Sorry the pictures are out of order, but you probably won't notice. Our group was asked to march in the final parade celebrating the 1,000 year anniversary of Hanoi. It involved a practice session on Thursday night (lots of waiting) and then the real deal on Sunday 10/10/10. We marched in front of the president, all the top communist party members in the government, the military, there were 1,000 drums. It involved getting up before 5am and lots of waiting. But it was so worth it. We especially loved the literally hundreds of thousands of smiling faces lining the streets as we marched 7 km. The formal part was first then the regular people along the streets. We must have had our picture taken thousands of times! People wanted to shake our hands and all we saw was smile and smile and smile on everybody's face. We were part of of a group of about 150 foreigners that were living or working in Hanoi. I think the international mix of people in the parade was really something to look at after all the Vietnamese groups in front of us.
Along the parade route with the usual demolition in the background. Buildings are either going up or coming down.
Watching the parade from the trees!
The crowds and the cameras. When is the last time you saw several hundred thousand different people in the span of 1 hour? I really think we saw, from this distance, the equivalent of more than the entire population of Vermont in 1 hour.
Entering the formal part of the parade with military and band etc.
Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh is the equivalent of George Washington in U.S. History. The president and top government officials are in front of it under the red sign on left side of picture.
A group of Vietnamese women behind us in the parade.
Quick! Find Vietnam!
Waiting for the parade to begin.
Ted waiting.
The practice session at night, Yes that is a real tropical sweat "glow" and those are real plastic flowers.
Now when is the last time you got to march under a glowing hammer and sickle!!?(There is another in the distance) If you were born after 1989, or are not familiar with the cold war or Vietnam War (known here as the American War) you might not realize how strange this is for Americans. It was strange.
Awesome fireworks as seen from our balcony!!
Cool light show. Of course to get the electricity to do this, they shut of our power in the whole apartment building for an hour or so. When I saw this light pattern I was sure aliens were going to land in the stadium.
A street at night all decorated with motorbikes zooming by...
Street decorations in Hanoi.
Beautiful orchids and roses for sale. One of these would cost about 8-15 bucks.
Along the parade route with the usual demolition in the background. Buildings are either going up or coming down.
Watching the parade from the trees!
The crowds and the cameras. When is the last time you saw several hundred thousand different people in the span of 1 hour? I really think we saw, from this distance, the equivalent of more than the entire population of Vermont in 1 hour.
Entering the formal part of the parade with military and band etc.
Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh is the equivalent of George Washington in U.S. History. The president and top government officials are in front of it under the red sign on left side of picture.
A group of Vietnamese women behind us in the parade.
Quick! Find Vietnam!
Waiting for the parade to begin.
Ted waiting.
The practice session at night, Yes that is a real tropical sweat "glow" and those are real plastic flowers.
Now when is the last time you got to march under a glowing hammer and sickle!!?(There is another in the distance) If you were born after 1989, or are not familiar with the cold war or Vietnam War (known here as the American War) you might not realize how strange this is for Americans. It was strange.
Awesome fireworks as seen from our balcony!!
Cool light show. Of course to get the electricity to do this, they shut of our power in the whole apartment building for an hour or so. When I saw this light pattern I was sure aliens were going to land in the stadium.
A street at night all decorated with motorbikes zooming by...
Street decorations in Hanoi.
Beautiful orchids and roses for sale. One of these would cost about 8-15 bucks. 
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