Hanoi Day 2

I wandered out for breakfast and found my first and last traditional Vietnamese coffee and a pastry it seems silly but the French left a bit of an impression with the pastries. There are coffee cafes everywhere and elaborate cake shops.

After a detour back to the Tea House to load up with the supplies for the day I headed off towards the Ho Chi Minh Museum and Mausoleum but I ran into Blondie and Tall Guy from the flight over and I invited myself along to the Lotte observation deck which is on top of an enormous shopping centre. Jack an engineer, has a thing for tall buildings. They are both from Brisbane and he is heading up to Rocky in the New Year to visit a friend who is working on the Ring Road. He shared some interesting details about the engineering of sky scrapers, over the cocktail included with entry at 11 o’clock in the morning at a table at the window. Nice couple. Pity it was so hazy.

There was a supermarket at the bottom of the building so we went for a stroll through the supermarket - Blondie needed band aids for blisters - as it’s always fascinating to see what’s on offer. I lost (or got ditched by) my new friends Jack and Annalise and so I continued to my intended destination which was nearby. I’m sure I’ll run into them again Irish, the engineer (Bne airport) is here for three days so I’m sure I’ll run into him and then there’s Pilates - she had a yoga mat strapped to her carry on! Chatted with her in the loo at the airport in Ho Chi Minh. We’ll see.…

Google maps led me through a series of very smelly back alleys, I was looking for and found a historic sight (which was closed!) but a nice man at a local pagoda across the road let me in there for a quick look around. Not a wasted side trip, and a treat for the senses.

The Mausoleum was closed by the time I got there, as was the museum. Seems many things are closed between 11:30 & 1:30. Emergency at this point when doing a recon of the WC, discovered no toilet paper, and I recognised the familiar goings on in the belly - I am out of practice, what idiot goes out without toilet paper, in a developing country even in 2023.

Disaster averted and when I re-emerged the Museum was open so - silver lining. His story is fascinating and even though only 1/10th was translated to English, the images were amazing. A well documented and preserved life. He is quiet the national hero and regarded education with singular importance to improve Vietnam and the quality of life for all Vietnamese.

Next stop was the One Pillar Pagoda and then back to the tea house for a cup of tea and some down time close to a toilet, before dinner.

It’s been 48 hrs and I have turned in to a human blender, could it be the airport water fountain (again - I am out of practice! I could blame the sleep deprivation) or the cream based coffee on an empty stomach this morning. Going to have to find a Starbucks for a lactose free or oat milk flat white I think 🤣.

Temperature drops sharply from 4pm, so glad I called back for more layers. Dinner at KOTO, I will be back in bed early tonight I think.

Dinner was a very special a la carte experience. Started by a Vietnamese Australian - https://www.koto.com.au/about-koto. All I remember was that it was duck and mango - delicious and then I had flambé banana and coconut ice cream for dessert. I bought a toiletry bag made from recycled plastics by the deaf community. I will find other SE projects to support.

It’s 13’ outside - feels like 3’ in my room - all tucked up in bed and it’s 8.07pm
Late night!!Read more