Days 15 & 16: All Good Things Must Come To An End
We woke up on our last day in Vietnam with nothing much in particular to do. So of course we went shopping. By retracing our steps from our night in Hanoi before heading to Mai Chau, we found the shop belonging to that adorable old lady again. She was very happy to see us, and I was very happy that the morning's shopping yielded me two ao dai!
After stopping for lunch, we checked out of our hotel and walked around nearby until it was time to meet our guide, Dan, to continue our city tour that was interrupted by the 1000-year anniversary festivities the week before.
Our first stop was to the Ho Chi Min mausoleum and museum. The exhibits are rather sycophantish - the outside being preserved sites of the various places he lived after Vietnam won independence from France and the hospital where he died. But when you think of the country's adoration of him in the way that Indians reveres Ghandi, it makes sense. The exhibits concerning the Vietnam War were uncomfortable at times, but since I'm 100% certain that I would have been opposed to the war if I'd been alive during it, any discomfort was short lived. What the government did to this country was pretty appalling.
Our next stop was to the Vietnamese Ethnology Museum, which very much resembles the National Museum of the American Indian in content. The ethnology museum features artifacts detailing the cultures of the Viet majority and eight ethnic minority groups that live in Vietnam. I've always thought of the country as being ethnically homogeneous, but that's not at all the case. There are, in fact, over 50 minority ethnic subgroups, each with their own particular cultural flavor. Finally, we headed over to the infamous Hanoi Hilton, but it was closing just as we arrived so we could only look around the outside of the building and just inside the entrance way. Such a nice looking building to have such a grim history.
Finally it was time to end our tour. We had some free time before dinner, so while Eacata shopped, I sat by the lake. Boy am I glad I did. I hadn't been there for more than a few minutes before these two college students, 22-year-old Hoang and his 18-year-old friend Thai approached me asking me if I spoke English. When I said I did, they asked if they could practice conversing with me. As if I'd say no. They were adorable, and we spent a very pleasant 40 minutes just chatting about anything and everything within their range of English vocabulary. I spoke mostly with Hoang, whose English is quite good. He's studying English and Administration at a university in Hanoi and wishes to work for a foreign company someday. I'm sure he will.
After yet another ridiculously large dinner at a fancy restaurant named La Lua (we felt *so* underdressed), we stopped back by the hotel to retrieve our bags and then headed for the airport.
After trying to get as much sleep as possible on our 3 hour 40 minute flight to Seoul, we landed foggy but ready to make the most of our 11 hour layover by doing the Seoul hop-on-hop-off city tour. Korean phrase book in hand, I spent the hour long shuttle ride into the city relearning Hangul, the world's easiest writing system. We arrived downtown and reveled in our return to first world luxury - traffic lights, cool weather, a distinct lack of live food in the roadways - only to find that the city tour - as well as most other touristy activities in Seoul - are closed on Mondays. Why, I ask you?
Anyway, I loved what I saw of Seoul, which was basically the area around Gyeongbok Palace, and the palace itself. It's only one of the 13-14th century palaces that exist in Seoul, but alas, only a fraction of those that existed before the Japanese occupation. Our tour guide, who wore a gorgeous traditional dress, was very knowledgeable. Unfortunately, our time was short, so we left the tour early in order to find lunch.
We found a place on Insa-dong Street, a blocks' long collection of shops and restaurants. We ate a fabulous,multi-course meal at a cute little place called Nuri. They served the best kimchi I have ever tasted (gotta get it from the source!), delicious Mongolian dandelion tea, and these grapes that were just this side of ice wine. Hours later, I'm still drooling.
Finally it was time to say goodbye to Seoul (i will return someday!), and to begin our trip back home. Thanks for following along with my vacation journal. Until next time!
After stopping for lunch, we checked out of our hotel and walked around nearby until it was time to meet our guide, Dan, to continue our city tour that was interrupted by the 1000-year anniversary festivities the week before.
Our first stop was to the Ho Chi Min mausoleum and museum. The exhibits are rather sycophantish - the outside being preserved sites of the various places he lived after Vietnam won independence from France and the hospital where he died. But when you think of the country's adoration of him in the way that Indians reveres Ghandi, it makes sense. The exhibits concerning the Vietnam War were uncomfortable at times, but since I'm 100% certain that I would have been opposed to the war if I'd been alive during it, any discomfort was short lived. What the government did to this country was pretty appalling.
Our next stop was to the Vietnamese Ethnology Museum, which very much resembles the National Museum of the American Indian in content. The ethnology museum features artifacts detailing the cultures of the Viet majority and eight ethnic minority groups that live in Vietnam. I've always thought of the country as being ethnically homogeneous, but that's not at all the case. There are, in fact, over 50 minority ethnic subgroups, each with their own particular cultural flavor. Finally, we headed over to the infamous Hanoi Hilton, but it was closing just as we arrived so we could only look around the outside of the building and just inside the entrance way. Such a nice looking building to have such a grim history.
Finally it was time to end our tour. We had some free time before dinner, so while Eacata shopped, I sat by the lake. Boy am I glad I did. I hadn't been there for more than a few minutes before these two college students, 22-year-old Hoang and his 18-year-old friend Thai approached me asking me if I spoke English. When I said I did, they asked if they could practice conversing with me. As if I'd say no. They were adorable, and we spent a very pleasant 40 minutes just chatting about anything and everything within their range of English vocabulary. I spoke mostly with Hoang, whose English is quite good. He's studying English and Administration at a university in Hanoi and wishes to work for a foreign company someday. I'm sure he will.
After yet another ridiculously large dinner at a fancy restaurant named La Lua (we felt *so* underdressed), we stopped back by the hotel to retrieve our bags and then headed for the airport.
After trying to get as much sleep as possible on our 3 hour 40 minute flight to Seoul, we landed foggy but ready to make the most of our 11 hour layover by doing the Seoul hop-on-hop-off city tour. Korean phrase book in hand, I spent the hour long shuttle ride into the city relearning Hangul, the world's easiest writing system. We arrived downtown and reveled in our return to first world luxury - traffic lights, cool weather, a distinct lack of live food in the roadways - only to find that the city tour - as well as most other touristy activities in Seoul - are closed on Mondays. Why, I ask you?
Anyway, I loved what I saw of Seoul, which was basically the area around Gyeongbok Palace, and the palace itself. It's only one of the 13-14th century palaces that exist in Seoul, but alas, only a fraction of those that existed before the Japanese occupation. Our tour guide, who wore a gorgeous traditional dress, was very knowledgeable. Unfortunately, our time was short, so we left the tour early in order to find lunch.
We found a place on Insa-dong Street, a blocks' long collection of shops and restaurants. We ate a fabulous,multi-course meal at a cute little place called Nuri. They served the best kimchi I have ever tasted (gotta get it from the source!), delicious Mongolian dandelion tea, and these grapes that were just this side of ice wine. Hours later, I'm still drooling.
Finally it was time to say goodbye to Seoul (i will return someday!), and to begin our trip back home. Thanks for following along with my vacation journal. Until next time!