Jeffrey and Kristin Lee on the Road: Hanoi, Vietnam (March 2018)

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam. Hanoi keeps its quiet and old fashioned beauty of the ancient city, compared with its southern counter part of Ho Chi Minh City that is a modern and bustling city. Hanoi has well preserved the beautiful architecture that has been influenced by France and China over a long period of time.

Ho Chi Minh, the first president of Vietnam, served the country for 24 years. He died during the Vietnam War, but he is still revered deeply among all Vietnamese people. His memorial tomb, namely HCM Mausoleum, still receives a long line of visitors who pay tribute to him. To read more about his background and contribution to Vietnam, please click here.

Hanoi has a mosaic ceramic tile wall that stretches 3,850 meters or 3.2 miles. It is known to be the longest in the world. It was built during 2008-2010 and also functions as a dam to prevent the flood from the river.

Among several things we saw while walking on the street, Hanoi Opera House was quite impressive. It seems to be the place for people to take photos when they have special occasion. A bunch of graduates were taking a group photo. Also a bunch of motorcycle riders took a pose for me to take a photo in front of the Opera House.

We visited the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology that displays all 54 people groups forming the current Vietnam. The Viet people accounts for 86%, thus making the rest of 53 minority groups representing 14%.

There is a place called Hanoi Hilton. It is not what you think. It is a jail used for detaining political prisoners and prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. US Senator John McCain was among them. He stayed there for 5 1/2 years. One of the prisoners gave the name. In fact, there is Hilton Hotel in Hanoi and it is called Hilton Hotel Hanoi.

We watched the Vietnam's traditional water puppet show at Lotus Water Puppet Show Theater, which they boast about as the only such show in the world. The show depicts a series of ancient Vietnamese folktales, such as swimming, agricultural farming, fishing, which are acted out by puppets over a pool of water. People control the puppets using sticks behind a bamboo curtains in the water. Vietnamese traditional instrumental players and singers, called Cheo like opera, accompanied the show. The show was not as interesting as it claims to be.

At free time, we went into a Korean restaurant and had Korean dishes together with Paul and Danny. Looking over the plaza by the lake where a lot of people were gathering to spend their time over the weekend gave me an awakening that my preoccupation about a community country is too rigid. They looked like they all were enjoying freedom. People were practicing Tai Chi or dancing at any open space. Young people seem to be very happy with their life. Street scenes were no different from Seoul, Chiang Mai or any other free country.

We took the optional excursion to Thay Pagoda and So Village. They Pagoda is known to be the birthplace of the water puppet show. We visited a glass noodle factory. Glass noodles are used for making spring rolls and soups. We also visited a private house where I took a selfie photo with an 80 year old lady and a few girls. She has blackened teeth intentionally to preserve her teeth. In her 80's, she maintains her teeth in healthy conditions. She served us with liquors and teas.

To me, the highlight of the visit to Hanoi was History Museum. I was able to understand Vietnam's history in their own eyes. One painting depicted the corrupted society under the tyranny of French colonists and their feudalistic puppets. Their oppression was apparent.

Again, President Ho Chi Minh takes an important share of the Vietnamese history. He was and still is called Uncle Ho. That much, he was close to the people of Vietnam. He even conducted a youth orchestra as shown in one of the photos.

One woman's statue, titled "Undaunted" showed Vietnam's strong resolve not to be defeated by any foreign force. I felt that the Vietnam War was not to be won by any other force.

The pictures of HCM's funeral and of the declaration of independence read by HCM again highlight the importance of HCM in the Vietnamese history. They summed it up as "The guiding light of the revolutionary road."

The last night with Gate 1 Vietnam Tour fell coincidentally on Kristin's birthday. I offered to buy a cake for all to celebrate her birthday, but Steve, the tour leader, already made an arrangement. So we all sang "Happy Birthday!" to Kristin and one more lady whose birthday is in March.

After the tour was over and before we headed out to Dalat, I paid a visit to Imagtor, an image enhancement company. It is working primarily with real estate brokers and agents by enhancing their photo or video presentations. What is special about this company was the it was started and managed by a young lady on wheelchair. She defied her handicap and learned the skills to get a job. Not only was she successful as an employee, but also was she ambitious in sharing her success with other people with disabilities by educating and training them to be employed. She is now employing more than 40 people. I met her at TBN Asia Conference and promised to visit her to discuss how we may work together. We will see how things will develop. She is an inspiration to many people, with or without disabilities.