Well, we are here! In Ha Noi.
Probably only those over 50 will recall the phrase in my title from the Movie with Robyn Williams about Armed Forces radio during the Vietnam War. Such a difficult, tragic era for Southeast Asian countries, Vietnam in particular and the US.
The small things about traveling make it all wonderful. After getting through Immigration and Customs at the Hanoi airport, I nearly hit my head on the TV monitor directing us toward the correct baggage claim. Things are shorter and smaller here and I sometimes forget. Most restaurants are on 2nd floor or above in most cities, so walking up several flights of narrow steps created for tiny feet is common. ( The fancier places in here or in HK have elevators. ) As you would imagine, I walk a bit sideways----similar to walking up the Mayan pyramids in Chechen Itza, Mexico.
A harried, always honking taxi weaved in and out traffic for nearly and hour then dropped us at the Royal Palace Hotel squeezed among the shops, restaurants, hustle noise of Old Han Oi Central. Not sure where the Royal part comes in but this place is nice and people lovely, friendly, and helpful. One of the fellows calls Tom "Pop" and Tom corrected him to say "Grandpop" followed by lots of gestures and laughter. We are never sure if translations are ever understood; but good feelings and smiles abound anyway.
We ran into a family of 3 from Bergen, Norway, a city we visited on a home-exchange a few years ago, so we all had dinner together in a Thai Express restaurant. The food was terrific, company great, the mom is taking a semester off has headmistress of a high school, the dad is changing careers and their 14-year old daughter is traveling for fun. She says her homework awaits her when she gets home in a few weeks. Like most tourists, we shared travel stories and the daughter practiced her English. A fun evening.
It's quite a challenge to manuver the sidewalks at night with so many people out enjoying the warm evening with shops open; but, at least there are sidewalks, something Kathmandu would do well to provide. When you dodge motorbikes here, their drivers seem to respect pedestrians more. Did I mention humidity? I cannot imagine soldiers trying to move around with the heat and humidity with 60 pound packs. What a difficult time. ---
Photos to follow tomorrow.
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