First Days in Ha Noi - Fred McCoy (Senior Auditor, USFSP)

Arriving on a hot muggy night was a sign of things to come in our four days in Ha Noi (as the locals spell it). After a warm reception by our driver the introduction to Vietnamese traffic ensued.  With the way traffic flows, one has to wonder whether the Vietnamese government wasted good money painting traffic lanes and crosswalks on the highways. The traffic was heavy at 11:00 pm.  As the driver approached a jam he would pull into oncoming traffic and play chicken with the opposing driver.  Motor scooters had the advantage in this as melee, darting like red fireflies between cars and trucks.  Our first traffic round-about brought the scene of a crowd standing around a taxi perched on top on a scooter – no sign of police or ambulance.  Closing in on the city, traffic increased, speed slowed and new sights challenged our minds.  Bales of hay, stacks of flowers and amorphous bags appeared to be levitating down the highway in front of us. As we approached the objects, the wheels of motor bikes came into view. The bikes, stacked to impossible heights, obscured the driver, tail lights and any other indication that they were not flying down the road on their own.  After an hour of automotive excitement, the scene changed to the navigation of dark narrow streets. We believed the driver had no idea of his destination as we seemed to drive in circles and crossing areas we had seen previous. Luckily, we were wrong.  The Silver Moon Lakeview Hotel appeared on our left as the car came to a welcomed halt.  The 20 foot wide building would be our refuge for the few days we had we had to explore the city.

At 5:00am, unable to sleep from the excitement, we donned our exercise clothes and headed to the Hoan Kiem Lake indicated in the hotels name. A few steps to the end of our street and a shimmering and breathtakingly beautiful lake appeared in the early morning light. 

Encircled by a park area and a wide paved walkway, we started our morning adventure.  We were not the only people up at 5:30am.  The walkways were crowded with seniors walking and exercising. Groups of people were doing Eastern exercises and dance to music, men using weights, people walking dogs, men feeding large goldfish in the lake, others kicking soccer balls.  A sensory overload of sights and sounds! Monuments, Chinese arches, temples, sounds, all new and stimulating. This photo is one of the monuments – World Peace with Vietnam spanning from pole to pole. 

One of the many early morning community exercise sessions. Tai Chi Ch'uan anyone!

FOOD, great and wondrous: Breakfast soup, course after course of Vietnamese delicacies!  Adventurous travelers can indulge in exotic foods that are not seen on American menus!

Patrick posing in front of Senator John McCain’s flight suit, displayed inside the prison.

Some of us learned that, the “Hanoi Hilton” was not the name of a hotel. (Although, there is a real Hilton Hotel in Hanoi now).  This distinction is given to the Hoa Lo Prison that was built by the French.  This is where the US fighter pilots were kept as prisoners of war during the US-Vietnam war, which included the US Senator John McCain.

Fred discussing the B-52 raids in Hanoi in 1972         

Olivia and Ashley, enjoying the Ha Noi cathedral and a cooling rain.

The obligatory visit to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum revealed the nations true respect for Ho Chi Minh.  Lines to see Ho Chi Minh’s body were over a mile long, mostly Vietnamese. 

Ask us in ten years what we remember most about Hanoi.  The same thing we have night mares about now...crossing the street in motor bike traffic!  Is that really a K-Mart in the background?

We are a group of 10 explorers, set off to see a new world.  However, we are now bonding, brothers and sisters, caring for each other in our adventures.

Much more to Come!

Fred McCoy - Senior Auditor and Veteran of the Vietnam War