Crossing the street in Hanoi is a leap of faith. I imagine that when a person is taught to drive here that they are told "generally stay to the right but don't feel limited by that, pass on the left...or right...it doesn't really matter, don't hit anything, and try not to stop if you can at all help it". We diagonally cross the middle of a large traffic circle. The key is to walk slowly but at a consistent speed. This way, the hundreds of cars, motorbikes, trucks and buses that are barreling down on us from all directions can swerve to avoid us. The first step into the fray was the hardest and after that I was distracted by the urge to stop in the middle immobilized by fear!
We visit Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum where he lies in state some 40+ years after he died at age 79. Ho Chi Minh was the man who motivated the Vietnamese people to fight against French occupation. He is considered the "father" of Vietnam and although he wanted to be cremated with his ashes scattered in the north, south, and middle of Vietnam, the people decided they wanted to preserve his body as they loved him so. So we wait in the blazing sun and thick humidity with hundreds of mostly Vietnamese tourists to walk by Ho Chi Minh's body for a total of maybe 30 seconds. No loitering, picture taking, or talking is tolerated by the very stern and numerous guards.
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