Thursday, October 17 Ha Noi

Thursday, October 17 Ha Noi

Today is the first rainy day, which didn't slow us down.  With umbrellas and poncho we walked to the Women's Museum which had a whole floor of exhibits of women who fought in the American War, very dramatic, some very emotional stories, of 14 year olds fighting bravely, being captured, and some executed.  One received a letter from her father with a bracelet, saying please wear this so I can identify your body.  A letter from a young girl to her family tells her brother to take care of their mother, and to study so he'll do well in school.  She died in a bombing several days later along with nine other teenage girls, fighters all.  A visiting group of five Vietnamese women asked me to take their picture in front of a photo of a young girl fighter. I don't know if the girl was a relative, or actually one of the women whose picture I took.

From that powerful exhibit, we walked in the rain to the Metropole Hotel where Joan Baez stayed during the Christmas bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong in 1972.  Staff and guests spent the 11 days in and out of the bomb shelter, the entrance of which was next to the hotel pool.  There are lists on the wall of the famous people who have stayed at the Metropole over the years, actors, politicians, presidents.  It feels a bit like the Nacional in Havana but it has been restored to its full glory, very glorious and rich.  We had lunch there, our most expensive meal yet.