"There is none in here?", I asked Tien.  
He replies, "No" .  
Tien is my Vitanamese guide that has been with me for a few days. We are at the Vietnamese History Museum in Hanoi. We passed the one and only church I have seen here. There is no sign, but I am sure it is a Catholic Church. 
"Do they have any in there?" I asked. 
"No." Tien says. 
"What about in the large stores, will I find some there?" 
"No." 
"What about if I come to your apartment . Do you and your roommate have any?"
"No." 

IT'S THE STRANGEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD!
 
Once off the bus when I arrived in Hanoi last night, I walked a block or two and found a couple of taxi cabs. I negotiated with one to take me to my hostel. We got on an expressway around Hanoi. (I don't know what they call it here). 

 After a 30 minute ride we arrived at where I was to stay. It looked like it was deserted. Pull down metal doors made it look that way. All the buildings along the street were the same. It looked like a block or mini-storage units to me . The streets were dark and empty of people and traffic. Nothing was moving. It was that way at the bus station and all the way here. I doubt I saw more than five or six moving vehicles. 

 The hotel was narrow, maybe not more than 12 or 15 feet wide. Buildings are like that all over the place here. They are narrow and tall. Curb width of a building determines teh tax rate in Vietnam, so people build very narrow buildings straight up, often 10 or more stories. My room is on the 3rd floor. The curling staircase is barely wide enough for one person to climb, and ts is steep, with narrow steps. You have to watch your head as the stairway ceiling is very low.

 The next morning I met Harry from Austria. He asked what my plans for the day were and I said I hadn't made any yet. He invited me to do some sight-seeing with him.

 We visited the Vietnam History Museum, then walked around a lake that was right in the middle of the city . It's the largest and most famous lake in Hanoi, called the Hoan Kiem Lake (means Lake of the Restored Sword).

 The lake is a sliver of peace in a hectic Hanoi world. People sit and talk or bat a game of badminton back and forth, or just walk along the peaceful shore. There is a rare breed of turtles that occupy the lake. 

 The path that goes all around the lake is good for bicycling, jogging, or just walking. There are food stands if you want to stop and sit for awhile. While looking at the peaceful lake, with people milling all around and heavy traffic a few feet away, one of the local boys starts urinating right beside me. That's just the way they do it here. Nobody even pays any attention to him. Still, it seems very out of place to me.

 In the lake there is a Pagoda that is impressive when lit up at night. A temple in the lake with a red oriental bridge leading to it is a good photo taking spot very popular with everyone . Harry and I walked the bridge and enjoyed the views and took some photos.

 The lake is in the center of the Old Quarter area of Hanoi. This is where Harry and I are staying. The Old Quarter, with it's very old buildings is packed with shops, tuks tuks, eating places, bus stops and any other type of busy activities you can think of. 

 You can get your hair cut sitting in a chair on a street corner or have your shoes resoled on the curb. A woman pulls a scale along the street, just in case you want to weigh yourself. It's all on the busy streets in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. But, the lake, just across the busy street, provides a wonderful break from the rush of the hectic city life. Later in the afternoon Harry told me he had an appointment to meet a local Vietnamese to show him more of Hanoi. He invited me to come along. 

 In the early afternoon, we met Tien, a Vietnamese university student . He likes to meet english speaking foreigners and give them a tour of Hanoi. He doesn't do it for money, he just wants the opportunity to meet foreigners and practice his english. The young people I have met in most of these communist countries believe the best chance they have of succeeding after graduating is to have a good handle on speaking the English language.

 Tien took us to visit the Temple of Literature here. It was built in 1070 and is a temple of Confucius. Inside the temple is the Temple of Literature, the first national university in Vietnam.

 There are several temples dedicated to Confucius and this is one of them. There are a number of pavilions, hallways, statues and figures of doctors here. This is where ceremonies of offerings, study sections and very strict exams were given. A picture of the temple is on the back of the 100,000 Vietnamese Dong money.
 
There are Turtle Steles that have the names of those that were successful at taking the "royal exams" . A stele is an upright stone slab or pillar bearing an inscription or design and serving as a monument.

 In 1484, a King erected the 116 steles that were carved blue-stone turtles. They were to honor talent and encourage study. The turtle is a symbol of longevity.

 The temple and university were very interesting but mainly we enjoyed the guided tour that Tien provided. We all enjoyed being together and decided to spend the evening together. Tien took us to a small street in the Old Quarter, where we sat on small toy sized plastic chairs and had a drink and some food.

 Then, Tien took us to a nice restaurant, overlooking a busy intersection. We had ice-coffee on the balcony of the restaurant. I took a video of the traffic maneuvering through the intersection. 

 There are few traffic lights here, so when there is an intersection people just move slowly through it . Motos, large trucks and cars, pedestrians, bicycles.... they all move slowly through the intersection until they get where they want to be.

 The temperature in Hanoi was cold 8C =46F for the low and only 17C = 62F for the high. In another brilliant move, I mailed my warm clothes back to the U.S. before leaving Thailand. I brought several polo shirts, thinking they would look nicer than just t-shirts and a couple of long pants. But, they were too hot to wear in Cambodia and Thailand, so before leaving Thailand, I mailed them back so I would not carry around unneeded weight in my backpack.

 One week later I entered Laos, where it started to get cooler and by the time I reached Hanoi in December, it was very cold. Everyone I talked to did the same thing though. All the backpackers showed up in Hanoi with only warm clothing. While in Hanoi, Tien and I went shopping in the night market where he helped me find some warm clothes to wear .

 When Harry and I were in the museum, it was very cold. Not from air-conditioning but from the weather outside. There is also no heat in our hostel. The places we visited today with Tien were also cold. So, I asked him about heat in buildings. It turns out there is no heating systems in the commercial buildings or residences in Vietnam. They have air-conditioning, but no heaters. The people live without heat, not even wood heaters.

 People all over town work and relax in coats and warm clothing. I asked Tien about his apartmant and no, no heat there either. i asked him how he could watch tv or read or do things in such a cold house? He said he kept a blanket wrapped around him all the time he was in the house.

 Imagine that! No heat for the buildings! It's the strangest thing I have ever heard!