Day 4: stop off in Hanoi...

so our train back from Sa Pa arrived into Hanoi at 4am so we had yet another ridiculously early morning and had until 6pm that night before our night bus left.  After showering at the hostel washing off the SaPa mud we went exploring a less hectic area of Hanoi.  The old town was a little overwhelming for us so we went to a slightly more open area.

We visited the war museum, Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum and the temple of Literature.

The Mausoleum was the highlight of the day not only for the site but also the experience...

Not only did you have to go through security, metal dectectors, have to hand in bags and cameras (you could not have a camera on you at all) you also had to walk only on the designated side walks, I get yelled at for stepping off one.  Inside where Ho Chi Minh is lying there embalmed, you could only walk 2 at a time in a line on the red carpet, no talking, keep moving at a steady pace... it was the most strict place I think I have ever been to.

Next stop was the war museum which had remains of American planes from the war.

Last we went to the Temple of Literature.  It was the first University in Hanoi. A nice escape from the busy streets. Beautiful gardens and architecture.

The tortoise from the Legend of the Golden Tortoise: When the emperor returned after defeating the Chinese he went to the lake where a golden tortoise suddenly appeared in the water and took his sword.  A dragon then came and took the sword back from the tortoise and returned it back to it's rightful owner, the emperor.  

Statue of one of the old emperors.

 Finally after our day in Hanoi we boarded the night bus to make our way south... unfortunatly they do not make the buses big enough for us giant westerners... even I couldnt fit into the "beds", I felt bad for the 6'3" guy beside me! On top of the size of the beds the driver was your typical crazy Vietnamese driver so the sudden breaking and swerving did not help when you were trying to fall asleep. Only 5min into the trip, we hadnt even left the city yet, we hit a scooter! Luckily the person was ok and drove away!  Needles to say I did not get much sleep that night!