vietnam

So this post has been so daunting that I haven't even dared try to post it. So I am no taking baby steps. I will not cover our whole trip tonight but I will try to cover at least one city. So we started our adventure May 15th. My mom agreed to come to Boise and stay with our kids while we were gone. It took a lot of planning (mostly by Daren) a few stressful moments, and a lot of good friends who helped drive my kids and babysit for my Mom. So we made our will official May 14th at 11:00 pm and we were ready to finally go. I'll just say long long flight, crazy time changes (they are 12 hours ahead of us), and a lot of granola bars and trail mix but we made it. The humidity is very high but honestly I didn't feel it was oppressive I enjoyed it. We had air conditioning in all our hotels so we had recovery time from the heat. We would go inside and I would have to put on my sweat shirt or step out side to warm up. So first city... Hanoi This place was bustling I thought. The streets were organized by what goods they sold. So you had hat street, kitchen tools, kids toys, etc. It was fun to walk around but sooo loud and a little smelly if I must admit. We took a cyclo tour (man pushing you on his bike) around and I felt we covered what we wanted to see that way. We walked down to a famous red bridge ( the sunbeam bridge). This lake had a walking path all the way around (which we walked) and it was fun to watch all the people. Our hotel was incredible and so helpful. They arranged the cyclo for us and the manager told us to wait here (inside) and went out where the cyclo drivers are just waiting for you to walk out so they can try to get you on their bike. He was out there giving this man the business. He told him exactly what route to take, how long it will take him, and how much we will pay him. It was awesome. We went to Hoa Lo prison a.k.a. Hanoi Hilton which is the prison where us POW's were incarcerated and some tortured. I never felt any animosity from the people but in this prison museum (and all the other war areas) the war is called the American War. The pictures posted on the walls are of smiling US inmates decorating a Christmas tree, playing chess, hanging out having a great time. Interesting how the story gets told on the other side. We also got our first 2 massages here and they were both fantastic. We went to a nice place of course and I think we paid 12 dollars for an hour. The last picture is the view from our hotel room. I loved watching what happened on those balconies.