Author: admin

This morning started out with a 4 mile run around Hoam Kiem lake. Afterwards we met for egg coffee again at the note cafe. I left a note for my children:

Many of these little cafes have winding staircases that go upstairs to sitting areas.

We walked to the Hanoi Hilton, where prisoners of war were held during the Vietnam War. It was constructed before 1900 by the French during their colonial occupation here. It housed those who dissented from the occupation. The conditions were pretty awful and the history of Vietnam and how their villages were destroyed by the French and his prior we treated is terrible. This one quote is from a dissident.

The main entrance.

Here are some pictures of places within the prison. The French guillotine was used to execute prisoners. Eventually, Vietnam won its independence back from the French.

The prison was used later to house prisoners of war during the Vietnam war. They had a lovely section about many of the pilots including John McCain. We are in Vietnam so it covered how the bombings affected the people in Hanoi. I have always believed our involvement was wrong and looking at the pictures and information was very moving.

In the tour you could purchase from a gift shop including postcards of propaganda from that time. One specifically called out Nixon bombing babies. Others were photographs from that era. Some were promotions for various industries.

Later in the day we have tickets for water puppet theater show and a Hanoi food tour.

After a fairly decent night’s sleep I ate breakfast at the buffet… Banana filled crepes, made to order omelets, fruit (I am not sure I can live without dragonfruit or guava now), and other goodies.

I then took a leisurely walk to the lake. There was this cute cafe called the note cafe. You guessed it: you write notes and stick them on the wall. There was some coffee that had been recommended: egg coffee. It was awesome. Here is an explanation of it. It makes the coffee rich and creamy.

I window shopped then I met up with a friend of mine to walk around the lake. We saw the turtle tower on Hoàn kiem lake. There is an elaborate story about the turtle that lived there fir a long time here.

We also wanted to see the temple of literature where one of the past emperors ordained wise men who had to pass numerous tests to show their intelligence and be considered wise enough to be counsel. There were many who were not allowed to be considered (besides felons, artists and musicians were excluded).

It was beautiful and serene.

The well of heavenly brilliance.

These row of stone stelae are on top of stone tortoises which represent permanence. The stelae hold the names of the 1304 people who passed the tests.

Afterwards we walked around quite a bit. There are some interesting shops and restaurants including this one :

This was a planned vacation during a Chinese national holiday known as Golden Week. The plan is to fly into Hanoi and sight see including one or two tours. I have already booked an over night boat tour to Halong Bay. We left late afternoon from guangzhou for a 2 hour flight. Vietnam is 1 hour earlier in a time zone. Immigration was easy with no lines and a visa was needed to enter which was completed by a travel agent a few weeks earlier.

Speaking of flights, in this area of the world they feed you on every flight. This meal was fruit, a warm roll, coleslaw, and luncheon meat which the person next to me was happy to receive. I have yet to be on a flight where I was not fed a lunch or dinner even in a two hour flight (and one that was 3 hours late at night still fed us). I had read once that foreigners do not understand the snack we are given in US flights. I now understand their confusion. Also, airport food is cheap unlike the US.

After arriving in Hanoi I was picked up by a shuttle from the hotel. The front desk sat me at a table where I was given a plate of fresh fruit and a glass of watermelon juice while they finished the check in process.

He brought a map with him, circling all the sites nearby and those I asked about. I messaged my friend in another hotel to meet at the lake and go to the night Market. At the airport we had purchased a sim card for 11 USD for 20 min calling and 2 gb per day while we are here. The calling will come in handy with shuttles and tours.

I used an atm to get money in VND. This is 1 million dong which is equivalent to 42.38 USD. Crazy. Who new I would hold a million in my hands one day!

Here are views of the lake at night. As we walked around we were approached by vendors but also from young Vietnamese students who wanted to practice their English. It was interesting conversations and they were charming.

Here are some views of the lake at night.

I will walk there tomorrow morning and look around in the daylight. There are also temples and ancient structures scattered around.

What was exciting were the musicians scattered about with people dancing especially children. It seemed to be a place where everyone just came to enjoy.

We decided to stop and eat pho at a vegetarian place. The pho and a Vietnamese beer cost 80000 dong which is less than 4 USD. Crazy.

I looked at several price lists of items along the way that would note that all prices are times 1000. I am obviously not an economist but why not just eliminate all the zeros?

The night Market was crazy crowded and somehow we ended at bar street which is a short section of a corner that was wall to wall people. We vowed not to go that direction again. The motor bikes are crazier and you need to be careful not to get run over. Whole families travel on a bike including dogs. It really is crazy. I keep using that word for obvious reasons.

On the way I saw signs for kopi luwak. From wikipedia:

Kopi luwak, or civet coffee, is coffee that includes part-digested coffee cherries eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet. Fermentation occurs as the cherries pass through a civet’s intestines, and after being defecated with other fecal matter, they are collected

I may buy some. I’m interested in trying it. But we’ll see.

My hotel room is quite nice and I received a free upgrade to the top floor in a junior suite. Not sure why but I appreciate it. These are all small hotel tucked in between shops on streets in the old quarter in Hanoi.

That was last night. Today will be the free breakfast at the hotel, stroll around town, and a massage at the hotel in the late morning.