Crazy Day!

I’m not even close to figuring out where this one should start as yesterday was one of those days that was so jam-packed with a myriad of sensory-overload experiences that it could be considered a once-in-a-lifetime event.

                        But I will try.

            Analogies are good tools to use to describe something that the other party has not experienced, so they need a reference point to focus on….. I think that I’ve got a good one…….

“Roger that Blue Angel One, executing maneuver on my mark.”

            “Three, two, one, Mark!”

“Roll on … three, two, one, Mark!”

            “Hey! Bogies! Bogies! Bogies!”

“Keep on target Blue Angel Five!”

            “They’re coming right at me… Evasive maneuverers… NOW!

            “This is  Blue Angel One… stay on target, I repeat , stay on target!”

            This is Blue Angel Eleven, I can’t hold them off either!”

            “Steady there BA Eleven…. Keep in formation and that’s an order!”

            “Roger that BA Leader…. Executing Evasives, still in formation!”

            So, now that I have your attention, I will endeavor to explain….last night we all went on a Motorbike “Foodie” and Downtown Tour courtesy of a wonderful business called Backstreet Tours by Motorbikes (of Hanoi). This was akin to riding with a motorcycle gang. Without the knives and chains. My introductory analogy stays true….. imagine being in formation, flying as a group of precision aircraft while having five thousand other aircraft executing their own individual and group maneuvers while coming at you from all directions and you still needed to stay in your formation…. mostly.

                        And…. our “Pilots” were about twenty-two years of age, which when you think about it, is probably perfect. We each had our own piloted motorbike, my pilot was “Dave” and I am quite sure that was not his actual name, but they do know who their clients are! We spent over four hours touring and stopping at planned intervals to sample either tasty treats or desirable drinks with a few neighborhood stories thrown in for additional flavor. We even stopped in and visited the ringleader’s grandmother’s best friend who at 86 still lives alone because she doesn’t want anyone ragging on her about the cigarettes and liquor! Go Grandma! More on this a little later.

                        Our day started almost in the same manner except at a much slower pace as instead of having a zoomy motorbike, we had a plodding rickshaw, but then all rickshaws are plodding by nature. One to a seat, our drivers pedaled us around the old city for about an hour. It was a great way to experience the morning street rituals at a pace that let us actually observe them. My only mistake was not to adjust my shutter speed to account for some movement, so some may seem a little fuzzy, but capture them I did! In order not to look like the obvious tourists that I was, I just kept the camera on my lap and pointed in a general direction and clicked the shutter. The results are below.

                        After that experience we hastened over to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum.  Have you ever been fortunate enough to visit Disney World with someone who requires a wheelchair (real or fake) and been whisked to the front of the line, bypassing those others that have been in line for a really long time?

                        That is what it was like yesterday when we pulled up to a secret entrance, Phil handed the armed guard our “paperwork” (Isn’t always “Paper’s please? I need to see your papers!”) we were scrutinized as if we were entering the military nuclear research facility with nefarious notions. Our group even had some stuff (a flashlight!) confiscated for the duration. We were then ushered (escorted) basically to the front of the line and instructed how to line up (two by two) in order to proceed into the Mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh lies in state inside, Honor Guards surrounding him and the procession moves on hour after hour during the morning of every day.  This would be really good place to delve into a political discussion with the obvious differences between two idealistic political philosophies being bantered back and forth but we’re not going there now. We are the guests of a country who has been through as much as we have except they are over a thousand years old and just claimed their independence back in 1975 when the war ended.

                        It is interesting to listen to Phil, who may be one of the nicest people on our planet, explain the national stands on politics, positive and negative, defending and criticizing his country’s stance on such.

                        Oops! I said that we weren’t going there!

            On to our next stop and that would be the home of Mr. Liem, the only Water Puppet wrangler left in Vietnam. We needed to wind our way through some back-alley ways in order to get to his front door.

This tradition goes back a thousand or so years and is quite fascinating! His family has been in this business for generations and their handiwork is world-renowned. We visited him and his wife in their home where they have a small water stage set up. They entertain small groups such as ours and sometimes they also the bring their show on the road for schools and the like. The performance was about as unique an occasion that we have ever seen, and after being audience members we were invited to try our hands at manipulating the puppets. It was not easy!

            Oh! And I purchased one of the Dragon Heads from him, duly signed and everything!

                        After another outstanding lunch at a small local café, we headed back to the hotel for about an hour of downtime before we met our Chariots of Fire scooter brigade. This is where the fun starts and since I was not sure of how I was going to hold on and my pants du jour had shallow, non-zippered pockets, I did not even bring my phone for photos. Anything that you see here from now on was borrowed (stolen) from someone else on this excursion!

Our first stop was to the first coffee shop in Hanoi, which happens to be the originator of that Egg Coffee (chocolate!) that we had the other day. It was even better than the first one! We went on to tour some of the neighborhoods, meet Grandma,

get some cool history lessons and ended up sitting inches (almost!) from the train tracks that carry the trains from Saigon to Hanoi. It’s called Train Street and its even crazier than the motorbikes! The tracks are lined on either side with retail and cafes, and the draw is the fact that they set up on both sides of the tracks REALLY close to the trains as they come through.

We were fortunate to be able to catch two trains, one from each direction! After that we went on to one of the streets that has tons of restaurants and their outdoor street dining complete with motorbikes whizzing by your back, but thankfully no cars!

By the time David dropped me and the rest of us off at the hotel (about 10:30) we just about had it as we had been going non-stop all day!

And Bus Call was at 8:15 this morning!