A Few Random Observations

• Books I always enjoy life more when I am involved with a good book. After getting into the final 100 pages I start to dread reaching the last page and I ration my reading to forestall finishing. I started this trip with "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy, a favorite author who writes about beloved low country South Carolina where I spent a lot of time growing up. I hated coming to the inevitable conclusion. Now I am in that hateful stage of reading Michale Palin's "Himalaya" which is the former Monty Python actor's travel log of crossing the Himalayan Mountain Range from Afghanistan to Central China. Many hotels and cafes in Viet Nam have book exchanges so I hope to get lucky again when I seek new reading material.
• Onions I see all kinds of produce here. The markets abound with familiar and unfamiliar looking fruits and veggies. I succumbed to the taste for American food a few days ago and ordered a hamburger (which was actually very good). What I realized while eating my burger and fries is that I do not recall seeing a nice big ordinary slicing onion in any Asian market. How odd that something so very common to us is not available here.
• Crowds This is an unbelievably congested, noisy and crowded country. Ha Noi seems more so than any other place I have visited. The streets are narrow and the sidewalks are full of parked motorbikes and vendors selling food, belts, tee shirts, sunglasses; so pedestrians must walk on the edge of the street continuously aware of cars, bicycles and motorbikes all around. My observations of Ha Noi make New York City seem practically bucolic.
• Language The language of Viet Nam consists of all single syllable words. Note the way that the locals spell Ha Noi and Viet Nam.
• Uncle Ho Now that I am in Hanoi I am aware that Ho Chi Minh is accorded almost saintly status. In other parts of the country one can not help but notice his esteemed presence everywhere but Hanoi kicks it to a higher level. He is the George Washington of Viet Nam and I have read accounts of the USA in the years following the American Revolution that George Washington was similarly revered. I was disappointed today that his tomb in which resides his preserved remains is closed for renovation. It would have been interesting to see the local people pay tribute.