Today we were able to wake up a little later.  We ate breakfast in the hotel and then went off in search of Ho Chi Minh, who died in 1969 – the same number of island reported to exist in Ha Long bay.  We arrived at the mausoleum of the man that Anh referred to as “our Uncle” for the duration of the tour.  We saw the wax-like figure of the man who rescued Viet Nam from the French, in his final resting place, protected my many guards.  We weren’t allowed to wear shorts or tank tops (singlets) out of respect.  We had to leave our cameras with Anh and we couldn’t even put our hands in our pockets.

We toured the grounds; the architecture was heavily influenced by Chinese and French designs.  Ho Chi Minh did not sleep in a palatial suite, much to the chagrin of the government, but rather insisted on a more humbler abode.  He kept up this insistance, though did design a slightly nicer – yet simple – house (on stilts).  Sincer there was so much bombing in Hanoi, a tunnel was built near the house on stilts, as the leader refused to stay in more secure quarters.

We also saw the first university to be built in Viet Nam (in the 11 Century?? I need to look this up).  There were large groups of children – and Mr. Varga had a lot of fun taking their pictures and making them laugh.  At one point, the King actually gave the exams to the students.  The very top students were awarded their names on stone tablets.  Inside one of the buildings there is a giant statue of Confucious. 

We ate lunch at a buffet-style restaurant.  We were all feeling tired by this time, but still had a museum and puppet show to attend to.  (We also had YET to transfer funds from HKD to Dong). 

By the end of the afternoon, we had some free time.  The kids mostly wanted to chill and do a bit of shopping in preparation of our big overnight train trip to Sapa.