It's all about the Ho

This morning we went to Ho Chi Minh's museum and mausoleum. These people REALLY love their Uncle Ho. The museum was one big Ho-fest. A guide took us thru the museum and told us all about his accomplishments, good deeds, prophetic capabilites, and other god-like qualites. I had the distinct and uneasy impression that anyone who made a disparaging remark about him would be taken out back and shot immediately, but maybe that was just me being paranoid. It was way too long and boring for the kids, especially since our guide's so-so English made listening intently quite difficult. But even the kids seemed to understand the reverence required, and they were quiet and well-behaved during our tour. Unfortunately, the mausoleum, where Uncle Ho's preserved body is laid out for viewing (the main attraction Lauren wanted to see in VN~those of you who know her will understand), is closed on Fridays and Mondays. And today was Friday. Lauren was not pleased, because we'll be out of town all weekend (trip to Halong Bay) and then she leaves for home Monday morning.

Here are just a couple of pictures from the museum:

In the background is the closed-today mausoleum where his body lies. (note Lauren's p.o.'d face and body language):

Also on the grounds is the famous One-Pillar Pagoda. We didn't have time to really look into it's significance because we needed to get back to hotel to meet Kenny and Martin to go to our visa interview, so here are some pictures, and if you want to know more about the place, I guess you'll have to google it:

We ordered pizza to be delivered to our room for lunch, left Lauren in charge of the kids, and then Don, the baby, and I went with Martin & Kenny to the US Consulate for our visa interview. We went with another couple and their baby who are also with our agency. We thought we'd just do the interview today, and then have to return for the visa on Monday, but when we were called up to the window, there really wasn't even an interview at all; he just asked us if the information on our I600 was true and correct, and I had to sign a paper. Then he said that we could just wait there and our baby's visa would be ready in about an hour! How easy was that? We are now free to leave Vietnam with our baby and return to the US. So we got acquainted with Sarah and her husband and baby and soon the visas were ready and we went back to the hotel.

Here's a picture of Martin (L) and Kenny (R) with us in our room:

Sarah had told us about a bigger, better Citimart down the street several blocks, so Lauren, William, Anna & I made a supply run. The store is bigger than the one in our hotel, but I still couldn't find any damn bagels. It does, however, have a very good supply of items that fall into the category of "What the hell is that?", so it all evens out in the end. Here are a couple pictures of our walk back home:

Need a tv?

William making her laugh:

We walked a few blocks to the restaurant we *wanted* to dine at last night, Quan An Ngon, but last night, since there was a 20 minute wait for a table, we went to the ant-ridden establishment next-door. Tonight we got a table right away, upstairs on the balcony. Very cool place. And cheap! And very, very good! Yay, we have a winner!

Our waitress liked Thomas:

My spring rolls and coconut sticky-rice, which were excellent. And baby's foot, which was a little chewy:

The view from our table was so tropical-paradise-ish:

Tomorrow morning we leave at 8am for a 3 to 4 hour drive to Halong Bay. We'll stay overnight there and return late Sunday afternoon, so I won't be able to post again until after that.