Hanoi - Part 2

17 February 2015

Tonight we leave on a night train north to Sapa, Vietnam, but first we have a full day to spend in Hanoi.  A few days ago we did a walking tour of the old city...today we wonder outside to visit a few sites we want to see, starting with Hoa Lo Prison, AKA "Hanoi Hilton."

On the way to the prison I caught a whiff of some yumminess.  I followed my nose that brought us to this corner storefront that sold these delicious warm pastry, cooked in a pizza oven, filled with sweet cream or chocolate.  We got one of each and I would definitely go back again.

Finally, after a 30-40 minute walk we arrived at Hoa Lo Prison:

Oh...by the way...that red sign says "Chúc Mừng Năm Mới" meaning "Happy New Year".  It is Tet (Lunar New Year) in a couple of days, so we see these signs everywhere.

When we started walking around the museum most of the displays focused on the the French using the prison for political prisoner during their occupation from the late 1800's till 1954. 

That was all interesting, but what we really came for is the Vietnamese use of Hoa Lo Prison for prisoner's of war (POWs) during the Vietnam War.  After passing thorough a hallway with pictures of anti-American protests that occurred throughout the world during the Vietnam War, we finally came to 2 rooms focusing on the American POW's.  I took this picture that explains that Vietnam took care of the American POWs, the other picture shows the charges against them:

Here is Senator John McCain's flight uniform he was wearing when he was captured and the best part of the display showing photos of how well the POWs were treated with plenty of time for sports:

All in all, the displays were pretty much what we expected.  A bunch of propaganda showing how awful the American's were and how nicely the Vietnamese treated them when they were prisoners. 

We left the prison behind and walked to the Temple of Literature.  As we walked there we noticed calligraphers filling a park.  I guess it is a New Year's tradition to get calligraphy done as gifts and to decorate your home.

Next stop the Temple of Literature originally built in 1070 and served as a temple of Confucius, but most interesting is that it was Vietnam's first university in 1076.  Here are some cool pictures:

Stelae of doctor laureates who passed the exam

Statue of Confucius inside the temple.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped and had a new beer brewed in Hanoi:

Throughout the day there were signs of the Tet (Lunar New Year) celebration:

The kumquat tree is a common symbol of Tet.

"Happy New Year"

The plum blossom tree. Another common symbol of Tet.

Streets are very busy with people shopping for Tet.

Tet decorations light up the night streets.

At 9:30 PM we boarded a train north to Sapa.  We are scheduled to arrive at 6:15 AM.  Luckily they have sleeping cars that have 4 beds in each cabin.  We shared our cabin with 2 young business men who live and work in Hanoi and are going home to Sapa for Tet.

Looking down at Tim from my upper berth.