Hanoi, Vietnam - December 4

Rain.  Rain. Rain.  What can I say?  We looked like a bunch of Tele-tubbies in our yellow, green and orange Goretex rain jackets.  I don't mean drizzle, either.  I mean full on rain.  Not my cup of tea, but we made the best of it.

We don't start biking until Saturday, so we sloshed around a bit today on foot.  First up was a trip to the Presidential grounds of this communist country.  Not sure what is so communist about them  as it appears that good old capitalism is alive and well.  We got to see the outside of Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, but not the old boy himself (preserved) as Fridays are his day off, we were told.  We got to see his Presidential house, in which he never lived because it was too grand.  We learned that he died in 1969 before he saw his dream of a united Vietnam.  And through it all, we got rained on.

Sien (not sure of the spelling), our guide, told us much about the Vietnamese peoples' history...100s of years of domination by the Chinese, Japanese, and French.  100 years (1854 to 1954) of domination and fighting with the French.  He also told us about the 1954 Geneva accord, which stated that the Vietnamese people would have 300 days to have free elections and then would be a free and independent country.  Unfortunately this accord was not fulfilled by the westeren world, and the country was yet again assigned to be dominated by a foreign presence.  Some 10 years later, the United States entered into a war to keep Communism at bay and 65,000 plus US deaths later, Vietnam finally got its freedom.

Most poignant moment for me:  Sien mentioned that it was illegal to own a gun in Vietnam.  I asked him how many mass shootings they have had and he looked at me blankly like "what do you mean?" and then said none.  So, no mass murders means no mentally ill people or no guns?  The Canadians in our group looked at us Americans and gave their condolensces about our latest episode. The Vietnamese expressed their sadness for our people and  shook their heads.  San Bernandino has cast a pall on this trip for me.

But I digress, again.  We spent the afternoon seeking out "pop-up" cards, which are cut out greeting cards that pop-up when opened to reveal very intricate designs of a girl riding a bike and carrying flower, or a Christmas tree, or a couple in love.  A successful afternoon, at last.  We can bury our heads in the ground for another day.

I'll try to be more upbeat tomorrow.  I think the rain and the guns have gotten to me today.