Aug 26- Hanoi and Halong Bay

I really like Vietnamese people because they don't seem phased at all by tourists. Even though tourism is just now blowing up in Vietnam, everyone just goes about their daily business and won't even take a second glance at you. It's so different than India, where even though I'm Indian people automatically know that I don't live in India, and will stare me down like I have the plague. Vietnamese people, on the other hand, are very polite and modest. I also thought they would hate Americans after the war, but I didn't encounter any hint of disdain towards us. Maybe because we're brown?

We woke up early this morning to walk around the Hoan Kiem lake. We had to get there before 7am if we wanted to see the locals doing their morning exercises before work. It was such an amazing sight, everyone from teenages to senior citizens was at the lake exericising. There were older women practicing Tai Chi in unison, younger women doing yoga, men stretching and jogging, etc. Vietnam is very health conscious, and I don't think I saw one obese person anywhere.

After breakfast we went to Ho Chi Minh's burial site. Ho Chi Minh was basically the Gandhi of Vietnam, and Saigon was actually renamed to Ho Chi Minh City after him. He led the Vietnam independence movement, and even lived in Brooklyn for a couple years. Holla! After that we went to the War Museum which was okay. I think the main one is in Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon), which is supposed to be really sad too. The last thing we saw in Hanoi was the Temple of Literature, which was a university dedicated to Confucius. We then went on a 4 hr drive to Halong Bay.

After reaching Halong Bay we decided to get Vietnamese massages near the hotel. I thought the massage was questionable, but my parents and brother seemed to like it. Maybe I just don't like massages, I'm way too ticklish and I don't like unknown people rubbing my butt. And this woman was all up in it. At one point she was stepping on it too!

Confucius say, good night!