Traveling in Southeast Asia

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Friday, 3 February 2023 - It was a long trip from Phoenix to Seattle to Soul, South Korea and finally to Hanoi, Vietnam. We arrived at night so were able to rest and the next day we were on our own as the tour did not start until 4 February. We planned a few destinations which would take us most the day to complete.

We were met at the hotel by our Vietnamese guide who would be with us for our travels through Vietnam. He was great - his father had been an underage fighter in the Viet Cong and fought/wounded in the Tet offensive at Hue.

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Virginia Ann and Cal on the plane to Hanoi, Vietnam.
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Our hotel was very close to Hoàn Kiếm Lake and in the middle of the lake is Turtle Tower. The island was first used as a fishing site. In the 1400s, under Le Thanh Tong a tower was erected to improve the comfort of the king's fishing. That tower was destroyed in 1886 the current tower was erected - and the French added a miniature Statue of Liberty to the top in 1890. When the French relinquished control of Vietnam the Vietnamese removed the statue on top.
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Clever name for a café. The day had a mist rain which came and went - we wore raincoats all day.
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There were many, many, many mopeds/motorbikes. It was hard to capture the organized chaos of all the traffic.

The riders are all in rain gear.
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Cal with camera in the Vườn hoa con Cóc - the Toad Flower Garden. The fountain was not running but still beautiful.

Right after this photograph, Cal tried to take pictures of the fountain - his camera would not turn on - completely dead. He changed batteries and nothing. Fearing the worst we rushed back to the room and after several anxious minutes trying to revive the camera - finally it booted up, and we were off again to walk the Hanoi streets.
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This was a sight we would often see - a "restaurant" in an ally. The cook would be nearest the street to attract customers and the small tables and even smaller stools would line the alley - but left room for traffic.
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The French brought with them Catholicism and built several churches - Hanoi was the capital of French Indochina from 1902-1945 so there is quite a bit of French influence in the architecture.
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Our first destination was the Hỏa Lò Prison a prison in Hanoi originally used by the French colonists in Indochina for political prisoners, and later by North Vietnam for US POWs during the Vietnam War. During this later period, it was known to American POWs as the "Hanoi Hilton". The prison was demolished during the 1990s, although the gatehouse remains as a museum.

Cachot is "dungeon" in French - it was a very dark and dank place and would have been a difficult place to be prisoner.
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The glass encrusted wall of Hỏa LòPrison and a kumquat tree. We were visiting right after Tet (the Vietnamese New Year) when it is a tradition to have a kumquat tree as a symbol of good fortune for the coming year. We will see other traditional symbols of Tet in our journey.
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The Vietnamese flag (red background with a single star) and the communist flag (hammer and sickle) streaming over the entrance to the Hỏa LòPrison.
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We saw many women carrying goods using the bamboo pole and baskets - very hard to get a great picture as they moved very fast. They would stop and leave the goods in the baskets creating a small store wherever they went.
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Bicycles were also a popular mode for transporting goods. This street is in the crowded older part of town.
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Colorful lamp shop - made all the more colorful in the dark rainy day.
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A very popular location for tourists is where the train tracks come very close to the shops and homes in a curve. So popular the street has been closed off - you can only enter if you are visiting one of the restaurants of shops.

Cal stood behind a barricade to take this picture - no idea when a train was coming, so we did not wait.
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A small shrine to people killed during conflicts from 1945-1979.
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Colorful, and patriotic store in the old city.
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A seamstress working in a very crowded shop. Note the picture of Lenin and Marx in the rear of the shop - obviously a good communist.
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A bike being used to carry fruit and vegetables.
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A typical street near the old town - this is a street built by the French because it is very wide - in the old town the streets are much smaller.
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Bach Ma Temple or White Horse Temple was built in the 9th century to worship God Long Do (God of the Dragon Navel), the original god of ancient Hanoi.

Incense sticks at the entrance to the temple.
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In 1010, King Ly Thai To decided to move the capital from Hoa Lu (Ninh Binh) to Thang Long, yet his attempt to build the citadel failed multiple times. Legend has it that a white horse ran out of the temple and showed the King the site for construction.

With more than a thousand years of history, White Horse Temple is one of the typical architectural relics typical of Hanoi. A wooden framework with big iron-wood columns is typical for the architecture of the temple in the North Delta region.
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Fruits in a basket on the side of the street.
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As we headed back to the hotel for lunch the mist continued to fall. A poinsettia in a garden covered in water.
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After lunch we started out to find St. Joseph's Cathedral.

Construction began in 1884, with an architectural style resembling the Notre Dame de Paris. The church was one of the first structures built by the French colonial government in French Indochina when it opened in December 1886. It is the oldest church in Hanoi.

After the Viet Minh took control of North Vietnam following the Geneva Accords in 1954, the Catholic Church suffered decades of persecution. Priests were arrested, and church property was seized and expropriated. St. Joseph's Cathedral was not spared; it was closed down until Christmas Eve of 1990, when Mass was permitted to be celebrated there again.
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The cathedral is also the headquarters of Archdiocese of Vietnam; it controls over 480 churches and chapels and 113 parishes, and serves 400,000 Catholics.

Built with stone slabs and in brick with concrete facing, the facade consists of two towers, square in shape, rising to a height of 103 feet, with each tower fitted with five bells.

Over the years, the cathedral's exterior has become severely worn down due to heavy pollution.
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Virginia Ann composed this picture of women tending the gardens around Hoàn Kiếm Lake with Turtle Tower in the background.
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The bridge to an island in Hoàn Kiếm Lake on which is built Ngọc Sơn Temple (Temple of the Jade Mountain). We will visit the temple tomorrow so just a quick photograph of the iconic bridge.
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Back in the old town of Hanoi - a flower shop with beautiful orchids.
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This is a peach tree variety with pink flowers which is a traditional Tet ornamental plant. We would see these trees all over - they are borrowed. After Tet festivities the trees go back to a nursery and are brought out next year for Tet.
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Street market in old Hanoi - the sidewalks are taken over by vendors. The buyers drive up on mopeds and point to things they would like to purchase and pay all while never leaving their moped.
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Street food vendor - the sign over her head indicates shrimp dishes.
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A woman in the middle of a lot of vegetables.
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Boiled chicken is often considered a symbol of purity and the best offering to ancestors during Tet and other spiritual occasions in Vietnam. During Tet, they are adorned with roses.
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Street food vendor with a small seating area behind the food stand to sit and dine.
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We came upon Đình Kim Ngần house while wandering in the old town.

It is one of three buildings constructed by members of the Châu Khê village for social gatherings and worship of Hiên Viên, a legendary figure believed to be the founder of all crafts.

The dragon incense holders are beautiful.
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Originally used for trading silver bullion. After silver bullion production shifted to Hue later in the century, the building was used more generally for currency exchange of all types, though by 1890 its function was primarily limited to a place of worship and as a gathering space.

During the Indochina war the building served as a training hall for nurses and soldiers as well as a lecture hall for teaching Vietnamese Romanized script.
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The beautiful Tet Peach Tree.
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On our travels we passed the bridge to an island in Hoàn Kiếm Lake leading to Ngọc Sơn Temple (Temple of the Jade Mountain).

The bridge was surprisingly low in traffic - because a photographer on the bridge was taking a picture of a woman near the middle and had stopped pedestrians. This made for another nice picture of the iconic bridge.
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As we headed for the hotel we walked along very broad avenues created by the French.

For dinner we went to a very nice restaurant, called Lý Club Hanoi, near the hotel which was recommended by our guide.
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