The End of My South East Asia Adventure

Well folks. today was my last day in Hanoi and thus my last day in Asia. I can't believe it's been 3 months already. It's gone so quickly. To conclude my time in Hanoi I visited the Temple of Literature (Yeah, I know, it's an awesome title). The name is actually a bit deceiving the temple is structured the way other Buddhist temples are structured but instead of the image of Buddha, this temple is dedicated to education in Vietnam. How perfect that I'm ending my trip (based on my interest in Higher Education) at a place that is, quite literally, a shrine to education. I've been a bit bored with the pictures I've been taking lately so I decided to get fancy with it. Yes ladies and gentlemen I used the black & white and sepia settings on camera (now is the appropriate time to "oooooh" and "aaaaaah").

Woot. Look at me bein' all artsy!

Random fun fact I learned at the temple: the Tortoise, Unicorns, Dragons and Phoenix are the 4 holy creatures of Vietnam. That's why the Doctor's Stelae (as seen below) are on Tortoise shells.The writing on the stones (above) are works of literature that praise some of the great doctors/examiners. The royal exams are a big deal so this is the tribute to the folks who educated the successful groups of students. The tortoise represents a long and healthy life (cause the live FOREVER). I also thinks it's pretty neat that Vietnam included the Unicorn as one of it's holy animals. 

And now, the end is near and so I face my final curtain, blah, blah, blah, I did it my way! I feel good about my time in Asia. Sure there were some bumps in the road but the good far out weigh the bad. So now I move west to Croatia. From cold to colder. Wish me luck!