Hanoi

We visited Hanoi on two occasions, once before going to Halong Bay and once upon our return from Sapa. Our first impressions were that Hanoi was similar to Saigon (yes, it can rival Saigon's crazy traffic), but with an older feel to it-narrow street and plenty of lakes. On our first visit we strolled around the lake in the Old Quarter and made sure to sample the Pho.

Beside the lake in the Old Quarter















Parents on motor bikes waiting to pick up their kids after school

On our return from Sapa we got the chance to visit some of the tourist destinations in the city. The museum of ethnology was a highlight. The museum provided information about all of the cultural traditions of the numerous ethnic groups in Vietnam and included approximately 10 full scale models of traditional houses of these groups on the grounds of the museum.

We also paid a visit to the Hao Lo Prison (aka the "Hanoi Hilton"). The prison was built by the French and held Vietnamese communist soldiers from the early 1900s through the 1950s. The prison later became the location where American pilots who crashed in northern Vietnam were held as POWs during the Vietnam War. The most famous of these prisoners was John McCain. The museum displayed McCain's uniform and gear that were recovered off of him when his plane crashed in the West Lake in Hanoi. Not surprisingly (though to our frustration) the museum painted the American POWs imprisonment here as a fun-filled walk in the park providing photographs of inmates playing sports and games and celebrating Christmas.



















Me in front of the Hanoi Hilton


We also walked through the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum complex, which includes the humble three room house on stilts that Ho allegedly lived and worked in during his leadership.

Ho Chi Minh's House on Stilts

Sadly we couldn't see Ho's embalmed corpse in the mausoleum, as it was in Russia at the time getting some touch ups :) I would like to note that Hanoi and Vietnam LOVE Ho Chi Minh. There were tons of billboards with his face and many residence's have portraits of him hanging on the wall.

Billboard with Ho Chi Minh




















Another billboard

We also visited some temples and pagodas, including the Temple of Literature. The Temple of Literature is dedicated to Confucius and is considered the first university in Vietnam, dating from the 11th Century. Of course we also ate lots of street food! Below: Mark getting a tea on a tiny stool



















Sadly Hanoi is where the journey ended for Sarah and I. On our last night together we went to a traditional water puppet performance (both entertaining and very bizarre). Sarah left the following morning for a brief visit with a friend in Hong Kong before returning to the Chicago area. I left that evening on a 30 hour trip back to Boston. Mark, however, has decided to extend his Southeast Asian journey and hopped on a 15 + hour bus back to Laos where he got his hands dirty (and his belly full of sticky rice) on a farm for a week in the southern part of the country.

It was really hard for us all to say good bye and to even imagine being alone (we have spent everyday together for the past 4 months!) but we had a wonderful trip and are excited to see what life brings upon our return to the US.

And if anyone out there is planning a trip to Southeast Asia, please email any of us-we would love to provide any insight we can! Thanks so much for following the blog, I hope you have enjoyed it!