By: Daneil and Infinity
Day 2 we started our day with an amazing breakfast provided by the hotel that included a variety of Vietnam selections. After this we then headed to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum where we saw his embalmed body where we felt as though he would wake at any moment! Hoa taught us all about how Ho Chi Minh came to power, his love for education/learning, mindset. We then ran over to the Temple of Literature where we learned about the values of education here in Vietnam. This was one of the first schools in the country which was highly competitive. In order to value the present, students need to value the past. This is why students would come to the temple to take graduation photos to show gratitude. We learned that the Vietnamese are very intentional with everything they do including architecture. The way the traditional temples were built were inspired by the sacred animals (turtle, phoenix, unicorn, and dragon) and the boats that brought them here. There was so much knowledge and history about Vietnam in this temple.
The next part of our day we enjoyed egg coffee near the night train tracks where we found out you have to be very careful about where you walk near or on the tracks, otherwise you might end up having a not so fun conversation with a policeman. The first half of the day was packed so full or learning and walking we needed to rest before our Water Puppetry show. Here we watched a show that included traditional instruments, singing, and art. It was so interesting to see how the Vietnamese viewed and expressed themselves through their art.
As much as we didn’t want the day to end, we needed to wind down and bring the activities to an end. We maneuvered ourselves through the busy streets of Hanoi, walking down narrow alleys where we were approached by sellers/employees with high spirits and eventually stopped by a few restaurants to enjoy a meal and end the night back at the hotel.
