Sunday, 6 April 2014

Day 11 & 12 - Exploration, Hoa Lo Prison and Uncle Ho

Before I start I should say I cannot recommend the hotel we have stayed at in Hanoi enough, they will wait on you hand and foot. Every single staff member is unbelievably helpful and polite, we booked our trips to Ha Long Bay and Sapa with them. They will fit you in at any time, even when we arrive back from Sapa at 5am they are giving us a room and only charging half rate. Really recommend if you come to Hanoi to stay at the Rising Dragon Palace Hotel. Affordable, great location and great service!

Now I made sure this hotel had buffet breakfast,om nom nom, we devoured some tasty goods and headed out towards Hoa Lo Prison. Entrance only costs a few AUD, I had read reviews about it, but when you arrive you get the full feel for what so many people went through, some of the conditions and treatment of people are just shocking. Alot of it has been translated into English which helps, but I found still ALOT which for me, being a somewhat tourist destination should be a little more covered in English. Nonetheless it was a great place to visit for a few hours. (Excuse some of the quality of the shots from inside the prison, not the greatest)

Afterwards was tasty lunch of Vietnamese spring rolls (Nem) next to Hoan Kiem Lake, then a nap because y'know, I'm on damn holidays! The rest of the day was spent relaxing, blogging and dinner!














The next morning after breakfast we saw the hotel travel agent who sorted out our trips to Ha Long Bay and Sapa, they are just so dang friendly and helpful, its made such a breeze and fun to sort out.
We walked over the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, they are quite strict and cannot take any liquid, cameras or bags in, so after checking my camera in we joined the long line. The guards keep everyone in check, you cannot have your arms behind your back, speak overly loud, wear sunglasses or hats. It's just a sign of respect obviously so really its not that bad. Eventually we were ushered into where he lays, its so quiet, he lays with in a glass box with 4 guards standing around him. Uncle Ho honestly looks like he is just taking a quiet nap.

We stopped for some really tasty Vietnamese coffee right next to The Flag Tower of Hanoi on the way back to the hotel, they have so much choice! mmmm coffee!
I went out in the evening to get some street photography around The Old Quarter and along the train line. I do not understand how people can live so closely to the trains (as you'll see in the shot). After a few hours exploring we went up to the rooftop bar/restaurant  of our hotel for dinner!

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