Hanoi City Highlights

Follow us team.  The big people say we need to go to Vietnam.

Hanoi City, Halong Bay and Sapa.

Lilly's playroom sounds good to us but okay if you say so!  Vietnam here we come!

Youngest Bryant? Check!  Let's travel!

Arrived!  Welcome to the bus.  We spent lots of time on the bus.

First stop.  Hanoi City.  Land of the motor bike.
There are no words to describe the number of motorbikes
racing through the streets in no particular order.

It is here where our group came up with the terms
"Ha-mazing" or "Ha-nnoying"

"Cross the street in a pack" the guide said.
"Make no eye contact with the motorbike riders" the guide said.




Let's reflect on the things we saw being transported by motorbike.

A new pink bike!

Not sure.  Sand?  Concrete?

Children.

Eggs.

Hanoi City.  Home of the Water Puppet Show.

An ancient form of entertainment in Vietnam.  

Hmmmm.  Would you say this is a touristy thing to do?

These little puppets were actually quite fascinating
to watch floating around on the water.  The puppeteers came
out at the end.

The children loved it.

Hanoi City.  Home of Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body.  

Ho Chi Minh was the beloved communist leader of Vietnam until 1965.

People come from all over Vietnam daily to view his body.

We waited in a very long line to view the body of Ho Chi Minh.

When visiting Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum legs and shoulders must be covered. 

Visitors must be silent, and walk in two lines. Hands must not be in pockets, 

nor arms crossed. Smoking, drinking, eating, photography, and video taping are prohibited.

WE ARE IN TROUBLE.

Check out the line.

We made lots of friends while waiting in the line.

Baby Jack is excellent at waiting in lines.

We made it to the front!  It's here where you have to get quiet!
Deric.  Off phone.

After viewing the body we saw Ho Chi Minh's palace.

Our AMAZING guide Minh filled us in on all
the great history around us.  Minh stayed with us our entire
time in Vietnam.  He was GREAT!

Refreshments after body viewing!

Follow the Mama's.  Lunchtime!

Cheers! Next stop Hanoi Hilton.  But we don't mean a hotel.


Hanoi City.  Home of the prison where John McCain
was held for over 5 years after being shot down during
The Vietnam War.  The American POW's referred to the prison
as the "Hanoi Hilton".

Heading into the prison museum.

John McCain's suit he was wearing when shot down.

John McCain-POW


The prison museum....this was an example of one
way they held the men captive.  A table and shackles

Lilly was not a fan of this place. 

We'll just wait here.

Lilly? 

Back on the bus!

Hanoi City.  Home of the rickshaw tour. 

One of my favorite parts of this entire trip!

Oh the things we saw while riding on a rickshaw!

Again, one of my favorite parts of the trip!

No Lilly.  We are not finished.
Must see some sort of Forbidden City and go shopping for art..

We took fun pictures at the Forbidden City. 
It's terrible but I can't remember what this place was.
I do know that we had fun taking pictures here.

Uncle Russell!




Bonsai!







Our last stop for the day was this little art studio a friend told me about. 
You can bring a photo in and they will paint a copy of the photo.
I brought this photo in:

Something about this place cracked Jack up

Everyone had a great time shopping.  
But the coolest part was watching this guy paint.
He started this landscape right when we got there and the kids
sat mesmerized watching him paint.

Watch the transformation of the canvas,






After the kids watched him paint it I had to bring it home with us.
For less than 30$ it was ours!
Need to get it framed!

Pretty amazing huh?



I'll wrap up this post with some tips on great
places to snooze while in Hanoi City.

Back of a rickshaw.

At the dinner table 

During the water puppet show.

On Daddy's chest in this contraption.

Rickshaws.  Rickshaws are great for naps.

On a bridge in your Daddy's arms.

On a bridge in Mama's arms.

Walking through the crazy streets.

And all that happened in a day and a half!

Halong Bay and Sapa here we come.  

Cheers from Singapore!  13 days til' wings up!