Hanoi, Vietnam, 26 April 2008

Today was the last full day in Vietnam so I decided to get up with the rest of the group for a 6am walk around the lake. A few of the group went for a walk every morning so the rest of us decided to join them for the last day. It was fun watching the early morning activities around the lake, older women doing Thai Chi, younger women doing aerobics, guys doing chin-ups on road signs and working out on gym equipment on the side of the road!

Our big trip today was to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and museum. We queued up with the hundreds of other people (mainly Vietnamese from other provinces and school kids) to see Ho Chi Minh. I couldn't believe the amount of people! Thankfully the line moved quickly and we were shuffled through by the scary guards with guns & bayonets. Very strict at the mausoleum - long clothes only, no hats or sunglassses, no bags, cameras or phones, no talking and arms at side (not in pockets). Ho Chi Minh just looked like a wax figure lying in a bed, very white and didn't look real. Quess I didn't know what I was expecting though. He gets sent to Russia every year for 2 months for a 'fix up' :)

After the mausoleum we visited his two homes, one was on stilts next to a lake and very beautiful. You could tell he enjoyed the simple life. The last stop was the museum which had one floor of his history and photos and another floor full of crazy contemporary art which I just didn't get at all. The craziest one I just had to get a photo of - it was a giant table with giant fruit! Looked nuts.

More shopping in the afternoon and then our final group dinner which was really sad. We had a book of messages we wrote for Giang and a teatowel with Australia on it (it was Anna's) which we all wrote on to show where we lived. I had to draw in NZ. It became pretty obvious we had all become good friends and we were all sad our trip was ending, including Giang!

A few of us headed to a bar after diner for a specialty coffee, I had one with Kahlua & Baileys which was tasty! We stayed till about midnight chatting and enjoying a few laughs. It was a great way to end our trip.