Our last day in Vietnam was short and sweet before we caught a late afternoon plane back to Tokyo. These are final memories that we want to always recall about our short stay in Hanoi.
1. In Hanoi, if you can fit it on your moped, you are good to go. Consider, for example, this man balancing two huge and extremely flammable gas tanks on the back seat of his motor bike. He had to drive with one hand in order to ensure that the tanks remained stable.
2. Tall skinny buildings? Remember when you were a kid and you tried to stack as many of those wooden blocks as you could before the tower would topple over? Hanoi practiced some architecture that was reminiscent of that game.
3. Chinese medicine. Perhaps you are feeling a little under the weather? Your libido waning? Experiencing a sour stomach? Hairloss? Etc? Try the elixir with suspended geckos or a combination of starfish and snakes.
4. Communism. It's in the hearts of the people. Here's a poem from To Huu, who was often called the poet laureate of the Communists' victories over the French and the Americans in Vietnam and who went on to high posts in the country's postwar government.
Trai tim anh chia ba phan tuoi do
Anh danh rieng cho Dang phan nhieu
Phan cho tho va phan de em yeu
(My heart is divided into three red parts
I dedicate the larger part to the party
One part for poetry and one part for my love)
5. We are really, really lucky and blessed.
6. Power lines. Everywhere.
7. The people of Hanoi have been through a lot and yet remain kind, even when they have every reason not to be.
7. When we manage to put both of our kids to sleep on the plane at the same time, we feel like super parents. Also, Sawyer peed all over this seat. YAY!
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