Hanoi

My favorite way to get around Hanoi was by bicycle rickshaw.  I didn't mind putting my fate in the hands of the driver, who pushed us out into traffic with confidence and skill, because the alternative, walking, seemed a death-wish.  I didn't enjoy the traffic here, as I had in Saigon.  Hanoi drivers drive much faster, and seem certain to run you down if you take a wrong step.  The streets of the old quarter are also much narrower than in Saigon, and the sidewalks full of parked motorbikes.  Feeling safe in the rickshaw (an illusion, perhaps, but still...), I could take in the scenery.  
We visited the famous Temple of Literature, a Confucian temple in the heart of Hanoi.  
Here is one of the many Buddhist pagodas we visited in Hanoi.  
Ho Chi Minh's body is preserved in this mausaleum, but it was closed the day we first visited.  Having seen Lenin in Moscow in high school, I was determined to add another waxy dead Communist leader to my list of, well, waxy dead Communists.  I vowed to return... and was not disappointed when we saw Uncle Ho in the flesh on our last day in Hanoi (a week after our first attempt).  The security guards were as much a part of the experience as the body itself.  

Karinna and I had dinner on the street, an experience I was determined to have in Hanoi. The food wasn't that great, actually, but the ambiance was wonderful!