Cuban President Fidel Castro arrived in Vietnam today to meet with his Communist ally, marking his first visit to the Asian nation in nearly a decade.
Hundreds of Vietnamese children greeted the famed communist leader like a rock star, screaming and cheering as he arrived at Hanoi's airport.
Castro, 76, is scheduled to meet with an array of officials this weekend, including legendary Vietnamese Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, the mastermind of Vietnam's guerrilla war against the United States.
His comrades here have said they're prepared for a weekend of strengthening old ties and expanding new ones in areas such as trade.
Castro also will pay tribute at Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum and visit with students at a university.
The trip is part of a three-country Asia tour that will include stops in China and Malaysia, where he will attend next week's Non-Aligned Movement summit.
Waving at the crowd, Castro was driven through a human tunnel of uniformed students Friday, who waited nearly five hours for a glimpse of the leader after his flight was delayed by a last-minute meeting in Cuba.
But the wait didn't sour the mood at Hanoi's airport. Little boys dressed in uniforms pounded on drums, trumpets blared and dozens of young girls dressed in traditional ao dais long silk tunics worn over loose pants smiled and waved.
"I wanted to come here to see Fidel Castro with my own eyes," said Dang Anh Huy, 16. "I don't know a lot about Fidel, but I have heard about him from my older brother and I'm excited to see him."
Voices blurted out the words "Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh," one of the country's most famous songs.
"I feel very honored and privileged to welcome Fidel Castro," said Nguyen Thu Hien, 15. "Vietnam and Cuba have been joined a long time. Although the two countries are very far away, they still have had good cooperation and support."
Castro's other visits to Vietnam were in 1973 and 1995. During his last trip, he toured the Cu Chi tunnel network where communist soldiers hid from U.S. troops during the Vietnam War.
Castro is expected to leave Sunday for Kuala Lumpur for the summit.
The Non-Aligned Movement groups 114 mostly small and developing countries. It was formed during the Cold War to steer a neutral path between the United States and the Soviet Union and has since reinvented itself to confront challenges of globalization and US military and economic might.