Hanoi Vietnam

                 Sleeper train neighbours.

             Upgraded to the Honeymoon Suite!!!! 

            

 Josh being the dutiful son, ran me a bath & decorated it with the petals from the bed! X

Then it was his turn minus the petals!

First stop was the police museum which had up until recently only been accessed by police officers for training purposes.  It had been upgraded & opened to the public and was full of great artifacts and information. To top it off it was free! 

  

We then moved on to Hoa Lo Prison (nicknamed The Hanoi Hilton by the POW's held there). It is now a museum made up of some of the prison as most of it has been reused for housing and business.  It was used by the French government for political prisoners and was later used to hold American fighter pilots who had been shot down during the Vietnam War. It paints a harrowing picture of great misery and torture for the French captives but portrays a very different picture of life as an American POW!  There are pictures expressing how comfortable the Americans had been and how well looked after they were, even had pictures of them cooking Christmas lunch, laughing & singing Christmas carols and enjoying freedom to play basketball outdoors.  According to the stories from surviving American POW this was most definitely staged and they too had endured horrendous torture at the hands of the prison guards at the time.  The museum had life size models who are shackled to their beds and others confined to death row cells.  It paints a very grim picture of life as a prisoner and is a very solem place to visit.

    A memorial out the back of the prison.

Who needs a cafe when you can perch on a teeny tiny still for coffee, lunch or dinner?!

We also went to the Women's Museum which was on 4 levels including, fashion through the the decades, women in history, women during the war, wedding traditions, motherhood, cooking and farming.  All very interesting and fascinating at the same time.  

                

                                      

                          

       These are hats worn by children to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits.

     Heave Ho!

        Decorated Viatnamese hats

The marital bedroom and outfits.  The woman wears a top piece that covers her whole head and body before she takes her vows.

                                   

                                              Different style of wedding outfits

               Off to work in the fields with baby!

Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake which has a small island with a stone pagoda which has no bridge access.  It also has a larger island which houses Ngoc Son Temple which can be accessed by the pretty red Huc Bridge.  The lake is also home to Hanoi's giant turtle who is said to be 80-100 years old.  He is very shy with sightings being very rare.  He is one of only four of his species left.

             

Hanoi's Old Quarter is a busy place with Tuk Tuks and motorbikes crowding the streets.  It is very pretty and has lots of character.  A stroll around the lake gives you a great tour of the old style houses, shops and restaurants and really comes to life at night with the lights and people gathering to socialise in the coolness of the evening.