Day 19

On Monday, Marianne had to work so Tyler and I went out to do a bit of sightseeing. We first went to the Hanoi Prison. First built by the French, it was used to hold Vietnamese. Then Japan conquered Vietnam only to have it taken back by the French (I think I got all of that right). Then the Vietnamese gained independence and it was used to hold Americans during the Vietnam war. In fact, John McCain’s plane was shot down and he was held at the prison along with many other Americans.

Afterwards we chilled at a coffee shop with our laptops and books. It was a nice break from the heat. I’m such a wimp – it’s not even that hot but the humidity is killing me. After our break, we went to the Temple of Literature – the oldest university in the world. It was cool to see, but there wasn’t much there so it was a quick stop. Next we came back to the apartment and then went out for lunch. We had some Vietnamese food sitting on some little plastic chairs. Of course, then the rain came and we were without rain coats. So we headed up to the restaurant balcony to drink some beer while we waited out the rain. Then it was back to the apartment for the evening of rain. We ordered in Indian and played Scrabble – overall a fun night!

Pictures of these sites can be found in the post below!