version without pictures printable pdf single page March 19 • March 21
Today was partially a travel day but all went smoothly. I got very little sleep waking up about every hour but I didn’t feel us dock so I was sleeping at 4:00 a.m. Woke up at 4:55 a.m. and the alarm hadn’t gone off so up we got! Had a mini breakfast up in the Panorama lounge. Coffee and tiny muffins and goodies. We were the first group to leave at six a.m. I must remark that it is a sad day to leave all this comfort. We never felt a wave. It was remarkably smooth but we saw several people who wore bracelets and who knows how many wore ear patches.
Gordon, our High Country Passage tour leader, is accompanying us to Hanoi. He’s British and it will be nice to know him better. Also the head lady from Harvard who is a young chic by name of Trearty is joining us so we will continue to be in pampered hands. We are a group of 26 some of whom don’t look familiar to us!
Airport went smoothly and was a group check in so we didn’t have to pay overweight. Yea!! Our new $7 duffel bag already showed zipper problems but it didn’t rip en route so we aren’t opening it. It has most of our bulky and heavy clothes items. As we walked through the airport on our way to the bus we were greeted by local maidens who put beautiful orchid leis around our necks! Very special.
We thought the traffic was bad in Beijing but it’s even worse here! Most people are on motor cycles and they don’t even seem to care if they are going the right way in traffic. One young thing crossed in front of our bus and going down on right side blind and could have hit someone head on going the other way but didn’t. We asked about the rate of traffic accidents and were told they were high.
We checked into the Metropole Sofitel, which is supposed to be the most famous in Hanoi. It was built in 1901. It’s quite lovely but we’re back to a single room not quite the size of our ample suite on the ship. I know have to hold the bathroom door to get up off the toilet and if I want to shower will have to make it into a very high bathtub first! I’ll probably just use the swimming pool.
Our bags arrived just a few minutes before lunch and we changed into something cooler. The weather isn’t as hot and humid as we had thought it would be. We continue to be so lucky bringing good weather wherever we have gone except for our rainy day in Taipei.
We ate in a far restaurant in the hotel and it was very lovely except it took several steps to get there. It was a buffet and all beautifully displayed. We certainly won’t go hungry here! Wine drinkers were penalized so I didn’t drink. Beer was free. How discriminating! I’ll have to chat with Gordon. Getting back to our room we went by a lovely pool which has shallow wide steps but nothing to hang on to Hmmm. I’ll probably need help.
After lunch we headed to the Temple of Literature which was a bit dicey for the wheelchair but we made out okay. We had a marvelous lecture by a 92-year-old man named Huu Ngoc who is now a writer but has been a soldier and I forget what else before he became a writer. His book on Vietnamese Culture was a bestseller in 1995. He spoke for an hour on the history of Vietnam and covered an entire whiteboard with his writings. Eventually I had a difficult time understanding him and let Phil take notes and he has typed them up already. He is so much better than I in keeping current!
We had an interesting bus ride back to the hotel. Phil went for a walk while I went for a swim and exercised an hour in the pool. A very nice waiter serving drinks to those around the pool came over to offer me a hand and when I got out I flagged someone down to help me too. Imagine my surprise when this pool wasn’t heated and it was quite chilly. I persevered and only shared the pool with two splashing little girls who enjoyed diving from the deep end. Could not open our heavy door but I learned from Phil you have to take the card out of the door after it flashes green so will try to do better tomorrow! We had a rest before we met the group in the lobby to walked to the Press Club Restaurant not far from out hotel. After being warned that you had to look people in the eye and be aggressive in crossing the street, we were led by our guide who found just the right moment after a bus passed to dash across.
The restaurant was just fine but several of us, including me, were fading fast by 9:00 P.M. I also used Phil’s fan to cool off and it was terrific! By the end of our three days here we should be able to master the names of the 26 that are with us. I have taken so many pictures that I need to dump one chip on the computer in order to persevere tomorrow! This, which should have been accomplished in two minutes, took us a rather frustrating hour and while I was working Phil was misplacing his electric toothbrush while he was trying to change the batteries. I was more awake when we got to bed but decided to give up for this very interesting and different day. We certainly haven’t been in another country like Vietnam on this trip! So time to sack out!! Another fascinating day.