Day 12
This entry was posted on 9/16/2006 9:41 AM and is filed under uncategorized.
Well the main differences between HCMC and Hanoi are the traffic and the prices. It is a lot slower here and more peaceful. Its still busy, don’t get me wrong, but it seems less hectic in this city, which is good because I actually cussed 3 times crossing the street in Ho Chi Minh. It just came out! When a motorbike or bus is about to run you over and your standing in the middle of the street with no where to go, %#@$ comes out of your mouth unfortunately! About the prices, outrageous. A bottle of water in our room is $3.50. Imagine the cost of a meal, clothes and hotel from that price and you can imagine the difference between here and our last two cities.
The store fronts are all open. Lots of street vendors are out selling foods and fruits. They all just hang out on the streets, take naps, play cards and talk with one another. It seems very social.
We found out today that in Vietnam after the children are born the man stays home with the children and the woman works. This explains why all the men we have met are single and all the women we meet have children at home or with them at work.
We are going to take a rickshaw tour around the lake before we leave. Another couple took one tonight and said it was beautiful. The restaurants around the lake all have hanging lanterns from the trees and Christmas lights everywhere. So we are looking forward to that. We would also like to catch a water puppet show.
The hotel we are at in Hanoi is called The Melia Hanoi. We are on the 22nd floor and have a beautiful view of the city. The city was colonized by the French, so there are lots of French words on the buildings and the people with us who have been to France say the buildings look just like France, with the bright colors, shutters and iron work.
As we were out sightseeing today, we ran across a prison. The name of the prison was the ‘Maison Central’ better known as ‘Hanoi Hilton.’ Which was the place they kept the American POW’s during the Vietnam War. You can now take a tour of the building which we hope to do next week- ya’ll know Adam is excited about that!
Avi Joy was fussy today. We weren’t sure why… most of the day she was ok, but there was an hour there or so where she screamed so hard she broke a sweat. We gave her some baby Motrin and a bottle and she is now sound asleep, about an hour earlier than her normal bed time.
Blessings- The Perrymans
! That rickshaw tour sounds like the way to go, perhaps a fun way to enjoy the city. I got a kick out of the families having fun with a little broken English, a little 'vacuum / ice cream' humor goes a long way. **News-Flash** - I'm right now hearing a 'ice cream' truck/vendors music just outside my house! what timing, a 'rainbow bomb-pop' for me! Hoping for a exit interview this week! Love you all. Be safe. Granpa Ken