A C. T U. A L. L Y

March 5:   Last day in Hanoi.   We stopped by Huulala to finalize the payment and shipping of the jacket (above) they were making for me. This city had been our hands-down favorite so far, but we were keeping an open mind, because at 16:20 we would board Viet Jet Flight VJ4913 to Siem Reap, Cambodia, the site of Angkor Wat.  Before then, though, there were still some things we wanted to see in Hanoi. We hadn’t yet visited Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum (above) or the Presidential Palace, so we put them on the morning’s agenda. The atmosphere at the Mausoleum was beyond sober; it was chillingly intimidating.   The Vietnamese take Uncle Ho, the father of their country, rather seriously.   Lonely Planet describes the scene: In the tradition of Lenin, Stalin and Mao, Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum is a monumental marble edifice. Contrary to Ho Chi Minh’s desire for a simple cremation, the mausoleum was constructed from materials gathered from all over Vietnam between 1973 a...

MARCH 3:   Sunday morning in Hanoi.   Turns out everything we wanted to see was open, so we plotted our itinerary.   I would go to the Vietnamese Women’s Museum while my husband wandered around looking for a perfect Vietnamese iced coffee.   Then we would rendezvous at Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Hanoi Hilton, and tour the facility before going to lunch at Bun Cha Huong Lien, the restaurant where Anthony Bourdain and President Obama ate bun cha . The Vietnamese Women’s Museum is pictured above, courtesy of Vinpearl , which has a summary of the building’s history and architecture.   The museum contains four floors of exhibitions devoted to the various roles women have played in Vietnamese society.   The first floor has a gift shop and exhibition space for temporary shows.   The second floor is devoted to customs concerning ethnic women from birth to marriage and motherhood.   The third floor concentrates on the significant role played by Viet...