Hanoi days 2 and 3

Here a sampling of things we've done in the past 48 hours:

1. Drank Vietnamese coffee.  Twice.  It's delicious - thick, rich and almost chocolatey.  Also seems to be largely a male activity.  We've seem some women at the cafes, but they are typically drinking fruity drinks as opposed to coffee.

2. Accidentally snuck into the Hanoi Citadel.  We just went in the back entrance, not realizing you were supposed to pay at the front until we left that way.  Oops.  There were a few groups of Vietnamese school children there who got a huge kick out of saying "hello" (in English) to us but were not at all entertained when we responded in Vietnamese, only when we responded in English.

3. Visited Hoa Lo Prison, or the "Hanoi Hilton," where the French originally incarcerated the Vietnamese and the Vietnamese later kept American POWs. Saw John McCain's flight suit and affects.

4. Visited the Hanoi History museum.

5. Drank bia hoi (Vietnamese draft beer that costs less than 50 cents per glass) and accidentally ordered 10 sausages when we meant to order 2.  Good thing we liked them. Bia hoi consumption seems to be a male dominated activity as well. Cambria did a good job representing the ladies though.

6. Ate more pho and other types of Vietnamese soup.

7. Saw a dead Ho [Chi Minh], embalmed and kept in a giant mausoleum Lenin-style, his house, his museum and the presidential palace.

8.  Ate this ridiculously good and ridiculously large meal.  (Bun cha)

9. Went to the Temple of Literature.

10.  Bought what appears to be a white pomegranate.  Haven't eaten it yet though. 

  

11. Played real-life frogger. The streets are littered with motorbikes, cars and bikes, devoid of stop lights and are a constant cacophony of horns. It's overwhelming. The technique to cross the street is to just walk slowly and at a constant pace and everyone should avoid hitting you.  It's cray cray.  What's almost as crazy is that in most places the sidewalks are blocked with parked motorbikes and goods for sale so pedestrians walking in the streets right amongst all the motorized craziness.

Finally, we think Americans could learn a thing or two from Vietnamese electricians: