8-16-09: Hanoi...The Capital City...

Plane rides always scare me. Ever since I could remember, I couldn’t bare the thought of riding planes. Now here I am, many years later at the age of 23, and still frightened by the thoughts of flying. Something about the thought of free-falling your way from 30,000 feet in the air onto the ground, people screaming the whole way down, women hugging their children, men making last phone calls to their loved ones, the oxygen masks deploying, and the loud scream of the engine always plays in my head so vividly when I prepare myself for flying. When I fly alone the vivid imagery is so much more intense, when I fly with friends or people I know it’s not as bad. Which is why our group flight to Hanoi this weekend was actually more enjoyable than it was terrifying, although I must admit that the pre-flight shenanigans were rather terrifying to say the least…

We landed in Hanoi at around 11am and got out to air so thick that it felt like someone tossed a brick at my face. For some reason my body can’t seem to get comfortable in super humid weather, so naturally, I started sweating profusely. Hanoi, unlike Hue, is much more of an American city. The hustle, bustle, honking, yelling, and all the noises you would expect at a city await you in Hanoi. I am keen to compare this city to New York City and Chicago; very loud and crowded. But unlike those cities, there is a sense of charm that an American city cannot achieve. Street vendors selling Vietnamese delicacies lined the streets at every corner. Every shop contained numerous knock-off products that could just as easily pass at the real ones, some not so much as others. The smell of the city was something I’ve never experienced before; the smell of delicious food and the local river mixed to make a splendid aroma.

As a group, we were required to do some sight-seeing of the city. Hanoi, being a city with a vast and diverse history, has many things to see. The Ho Chi Minh memorial made in conjunction with the Russian Communists, the single pillar pagoda, the temples, and many more things bring a steady amount of tourism in everyday for Hanoi. The first thing on our agenda, though, was to see the Ho Chi Minh memorial.

Ho Chi Minh died in 1965, due to the war his body was sent to Moscow to be held until the war was over 2 years later. When he was brought back, the Russian Communists had a say in the form he was buried (Ho Chi Minh wished to be cremated and spread all over Vietnam). The Communist Party got there way, and he was enshrined instead of being cremated.

We got to his memorial at about 2pm; one of the hottest days in Vietnam awaited me. Due to this, I sweat so much that my shirt was literally all wet. The memorial was a very somber, sometimes bland, memorial that was in stark contrast to the Vietnamese influenced housing and the French influenced government buildings. A large, gray, pantheon style memorial complete with pillars, Ho Chi Minhs’ memorial was one that made me realize how the Vietnamese saw this man. When an important political figure dies in the States, he gets his minutes of fame, and then fades into obscurity (for the most part). The Vietnamese show a tremendous pride in their leaders, in particular, Ho Chi Minh. He is seen as a savior of sorts, and is memorial is one that constantly reminds you of that. First, you are not allowed to bring cameras, cell phones, backpacks, or even umbrellas into his memorial. Laughter, smiling, and loud talking are also strictly prohibited. Guards in all white uniforms secure the whole premises of the memorial, and they also double by enforcing all of the rules. The scorching sun made the rules for no umbrellas to be very difficult to follow.

After a line that can be compared to the Disneyland, “Space Mountain” lines, we finally got to the entrance of the memorial. We entered by way of red carpet, into a building in which air condition provided us with a much needed freshness of cold air. The building was entirely lack of any furniture, marble floors and walls, and seemingly never-ending steps that led to the top of this giant memorial. As we walked solemnly through the line, it became evident that the rules for “no laughing and talking” were strictly enforced. Charley and I made a joke about the cameras being blatantly obvious like the episode of The Simpsons in which Bart accuses the hotel room of having cameras in his room, then a large camera bursts out stating, “There are no cameras in this room, go back to sleep.” This joke made us laugh hysterically, and as fast as the wink of an eye, a guard in white garb pointed at us and yelled, “No Laugh!”

We finally got into the actual room in which Ho Chi Minh was put to rest in his final place; the room dimly lit with a red hue, Ho Chi Minh placed in the center placed in a bulletproof glass encasing, and four guards on each side of his glass casket. I must say that many Vietnamese (even some of my classmates) people were awestruck by the scene, some people oozing with emotions that only sadness and admiration could bring about. I, on the other hand, felt a sense of eerie shrillness. I couldn’t help compare it to the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, everything just felt so surreal, like we were placed onto a ride. In no way am I disrespecting a prolific mans’ final resting place, but I have to be truthful in saying that I felt more of a need to be creeped out than I felt an urge to pay respect at the display. Nonetheless, a truly remarkable memorial that truly exceeds any memorial we have in the States.

We left the memorial sweaty and bewildered. It began to pour rain, thus bringing us a much needed drenching of our bodies, although the humidity still made the air unbearably hot.

The Boss Hotel was our place of residence for the weekend. A very bourgeois hotel that was clearly influenced by New York and Los Angeles architecture, it made all of us feel like we were in the States and not in the humid weather of Vietnam. It was a nice place that made me feel like I was at home. After dropping of our baggage, our little clique decided to do some traveling of our own. The streets of Hanoi are lined with vendors. Anything your heart desires can be found there. Think of it as a wonder world for shoppers, everywhere you turn a chance at a rarity in price for a “needed” item of leisure can be found and haggled for. With these vendors, food sellers accompany them; delivering savory smells of delicious food across the city. In the center of Hanoi lies a large lake, which if not for its location in a developing nation, would be prime real estate in a developed nation. Lovers line this lake every night, bringing a very romantic view of the city. We shopped, ate, and explored the busy city.

After a day of traveling, we decided to get some rest, tomorrow brought us a day in which consisted of partying and exploring…

Live from Vietnam, Sonny