Winnie Post 1: Viet Nam

Safe arrival - Asiana Airlines is great - Korean flight attendants w/ china 
doll faces and graceful flowing moving bodies.  They all looked alike and it was 
a great flight in spite of about 13+ hours!  Arrived in Seoul, Korea (immaculate 
airport) and flew to Hanoi, another 4+ hours. Arrived in Hanoi at 10:30 PM 
although that was 10:30 AM on Christmas day NY time.  Ha My's parents met us - 
Linh had flown in from Saigon and had terrible food poisoning and was terribly 
sick.  We all took a van to our hotel, Blue Paradise.  I have a very compact 
room with a bed, armoire and bathroom.  The shower is really a hand held job but 
it has done the trick.  My room is next to Ha My's family's room.  
> Christmas day we came downstairs to our breakfast in the 'dining' room - they 
have a Christmas tree in the lobby all decorate with balloons and ornaments.  
They had a huge spread of foods but I was very shy about eating them.  Beaver 
has eaten everything in sight!  He is brushing his teeth w/ tap water even.  Not 
me.,,yet.
> We took cabs to the place to get our outfits made.  Went to two of 
them...Laurie, they can't make your tunic w/ that model you sent as it is 
stretch material.  Can you email me some measurements like bust, shoulder to arm 
and length of tunic you want?
> Let me tell you about Hanoi...they beep horns all the time - traffic is 
totally chaotic with a zillion mopeds flying around.  Regular sized mopeds often 
carry a full family, including little tots!  Unbelievable.  There is tons of 
construction and povery and filth.  The air is so polluted that the riders wear 
these neat colored face masks - hope to find some and bring them home for the 
kids to play w/!  Shops are very narrow and full of stuff and full of dust.  The 
nicer ones have glass and doors protecting them from the dust.  In the afternoon 
we met Ha My's cousins (2 lovely women younger than Beaver!) and they took us to 
a wonderful linen shop where they bought Ha My very elegant sheets and a 
matching duvet cover.  All beautifully designed and definitely not permanent 
press.
> Looking at the streets I have seen many people riding bikes full of their 
wares, flowers, TV's, foods - hopefully my pics will show some of 
these...baskets on heads, poles across shoulders carrying trays of food.
> After lunch we came back to the hotel for a nap and I did sleep.  then Beaver, 
Ha My, Andy, Linh all went to visit the 'evil grandmother'.  I didn't hear too 
many stories about that yet.  I dressed and went w/ Duy Man and Thanh Ha to 
Thaing Joi (means victory) hotel - It is a Cuban built elegant hotel on a lake -  
our purpose was to attend Duy Man's family reunion.  There were 18 of us for a 
very elegant meal.  I was presented w/ the menu and all who attended signed it 
for me.  Pretty neat!
> We got there earlier than the other attendees so Duy Man and Ha showed me 
around the hotel and told of its history.  Interesting but I forgot most of it 
as I began to look at a wedding taking place in one of the rooms...there were 
500 people in attendance!  The bride, groom and the families spent the entire 
time in a reception line!  The outfits on the mothers were to die for!  I took 
photos of them.
> Today we had to be at breakfast at 7 and on the road by 7:30 AM.  There were 
13 of us in a van and we drove for over 3 hours to see the Middle School that is 
in honor of his grandfather, and Duy Man funds a foundation of scholarship $$ 
for 10 students.  It is like a giant motel w/ small classrooms.  I took pics of 
that - then on to their family burial plot and temple.  The ritual for burial is 
that the deceased is buried in a large field for 3 years.  After 3 years, the 
tomb opened and the remains taken out and put into a very small ornate box. Then 
the box is taken to the family temple where it is laid to rest and the spirits 
can finally rest.  We took food, fake money, incense to decorate the pile of 
dirt.  All the family members who came w/ us participated in the ritual.  Then 
we went to the fancy ornate spot where the bodies are buried and also went to 
the Buddist Monastery Temple under the rocks that is next to the Vu burial spot.  
Very ornate and lots of altars, all of which had to be decorated w/ food etc.
> We ate lunch there but one set of family did not like the food so refused to 
eat!  So on the way to the Pagodas, we stopped to eat again. Finally got to this 
incredible set o gigantic Pagodas.  We had to rub all these sculptures for 
luck...Jeff, your OCD would have been out of control there!  And washing hands 
is not the norm!  Oh we peed outside in the back of the monastery!!! and then in 
the men's room at the Pagodas!  
> We walked along rice paddies and I nearly caused an accident as a biker was 
coming along w/ bushels of vegetables and they all yelled for me to get out of 
the way...and I jumped right in front of him,  He swerved and nearly lost his 
balance  and he was followed by a huge oxen so I get out of his way fast!  We 
got back to the hotel about 8 PM.  
> The poverty is hard to take - as is the dust!  We all have dry coughs - Beaver 
is unbelievable.  He eats everything in sight, is very funny, and is lovely to 
me.  Everyone has been lovely to me...think I am the oldest!  
> Best get to bed as have a busy day tomorrow.