April 30, 2012 (Monday) — Today we traveled to two neighboring villages in the Vietnamese countryside, conducting home visits with the believers who live there. Lunch, served at the home of a Baha’i friend, consisted of delicacies I didn’t even try to identify. All I know is that it was lavish and delicious.

As we were leaving the village, our driver, Binh (Hanoi’s Auxiliary Board member), had to dismount his car to move a motorcycle someone had left in the middle of the street. Speculation was that it had run out of gas — but why leave it there? Anyone able to drive a motorcycle could easily roll it to the curb. Maybe cars don’t visit that village often and no need was seen.

The drive back to Hanoi was along a freeway that looked very Western, except less crowded. This surprised me, since I’m now used to the idea that Vietnamese traffic is much heavier than at home. Along the way, I took pictures of Hanoi’s skyline, where skyscrapers look very much as they would in any other major modern capital city. (The tall dark one below is owned, I’m told, by South Korea, and is the tallest in town.)

Later, dinner at Binh’s and a visit to the nearby home of his sister and brother-in-law.