Good Morning, Vietnam

So this is it – our first big family adventure for a few years, with the pandemic forcing us to place plans on hold. After the queue from hell at security in Heathrow, a 12 hour flight eating and watching trashy firms, and the most efficient arrival at Hà Nội airport, we arrived at 6am local time. Good morning Vietnam….

Since we only had one day in Hà Nội, we embarked on a bit of a tourist tick-box tour of the City. We started at the beautiful and extraordinarily peaceful Tran Quoc Pergoda – a wedding cake-like building surrounded by Buddha and ancient bonsai .

A swift transfer to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum (closed – his body in Russia being re-embalmed), so onto Must-See sight No. 3, the Museum of Literature.

The Museum of Literature is an ancient university, areas of study set in formal courtyards. Following a quick lesson in Confucius’s learning, Sophia had a lovely painting made for her room – “love, affinity & affection” (apparently)

Our final stop, at the request of the children, was the Hà Nội prison. A macabre but surprisingly thought-provoking stop, focusing primarily on the abysmal treatment of the Vietnamese political prisoners at the hands of the French, In contrast, the American prisoners, called “the pilots”, were made to look like life was a party; an introduction to communist propaganda…