We made it into Hanoi by night train in the very early morning. After some time to freshen up and to have breakfast, we started our tour of town. The first stop being the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, where – after a wait of a good half hour – we made our walk past the preserved remains of Ho Chi Minh. From here we passed through the premises, covering the presidential palace, a collection of artifacts from uncle Ho’s life, his stilt house to the one pillar pagoda. We finished at the Ho Chi Minh Museum – one of the odder museums, I ever did come across. It had a similar feeling as some National Museums in former Soviet Union countries, I had been to, though with a somewhat modern concept. The result was an odd place with a strange mix of artifacts from the 70s and 80s and modern artwork, which did not really fit in.

After the tour some of us continued for the Temple of Literature and a walk around the old town back to the hotel. The evening did see us going for a show in a water puppet theater, which – ultimately – was more interesting and entertaining than expected.