Last full day in Hanoi (7/2/14)

I'm still being haunted by the jet lag. This morning started with waking at half 3 despite going to bed much later last night. And feeling sleepy again about half 7! Decided to get up at half 8 to get a few bits done in the morning before the heat of the day. Bumped into Jessie, Mr Mauritius from yesterday, at breakfast and found out our plan today was exactly the same so I tagged along with him. We walked to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum complex which is where Ho Chi Minh's embalmed corpse resides inside a glass sarcophagus. Except for 3 months a year when he is sent to Russia for "maintenance". Actual word used I shit you not! He is serviced more than my car. Anyway the actual mausoleum is closed on Friday's but there are other things in the complex to see. There's a museum which we visited first. This is full of symbolic interpretations of his reign as well as of the war. Some were extremely Tate modernesque and even my incredibly cultured brain couldn't see the artistic intention. I'm sure we were standing in Superman's ice lair at one point. And there was a big table of giant fruit which represented the great Vietnamese war over giant fruit land ownership. Despite missing some symbolism it was still well worth a visit as the effort put into the exhibition was very obvious and it still struck a chord how respected Ho Chi Minh was. The amount of land dedicated to the whole complex is huge and the grounds are really nicely kept, with guards in pristine white uniform everywhere. I'm going to try and get to the mausoleum tomorrow before I check out. On the way back we saw the heroes memorial, erected to represent those lost in the war (not the giant fruit one). Here's my blonde moment of the day and I'm hoping to god the whole trip. Me to Jessie "excuse my ignorance but is Ho Chi Minh dead? ". Jessie to me "yeah I think so" pause, "yeah he must be, his bodies in the mausoleum". As hard as I tried I couldn't rewind time. "Jessie, never tell anyone about this please". By the time we got back to town it was lunchtime so we stopped at a lonely planet recommended street food vendor. Barbecued pork was the dish. A...maz..ing! Especially with the sea crab spring rolls and mountain of super tasty super fresh herbs we could grab as we ate. Back to the hostel...food coma. Woke at 3 and headed out to get my bike sorted. Back to the company from yesterday. They'd just sold their last manual honda Winn 100 so I was left with the choice of a semi automatic 125 or nothing but it actually looked like it was in better condition anyway and had a bigger engine so I put a deposit down on it. The shop owner, from West Sussex, then sat down and helped me plan my entire schedule whilst in the mountains using his knowledge of the roads and the sights. I spent most of the afternoon and evening there chatting and even got a free beer. And of course this bloke turned up who knew the owner and he started helping too and he's only from bloody Mill Hill! UNBELIEVABLE! I can't fault how helpful they were. The journey was supposed to start by getting the train up there and riding clockwise back but as it's the end of their new year everyone who got stuck in town, because the trains weren't running during new year, was now making the journey too and I found everything was full when I went to get a ticket. So I'm doing it in reverse and getting the train back in about 8 days. Then I'm coming back to Hanoi and the owner is helping plan my route south after I've done Halong bay. Nothing can beat local knowledge. Headed back to the hostel after another beer to grab some money and headed out for dinner. Stopped at my lunch place from yesterday and had one of the nicest soups I've ever had with beef, noodles and herbs in it. £1.30, deal. Early night as got to be up at half 6. You watch, I bet this is the first night I sleep till 8!