In the morning we had a quick tour of some of the highlights of Hanoi, including:
- Temple of Literature: I was expecting this to be a site filled with old books but in fact it was a complex built to honour Confucius, beginning in 1070, and houses Vietnam's first national university;
- Hoa Lo Prison, built in the late 1800s by the French, it was used first to hold Vietnamese political prisoners and later POWs from the Vietnam War. The latter were badly abused and tortured but the exhibit suggested their situation was akin to a summer camp. Hum! John McCain was held there for many years. Hard to imagine coming out of a place like that emotionally intact. The exhibits were generally very well done and certainly gave a very graphic depiction of conditions for the Vietnamese political prisoners;
- Old quarter: we returned for a further wander about this part of the city, still a bit daunted by the traffic. The wander included the market and ended with a lunch of street food, a very generous bowl of pho. Excellent!
In the afternoon we rented bikes and drove to the outskirts of the city for a cycle around some quiet neighborhoods and a stop for tea and fruit at the home of a friend of the tour leader. I think we were all a bit overwhelmed by the short portion of the ride that took us through the streets of Hanoi. How people manage that chaos I don't know. After the ride we had just enough time to get our things together for our transport to the train station, and the overnight train to Hue. I was expecting the worst but in fact it was not so bad. Four berths (2 over 2) to a compartment but the bedding was clean and the toilet fine. Even so, it seemed I hardly slept.
Outside the Temple of Literature
Confucius in the Temple of Literature
Mural in Hoa London prison
Outside the market in the
old quarter of Hanoi
