Wonderful Whole Grain Bread! and #13 Back to Yangon, and the First Day in Vietnam

Sunday June 2:

We both spent the day taking care of any last minute departure details we could think of. I cooked a dinner (Chinese Fried Rice) that we could have more than enough leftovers for Monday. 

I also boiled the eggs for, and mixed up, a batch of egg salad so I could quickly put together sandwiches in the morning. We have found a wonderful whole wheat bread, at Walmart of all places. 

I have been using it to make avocado toast in the mornings, and am looking forward to trying it for our road-lunch sandwiches. 

Next Asian post: #13 Back to Yangon, and the first day in Vietnam. 

The drive from Inle Lake to Yangon was long, but it was on good roads. We stopped about half way to meet one of Joko's fellow instructors for a nice lunch, which gave us an enjoyable break. 

We stayed at an airport hotel so it would be easier to catch our flight out to Hanoi the next morning.

Including the afternoon of the day when we aarived, but not the day we all departed, we had five and a half days to do and see as much as we could in Vietnam. Joko had never been to Vietnam, so we relied on a guide book and the internet to decide which of many things we wanted to see. 

Our hotel was within walking distance to the heart of the Old Quarter of the city. After checking in we walked over to get tickets for the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre for that evening. It was highly recommended.  It is often sold out, but since January is not the busiest tourist time in Hanoi, we had no problem. It's one of those things you have to see to appreciate, and I find it hard to describe it accurately. It was charming and had an "old Asian culture" feel. 

The show was colorful and the music was pleasing. If you let your imagination rule, you might feel like you were being entertained 100 years ago. No photography was allowed, but I was able to get these two pictures from "images" on Google.

We got up early the next morning and really enjoyed our hotel breakfast. In fact we enjoyed all of our meals in Vietnam, in part because of the strong French Cuisine influence.

Craig had somehow lost his reading glasses on the plane, so our first errand was to find a new pair. 

The Old Quarter is a warren of narrow, streets and alley ways lined with small shops and eateries. We didn't see any eyeglasses at first, so we started to ask some of the vendors.  We were directed to a particular street and realized that every one of the dozen or so shops on the street was an eyeglass store. Apparently different streets specialize in different things. We had started on the streets that sold sundries and souvenirs.

Craig was delighted to find a shop that could put the right strength of reading lenses (+1.5) into a pair of (Italian) frames he liked. For $8.00 US he got a pair of reading glasses, better than any he could find on a US drugstore rack.

Next up was a walk to Hoan Kiem Lake, in the center of the historic area,  and the Temple there. 

We walked across this bridge to a historic shrine.

Here are a few pictures from the Shrine Grounds:

The inside was much different from what we had seen in Buddhist Pagodas. 

By noon we were getting hungry.

Photo by Sharon Chen on Unsplash from web

One of my favorite lunches when we are "out and about" back home, is a nice bowl of Pho. So it was natural for me to want to try "real" Pho in Hanoi.

Joko checked his phone for a recommendation and we found a nice, clean  restaurant. The Pho was just as good as it is in San Diego!

I liked the restaurant because it had actual tables and chairs. 

Many of the eateries only had little plastic stools outside for the customers to sit on. 

Note: We didnot eat here.





That afternoon we went to Hỏa Lò Prison. We know it as the "Hanoi Hilton" where John McCain and other American POWs were held. It is now a museum, and one section is devoted to the American prisoners. It was interesting to read the story from the Vietnamese view. 

This detail of the wall above is a jarring representation of the torture endured by the prisoners.  

The prison was built by the French in the late 1880's to incarcerate Vietnamese political prisoners. 


Most of the prison is gone, but in one of the remaining cell blocks, life-size statues are positioned to show what it must have been like.

But nothing can really show the pain, suffering or smell that pervailed.



Our visit there was a sombering experience. 

On the other hand, this more modern sculpture speaks of a strong and healthy young people. One thing I don't understand is what is the man in the center carrying? The young lady has a knife, the young man has a rifle, but what is that cone thing?