel we also stopped along the side of the road where we got to see how they make incense sticks and conical hats, which was pretty interesting. Back at the hotel we had some free time before we had to check out and head to the airport. Our flight left for Hanoi at 3:30, and I ended up sitting next to a few people from the States. We got off the plane in Hanoi and the weather was very different--it is so much colder here! Once we got on the bus and headed to the hotel, a look outside showed the Vietnamese dressed in coats and scarves, and here I was in shorts and a t-shirt.

Hanoi has a different feel than Saigon besides the weather, also. Driving into the city, and from the few hours I've been here so far, it seems that there are many more cars. It is nice again to be seeing street vendors. How I have missed them in Hoi An and Hue! After checking into our hotel, we met up with some university students here in Hanoi and had supper with them, thanks to Loyola. One of the people that works for the Vietnam Center, Hoang, used to be a Jesuit and taught at the school these students attend. Although he doesn't know the students, he knows the teachers, and they brought some students down to meet us. It was a great time at the restaurant, and I realized just how much I miss interacting with local people our age. Supper was good, and we had fried shrimp cakes, fried spring rolls, noodles, rice, beef, and watermelon. At one point during the night, Cate mentioned to one of the students how tall I was. I then had to stand up so everyone could see just how tall I really am and was asked if I wanted to a model in Vietnam. After supper and many, many pictures, we took taxis back to the hotel and called it a night.

A fun fact learned about Vietnam that I knew but recently re-learned. Vietnam has four mythical creatures that have significance in their culture. These are the turtle, the dragon, the phoenix, and the unicorn. These animals are used as decoration in lots of places, including emperor's tombs, pagodas, and daily decorations. The turtle represents longevity while the dragon represents power. Four claws on a dragon means it represents the people while five claws on a dragon means it is for the emperors. The phoenix represents peace while the unicorn represents intelligence and goodness.