Hanoi

We're in Hanoi.

Hoàn Kiêm Lake

We arrived yesterday, Sunday 14th June, after a ten hour train journey. Our first two nights are staying in the Hotel Charming II.

Children on the street

Today's plan was to book a trip to Ha Long Bay and then see some of the sights in the city, just one problem, most of the attractions seem to close on Mondays. Still, we managed to book our trip and then spent the rest of the day visiting any places that were open.

Ruth by a temple tree

First up was the Ngoc Son Temple on Hoàn Kiêm Lake and we followed this up with a visit to the Womans Museum, quite interesting, with much information on various tribal customs.

Dave, cross dressing!

After a spot of lunch at a trendy cafe we went to the Hoa Lo prison where many of the resistance (against the French) fighters were held, some were even executed. Later on, during the American war (you might know of this as the Vietnam war), American pilots, who had been shot down were held here, with slightly better conditions, none were executed!

Go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass go.

Finally we saw a performance at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre, different.

Puppets in the water

Tomorrow we go to Ha Long Bay for two nights.

Ha Long Bay

After Ha Long Bay we returned to Hanoi, staying at the Splended Star Grand Hotel, where they upgraded us to the honeymoon suite. All very posh.

Honeymoon Suite

Friday 19th June
A quiet day with just a visit to the Museum of Ethnology which details the ethnic groups of Vietnam. So far this is the most interesting and best organised museum we have visited.

Bahnar Communal House

As well as two floors with displays on details of the ethnic groups and tribal life, there is an outside part which has actual buildings that you can enter.

Ede Longhouse

Of particular not is the Bahnar Communal house which is 19m high, and the Ede Longhouse which is 42m long although some examples are said to be up to 200m in length.

Giarai Tomb

The Giarai tomb is designed for up to thirty (dead) people but for some reason it is surrounded by sexually explicit carvings and pregnant women which are symbols of fertility.

I think this was built around the tree

On our final day we were catching an overnight train back to Dong Hoi, so we had plenty of time for a walkabout, including a visit to the Army Museum. This shows the history of the conflicts with the French and Americans as well as a bit of a 'scrapyard' of military vehicles.

Railway through Hanoi