We arrived in darkness at the Old Quarter of Hanoi, amid the sights, smells, and energy of the busy streets. We settled into our hotel for a day of exploring around the city, where we visited some of the more impressive sites such as the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum (they’ve kept him embalmed here despite his wishes to be cremated…an eerie scene), the Temple of Literature, the American War museum, and Hoa Lo Prison (otherwise known as the Hanoi Hilton of the Vietnam War). It was interesting to see the Vietnamese interpretation of the conflict, painted by Vietnamese historians as “The Great Victory”; not surprisingly there are always two sides to every story.
We left the noise of Hanoi and headed for the peace and calm of Ha Long Bay, a newly chosen UNESCO World Heritage Site along the eastern coast of Vietnam. The jade waters of the bay are dotted with over 2000 tiny limestone islands as well as one relatively large one, Cat Ba island, which contains a stunning national park. We spent one night floating on a junk boat in the middle of the bay, as well as two nights in the staggering beauty of Cat Ba.
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