I went to Hanoi last week for a work trip. As I’ve said many times, business travel is not vacation travel. After I returned to Ho Chi Minh City, several people asked me “How was Hanoi?” “I don’t know,” I replied. “All I can tell you is how the airport, hotel, and embassy were. I didn’t get to do anything in Hanoi.”
Although that isn’t totally true. I had a nice dinner with a co-worker. And I got a wonderful unexpected benefit. On Friday evening, in the hotel that I was staying at, a young lady performed on a traditional Vietnamese instrument, and that instrument happens to be almost identical to one of my favorite traditional Chinese instruments.
So I got a little treat. After several stressful days, it was relaxing to sit and listen to the beautiful music. It almost felt like a vacation.
Almost.