Hanoi
Living Large
Upon arriving at the China/Vietnam border, we ran into Asia B (another group from ARCC). Upon finding out we would first be heading to Hanoi, Asia B gave us the impression that Hanoi was the most boring part of Vietnam. They. Were. So. Wrong. Hanoi became my second HOME. Not only did we stay there for the longest consecutive amount of time, but the Hanoi Guesthouse became home base in between all of our adventures in Vietnam.
First up, Dude Stuff. The guys in our group (3 total), became inspired by the women’s summit and hosted their own summit, “Dude Stuff”. It was… interesting to say the least. Some fun topics included, “Color, Size, & Consistency: What Poop Warrants a Pic to Da Boiz”, “WWE vs MMA”, and finally “asdfghjkl”. It was quite the night. Our lovebug of the week, Nicole, came in clutch and brought us PIZZAAAAAA. This group has truly become my family.
Let’s All Get Impaled :)
Our second adventure in Hanoi was that of 1984 Piercing and Tattoo Parlor. A lot of our group wanted to get piercings, so we set out in search of a parlor near us. We walked for hours, our search resulting in no success. Instead, we were getting food at a restaurant that we discovered was the bottom of a tattoo and piercing parlor. We were psyched but there was a slight issue, the question of whether or not we were allowed to get piercings. ARCC was concerned that sending kids home with several new holes in their bodies might raise a couple concerns. Multiple members of our group wanted to get nipple piercings together. Yes, nipple piercings. Ouch. So, the entire group set off in search of a parlor. After walking several blocks, we found a tattoo & piercing parlor, but they didn’t do piercings…. Dude. Defeated, we walked back to the Guesthouse, only to find out that the 2 guys in our group left and got their ears pierced at a parlor less than a block away. They looked hysterical. That piercing parlor made bank on our crew. In total, we had about 8 trips to the parlor, 10 cartilage piercings, 6 double piercings, 4 basic ear piercings, 2 nose piercings, and an unnamed amount of nipple piercings. Hanoi was not boring. Hanoi was a playground.
Ho Chi Mihn
Now, for those of you who do not know (which is probably a lot) a mausoleum is basically a glorified tomb. So what better to do with your Saturday than to check out a tomb? That’s exactly what we did. There’s this guy, Ho Chi Mihn, that’s basically responsible for uniting all of Vietnam. He’s kinda a big deal, so obviously big deal=big tomb (king tut i’m lookin at you). We walk through this place, sweating so gosh darn much. We walk through, expecting a memorial to him or something, but no. His dead mummified body, guarded by an army of men, was laying in a suspiciously lit room. (it seriously looked like mood lighting) In all honesty, it was a little underwhelming as he looked like a wax figure. Apparently it gets shipped to Russia for a couple of months every year for “touchups”. How funny is that? This body lives the life. Lol whoops no it doesn’t. I didn’t even mean to make that joke *high fives self*. It gets to just lay down, be carried by people, and get an annual pampering. That sounds pretty good to me, minus the whole “being a dead body” thing.