As we walked into the city, Toolman inspected the tiny city map in our (Vietnamese) Lonely Planet. It wasn't a precise map, so trying to locate the train station was tricky. We wandered around a few back streets, and Toolman ended up buying a bottle of Coke off a street vendor to get some quality direction advice.
We lucked into a well timed train; it was leaving just after lunch and had space in a comfortable 4 berth cabin. We had a nice lunch at a restaurant across from the train station where Toolman entertained the waiters with his huge headphones as we ate.
We gathered a few snacks from local vendors and boarded our train headed for Hanoi.
As it ended up, we shared the cabin with an Australian couple for the 5 hour train ride south. The landscape was amazing, with rice paddies and other amazing fauna lining the banks of the Red River, (China: Yuan river, Vietnam: Hong Song Cai) as we followed its banks.
As it ended up, we shared the cabin with an Australian couple for the 5 hour train ride south. The landscape was amazing, with rice paddies and other amazing fauna lining the banks of the Red River, (China: Yuan river, Vietnam: Hong Song Cai) as we followed its banks.
We arrived in Hanoi early evening, and headed for the accommodation we had booked back in Kunming. There are lots of stories about Hanoi like taxi drivers who take you to a different hotel then you ask for. The substitute hotel will magically inherit your booked hotel name, and will proceed to overcharge you for all the extras they can.
Thankfully we got delivered to our booked hotel, and it turned out that the Norways, who we met in Beijing over 1000km away, were staying in the same hotel - coincidence! The city has a definite French influence, and our accommodation was great.
The young hotel clerk guy had borrowed an iPhone from a friend, which had just been released. It was the genuine article and Toolman had a good play - his first play with Apples latest gadget. It was a great surprise to see the phone in Vietnam, not least because it is so expensive!
The next day we walked around to get a good look at the city. Hanoi has scooters and motorbikes in droves - its a relentless stream of bikes. There is only one way to cross the road: walk at a fixed pace and make eye contact with oncoming bikes. They will go either side of you, like you are swimming through a school of fish.
This is a statue of Lý Thái Tổ, an important Emperor for the Vietnamese people.
Across the road from the statue is Hoan Kiem lake, in the centre of Hanoi.
The lake has a mythical turtle within. From Wikipedia:
According to the legend, emperor Le Loi handed a magic sword called Heaven's Will which brought him victory in his revolt against the Chinese Ming Dynasty back to the Golden Turtle God (Kim Qui) in the lake and hence gave it its present name (the lake was formerly known as "Luc Thuy" meaning "Green Water"). The Tortoise Tower (Thap Rua) standing on a small island near the center of lake is linked to the legend.
Toolman looking stylish as we admire the view over the lake.
As it was quite hot, we had to stop for some Fanny ice-cream. And snigger at the sign...
We went to a few sights in the city as we walked around, including the National Museum of History (above).
We also went to see an art form that Hanoi is famous for: a water puppet show. It was a marvelous show with live music and puppets controlled from below the water. There were a huge cast of animals and people, and they told a few stories, including the legend of the magic sword and the turtle mentioned earlier.
Another important place we visited was Hỏa Lò, aka the "Hanoi Hilton". This prison is infamous as was used by the French colonists in Vietnam for political prisoners, then for P.O.W.s during the Vietnam war.
On show is a brutal mix of French and Vietnamese prison tools, such as this guillotine.
Princess inspects the demonstration of how prisoners were shackled.
Up close, we see the uncomfortable reality of being stuck in one position during incarceration.
On show was some gear from a US P.O.W. who survived and went on to become a US senator and presidential candidate: John McCain. This is his flight suit and parachute, and they also had some more mundane items of his, such as his deck of cards and a box of matches.
On display were some of the drains used to escaping by some political prisoners.
These bars were slowly cut, and escapees actually made it through the gap Toolmans' hand is in!
Another important place we visited was Hỏa Lò, aka the "Hanoi Hilton". This prison is infamous as was used by the French colonists in Vietnam for political prisoners, then for P.O.W.s during the Vietnam war.
On show is a brutal mix of French and Vietnamese prison tools, such as this guillotine.
Princess inspects the demonstration of how prisoners were shackled.
Up close, we see the uncomfortable reality of being stuck in one position during incarceration.
On show was some gear from a US P.O.W. who survived and went on to become a US senator and presidential candidate: John McCain. This is his flight suit and parachute, and they also had some more mundane items of his, such as his deck of cards and a box of matches.
On display were some of the drains used to escaping by some political prisoners.
These bars were slowly cut, and escapees actually made it through the gap Toolmans' hand is in!
The relentless stream of bikes continues as we headed back towards the hotel.
Every corner has huddled groups people smoking tobacco (yes, really) in water pipes. In order to be social, Toolman had to try a little just to be friendly. Toolman learned that: a) Tobacco makes your head spin if you don't normally smoke, and b) tobacco makes you feel sick, especially if you get a "good hit"...
Our hotel was able to book us on tours, so we decided to take a cruise on Halong bay for a couple of days. Stay tuned!
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