Hanoi

View from the Lotte center.

Last stop in Vietnam : Hanoi ! I stayed in the old quarter where the streets are always busy. Scooters, eateries, shops, everything happens on the street. You never get bored, but you also need to stay wary. The traffic is hectic.

In comparison to Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi feel more "communist". Grand avenue, bulky concrete buildings, statues to the glory of past leaders. Two of the place I found very interesting were the Hỏa Lò prison and the Ho Chi Minh museum. They were heavy on propaganda, because they would tell only one side of the story.

The prison was built by the French, but then used by the Vietnamese to hold the captured american pilots. It is now a museum. During the French era you can see the horrible conditions in which the prisoners had to live. Strangely only the french guards are blamed, but most of the pictures show Vietnamese guards that were working with the colonial government. During the Vietnamese era, only good things are said about the prison. You can see pictures of the american pilots doing sports or enjoying Christmas, but they never talk about the torture the prisoners had to suffer.
The Ho Chi Minh museum tells the story of the father of modern Vietnam. The explanations are not always in a chronological order and a bit all over the place, but you can still grasp how smart the man was. Polyglot, he was proficient in six languages. He had traveled all around the world. He has written books, newspapers and poetry. The last part of the museum is a small part about the current government. The last bit is the most heavy part on propaganda.

I had a lot of fun in Hanoi ; Street food, markets, drinking coffee on the shore of lakes. But the city was also historically very interesting.

To go from Phong Nha to Hanoi, I first took the local bus to Đồng Hới. From there I took a night train to Hanoi. I didn't wanted to take the night bus to Hanoi. It's a direct ride, but it's definitely too cramped.

View from the Lotte center.

Văn Miếu the temple of literature

It was the rainy season when I was in Hanoi. Fortunately Vietnamese are café aficionado. You will always find a spot to have a cup of coffee and wait for the rain to stop.

Tree in Văn Miếu the temple of literature.