Today, we went to Hanoi, Vietnam. It is in the north of the country. We wanted to go to the south and middle of Vietnam but we couldn’t because it was raining every single day and that’s no fun. We took a GRAB (it’s the UBER of Southeast Asia) to the airport and went to security. Then, we went to the lounge. It was nice. We went to our gate and they said that they switched it so we went to another gate. Then we went on the plane and the flight was 1 and 1/2 hours. When we got to Hanoi, we had to stand in one spot at Visa control for a looooooooooooooong time while they were issuing our visa. Then I saw Dad’s face on the screen and I was relieved that it was finally our turn. Then, we went down a couple escalators and went outside to a man standing with Mom’s name. We got in his car and he drove us to the apartment. We drove on a really cool bridge. Then, we went into the apartment.

We got into the elevator and went to the 10th floor. When we got to our door, there was a cool keypad for a lock and you had to put a number in to get into the apartment. When we got into the apartment, there was no power when we got into the unit. It was like a treasure hunt figuring out how to turn on the power. Then, Dad found a secret compartment in the wall with the fuse in it and he switched it on and all the lights came on. We went to bed because we were so tired.

Today, we went to explore the mall next to our place. We checked out the basement supermarket and the other floors. There was this really cool thing called Tini World. It is a playland for kids where there’s a giant ball pit, video games and a trampoline room. Then, we went to the supermarket to get some food. I saw silkworms for sale next to sushi. I was surprised because I thought they only sold them in Thailand. Then, we went to our apartment, dropped our stuff off and went out. We went to a cool park called Vuon Bach Thao Botanical Garden and there were monkeys in cages there. I’ve never seen a monkey before so it was a really good experience for me. The monkeys are so much like humans. I saw one eating bread and it kept tearing bread away and I thought it was really awesome. There wasn’t a playground but there was a giant lake in the middle. Some of the people at the park were playing badminton. There was this really cute dog that came up to me, jumped on my legs and rubbed against me. He was so fluffy. Then, we walked out and went to eat at an Indonesian restaurant. I had no idea why we were eating Indonesian food in Vietnam but we decided that we might as well try it because we will not get to go to Indonesia on our trip.

Then, we walked home and the traffic on the streets was crazy. We were almost hit at least 20 times by mopeds who were everywhere. Then we went to a bakery and Anna got a cupcake and we got some cream-filled pastries. We ate them when we got home and they tasted yummy. We went to bed after that.

Today, I woke up and we took a Grab to Hoàn Kiếm lake. On the weekends, they block off the streets with fences so people can walk right on the streets. We walked around and wandered across this fenced in area with a lot of mini cars. People were letting kids rent and drive the little cars on the street. Anna got in a pink car and I got on a police motorcycle and I drove around. It was really fun. Then, we went to this temple in the middle of the lake called the The Temple of Jade Mountain.  The temple was cool. It was very shiny. If you want to find out more about the lake and the legend, click Turtle Tower.   There was a cat lying on the steps. 

After that, we walked to a phò restaurant on the road. I ordered some phò and the broth was sooooooooooo good. I almost forgot to eat the noodles. It was cool because I got to see the man make it. There were so many pots and pans that they used to boil liquids and noodles. The amazing part is that it only cost 200,000 VNƉ(Vietnamese Dong) total for all of us which is currently equal to $8.63 in the United States. In Vietnam, you can get really good noodles or a full meal for about $2/person!! Wow!  

Later on, we went to a place called Maison Centrale or Hỏa Lò Prison.  The prison was made by the French colonists in Vietnam when they ruled there.  Hoa Lo means “Hell’s hole” or fiery furnace because it was on the street in the French Quarter of Hanoi where they used to sell wood stoves and coal-fire stoves.  It was made for Vietnamese prisoners that were mostly political prisoner. It was later used in the American-Vietnam War for US pilots who were captured after their planes were shot down.  

We walked into the first chamber of the prison.  It was big and it had a model of the whole prison.  There used to be 50 Vietnamese prisoners or more in this chamber.  In the winter it was very cold and the prisoners didn’t have warm clothes so they had to curl up close to each other to save body heat.  In the summer it was very hot and there was no ventilation. The prisoners did not get any yard time. In the summer they were very very hot and I think it would be useful if they could somehow save the warmth in the summer for the winter and the cold in the winter and save it for the summer.  There were female political prisoners there, too, in a different area. In the next area there were statues of the Vietnamese prisoners locked up in the foot lock. Some were talking, some were playing games, and some looked very sick. Each prisoner had one ankle locked up in the foot lock and if they were especially bad, they would have two feet locked up.  Some of the prisoners escaped through the sewers and went back to fight for their independence from the French. When it was used later in time for the Vietnam war, some American POWs (Prisoners of War) nicknamed the prison Hanoi Hilton. It was a sarcastic nickname, because actually it was horrible and people were tortured there and the conditions were really bad.  

The next day we were going to a water puppet show.  This is an old form of entertainment that the Vietnamese people used to do in flooded rice fields.  They attach long bamboo sticks to wooden puppets and wave them around in the water to perform different stories about what life used to be like in the countryside in the old days in Vietnam.  The show was GREAT! It was very funny and really cool. We had front row seats so we could see the details. On the sides, there were stages up high where people were playing music and singing or explaining the scene.  It was all in Vietnamese, but we had an earpiece with the English translation.  

Today we woke up and after school we went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.  He was the leader of the Vietnam Revolution when they wanted to be their own country and get their independence back.  There were a lot of guards and a lot of people taking pictures. Some people loved him and some people thought poorly of him.  But he is thought of in Vietnam as what George Washington is thought of in the United States, a founding father of the country. Then we went to a temple that was on the same property as the Ho Chi Minh Memorial.

After that we went to a restaurant called Huong Viet. It was our favorite! The food there is SO GOOD. I got a small French baguette with beef stew.  There is a lot French food in Vietnam because France colonized Vietnam for a very long time and they left a lot of their culture there. When we were in France we ate a lot of Vietnamese food, too, because the French brought it back to their country because Vietnamese food is so good.  But, the whole time we were in Vietnam we only ate Vietnamese food, except for one Indonesian meal. My family loves Vietnamese food. 

The next day we left for Taiwan.  I was excited because we were going to see our friend Livia who lives in Taipei, who we met at the Elephant Nature Park in Northern Thailand!!

GOODBYE VIETNAM!!!! HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN SOMEDAY!!!!