Around the World With Uncle Moose: On my own in Hanoi (16 FEB)

For a map of my travels, click here.

No "official" tourist activities today--I have the entire day in Hanoi to engage in my favorite pastime--urban hiking.

The tourist part of Hanoi (click here for a map) is divided into 3 main areas:

The Old Quarter, which is north of Hoan Kiem Lake
The French Colonial district, which is south of Hoan Kiem Lake
The government area, which is west of Hoan Kiem Lake

First I headed south from my hotel, along the western shore of Hoan Kiem Lake.

Turtle Tower, in Hoan Kiem Lake

On the shore of Hoan Kiem Lake

Eventually, I arrived in the French Colonial District, by which time it had started to rain. The streets in the district are very wide with lots of trees, and and lined (mostly) with French colonial buildings.

An intersection in the French Colonial District

The Opera House

The Hanoi Hilton Hotel, not to be confused with the Hanoi Hilton (the prison, which is coming up later). Actually, the official name of the hotel is the Hilton Hanoi Opera.

Capitalist devils in the French Colonial District

Modern construction in the French Colonial district

On the border between the French Colonial district and the Government area is what's left of the Hanoi Hilton (the prison, not the hotel). Most of it was torn down to make way for an office building, but they left part of it as a museum, which I visited. The prison was actually built in the 19th century by the French, and for most of its life it was used by the French to imprison Vietnamese. A lot of the exhibits focused on how badly the French treated the Vietnamese; although there were plenty of exhibits showing how well the Vietnamese treated their American "guests". They seem to be very proud of John McCain, going to great lengths to point out that he had become a presidential candidate after he checked out of the prison.

This is an aerial view (which I did not take) of what's left of the prison, with the office building in the upper right.

An exhibit showing how the French treated the Vietnamese prisoners

Memorial to the Vietnamese prisoners who were held there

Part of an exhibit showing how well the American prisoners were treated

Entrance to the prison/museum

One corner of the prison

Did I mention that there were a lot of motorcycles in Hanoi?


A coffee shop in a little mall in the office building that replaced most of the prison.

After visiting the museum, I walked a few blocks to the main train station. The original Hanoi station was destroyed by American bombs, so the train station is relatively new. However, it had one of the most disgusting men's rooms I have seen since the one I encountered in the New Haven train station in 1971 (but that's a whole different story). It was also the only "hole in the ground" facility that I encountered on the trip, but fortunately, what I had to do did not require squatting.

Commercial street near the train station

Side street near the train station

Some sort of government building near the train station. All government buildings were this color with red signs.

Front of the train station


In the ticket lobby of the train station. I have (fortunately) no pictures of the bathroom.

More Communist Propaganda

After the train station, I walked back to the government section of town, which contains, in addition to government buildings, several museums, and Ho Chi Minh's tomb and residence.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Traffic circle in the governmental area


Plaza in front of Ho Chi Minh's tomb

The tomb

Foreign dignitary in front of tomb. It was closed that day, but I got in the next day.

Guards in front of the tomb

Changing of the Guard

Apparently the concept of underground utilities has not made it to Hanoi

Commercial street in the governmental area

Ho Chi Minh Museum--closed that day

One Pillar Pagoda

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (I think)

The governmental area was really nice (as governmental areas are wont to be). There were a lot of embassies on one of the main streets (Avenue Dien Bien Phu) that were former French colonial government buildings.

Along Embassy Row

Malaysian Embassy (their flag looks like the US flag)

Eventually, I arrived at the Vietnamese Military History Museum. The inside was mostly devoted to their war against the French, but the outside was dominated by military equipment that they had captured from the Americans.

Vietnam Military History Museum

Flag Tower of Hanoi and captured equipment at the Military History Museum.

Destroyed American aircraft artfully displayed

What the inside of a bomb looks like (as far as I know)

View of the Hanoi Skyline from the Flag Tower


Statue of Lenin in, of all places, Lenin Park.

After visiting the governmental area, I walked back through part of the French Colonial district to Hoan Kiem Lake,

An alarmed vendor

In the French Colonial district

Turtle Tower in Hoan Kiem Lake

Local resident at the lake

Looking across the lake

From the lake, I went north into the Old Quarter, which was pretty much the entire city, until about 1900. Mostly 19th century buildings with narrow, crowded streets. No fancy coffee shops here, but plenty of ladies ladling out pho.