Hanoi, Vietnam

Our first port of call is in Vietnam, our ship docks in Halong Bay and then it's a 3 hour bus trip into Hanoi for our shore tour.

Hanoi - Past & Present, we visited Ba Dinh Square, also known as the Ho Chi Minh Quarter, the burial place of Chairman Mau.

Then it was onto One Pillar Pagoda, Chairman Mau's home and extensive parklands.

We then visited the Temple of Literature, built in 1070 and dedicated to Confucius and was Vietnam's first university.

Then it was onto the Hoa Lo Museum, known widely by the nickname of ‘Hanoi Hilton’ given during the Vietnam/American war, established by the French colonial government in 1896 for the purpose of detaining political prisoners.

Then before leaving a tour Old Hanoi visiting the ancient district of Thirty-Six Streets—where Vietnamese culture is alive and well.

Our tour guide gave us some great advise to survive on the streets of Vietnam in regard to the chaos that is the thousands of scooters, when crossing a road make like sticky rice (stick together) and keep moving, don't stop or run, keep the same steady pace and they will go around you. It worked we all made it across with no problemsRead more