I started my day with yet another steaming bowl of PHO ...mhhh and then I took a Cyclo to the Temple of Literature. Which was very nice and a good quiet change to the loud Old Quarter. Took another Cyclo back to the city and had lovely lunch at a cute place and then I booked my trips to SAPA (leaving on the overnight train the night of the 20th) and HALONG BAY and got my train ticket to HUE ..so I am all set for the next week. Got some sneaker shopping done and had a nice day and evening.
I had an early start, because I wanted to get to the HO CHI MINH Mausoleum which is only open in the mornings. So being all brave and checking my fear at the door I hopped on the back of a motorcycle and off we went. Well you only live once right . My driver was very nice and took me straight there, for like 1.5 euros. Yeah ...
So I get there ... it's a huge area with a museum, his mausoleum, his houses, gardens, lakes ....
But guess what Ho Chi Minh or how the vietnamese call him UNCLE HO, wasn't home. Apparently they take him to Russia once a year for a Spa vacation, or let's say it that way ...he is getting preserved. So no HO for me today ..oh well the rest was very interesting as well.
So after a morning there I hired a Cyclo again to go back to the Old Quarter ... I show him where I want to go, we discuss the price, we agree and OFF I go. The one armed cyclo driver takes me down strange small streets and all of a sudden he stops and says ..oh Old Quarter right there ... and I am like NO WAY, having been checking my compass and the map. We were far from it ...so we have a long discussion ...I tell him he tricked me and that he will be having bad luck because of it ...but well I get off with not paying in the middle of NOWHERE ... Okay .. I try to find my way ...no tourists as far as I can see... and no idea where I am. GREAT. So I find another motorcycle driver, hoping he will get me where I want to go. I make sure he knows where I want to go ... and I tell him lots of times that he will have bad luck for EVER if he wants to trick me. And off I go again ..praying that I will not be driven somewhere, where they hit me over the head and take off with my bag ... he did take a strange route ..and I was already thinking of jumping off the bike and running. I did not have a good feeling about that ..but in the END I got to where I wanted to go!!!! SAFE ... Thank GOD! This was my first strange experience since I have started my travels.
Becuase I have been running around every day since I started my travels, I wanted to go to the pool for a relaxing afternoon in the sun. So my travel book said that the MELIA Hotel offers the day for 10USD, so I get there ...and they want to charge me 30 USD ... for a small lousy pool. So I skipped that one. And decided for a cold beer at the lake and a shower in my room.
Oh well ...can't have perfect days every day right!
Some more HA NOI impressions ...
XOXO Sabine
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