Hanoi- The rain pured down and thunder appropriately rolled as we made our way somberly through the "Hanoi Hilton," as the old French prison was notoriously dubbed by American POW's in the Vietnam War. We saw where John McCain was kept and his pilot uniform (he actually parachuted out of his plane when it was shot down and landed in the lake that my hotel room looks directly over). I got some pretty intense stare-downs by the guards at the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, where his body lies embalmed- I stick out like a sore thumb here, haha. We enjoyed seeing the one-pillar pagoda and Ho Chi Mihn's stilted house before the sun came out and we took a three hour ride to Halong Bay, the UNESCO World Heritage site. The limestone cliffs rising out of the water look like giant cypress root stumps- it's really an amazing site to see! We will stay the night here in Halong Bay and we are all excited about taking a boat cruise through the bay and into one of the caves tomorrow. All of the meals have had at least 10 courses, but I have still managed to lose all of my "crystal weight"! They have scales in all of the hotels and only eat fruit for dessert (maybe that's why everyone's so thin over here!). The Florida family and the Mexican couple often carry on in Spanish over meals, which is quite funny! Even the kids (ages 8 and 11) float back and forth between English and Spanish, so maybe I'll come back with some key phrases, haha. I started reading "Atlas Shrugged" and was really getting into it, but I accidently left it on the airport so I've got to find a bookstore. But the iPod has been a dear friend. Just tried my first Tiger beer at dinner too- not bad! Alright, I'm off to bed!