This morning we got up early to check out of our hotel in Hanoi. We got a nice surprise when we hopped on the bus to find Easter eggs in our seats. It was nice to see the Easter bunny had found us even though we were in Vietnam.
We had planned to go to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, until we saw the line up which stretched over two blocks. Chi then decided to take us to Hoa Lo (Hanoi Hilton) Prison instead. The prison was originally used by the French for political prisoners but is more commonly known for its use during the Vietnam War to hold US prisoners of war. As we walked into the room with the guillotine I (Tristyn) immediately noticed the size of the guillotine, it was an eerie feeling. We also saw the way in which prisoners tried to escape through the sewers.
We returned to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum to see if the line had gotten any smaller, but as we expected it was still quite large. We decided to go on the outside instead as there was no queue. We explored the President's living quarters, gardens and saw the one pillar pagoda. Whilst walking around we quickly discovered that no one has grasped the concept of personal space. We stopped for ice cream and some of us risked the smell of the durian fruit and took a bite, but very few actually enjoyed it.
We headed to lunch at a local family owned restaurant. We were served a traditional meal of bún chá and shown how to properly eat it by the waitresses. Majority of the group thought this was the best meal so far.
We drove from lunch to the old quarters of Hanoi to embark on a cyclo trip. We were quite scared this time as traffic is worse in Vietnam than in Cambodia. Some of us went in pairs and gave the drivers a challenge as there weren't enough cyclos for all 30 of us. The drivers dropped us off at the local markets where we had free time to explore and learn the Vietnamese version of hacky.
We left for the airport and arrived at about 4:15pm for our 6:00pm flight. As soon as we went through security a few of us noticed a big Burger King sign. We had to beg Mr Croft to let us buy dinner. After some negotiation the teachers allowed us to indulge in some Burger King. We boarded our flight and headed to Hue. The flight was good until our scary landing. Thankfully though we had good tyres and brakes.
After a long wait for our luggage, we discovered we had a fancier bus than what we were told. It had rainbow disco lights and we felt like we were ready to party.
We arrived at the hotel at around 8:30pm and couldn't believe our eyes. It's definitely a 5 star hotel, we definitely felt a little out of place. While waiting for the elevators, Kev decided to try on the wigs that were on mannequins in the lobby, giving us all a good laugh!
The students who didn't want any Burger King at the airport now had the chance to go explore the city and find some food for tea. We found a small restaurant that used toilet paper as serviettes. Hayley's comment "I love how they have toilet paper as napkins over here but can't have toilet paper in the toilets" had the whole table laughing.
We hope everyone back at home had a safe and happy Easter.
Olivia & Tristyn
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