Sunday, Oct 23 - Hue - Hanoi - Lao Cai Overnight Train

This morning we flew to Hanoi and did some sightseeing. 

We saw a four kilometer long stretch of a dyke wall that was covered in mosaic tiles.  The mosaic wall was started in 2007 and was in commemoration of the 1000 year anniversary of the founding of Hanoi.

The walking tour of Hanoi took us through many markets with lots of street vendors...   

and restaurants.  Many of the restaurants were set up on the sidewalk with a brazier for cooking the food and little tables and very short stools for the patrons to sit on.

We did not expect to see the many stalls selling french baguettes.  Seems out of place in SE Asia but the French did spend a lot of time here so apparently the taste for baguettes remains.

There were also the very interesting dead chickens...plucked and then posed in very interesting poses, usually with a rose in the mouth.

Here is a side-walk entrepreneur who has set up shop and is plucking out her clients grey hairs.

The tour took us to the Hoan Kiem Lake area where we visited a temple on the lake...

and enjoyed watching the locals shopping and having a grand time playing Vietnamese games on the street. 

The last stop was the Hỏa Lò Prison (translates to fiery furnace or “Hell Hole”).  It was named the Hanoi Hilton by the US prisoners of war, including Senator John McCain, who were held here.  

The prison was originally used by the French, who named it Maison Centrale, the name still on the arch over the door.  It was used to hold political prisoners and the conditions were pretty gruesome as most were chained to the bed platforms using manacles. 

This evening we boarded the overnight train to Sapa in the far north of Vietnam. 

The cabin was quite comfortable, beds were a little hard, and unfortunately the tracks were very uneven.  The car rocked and rolled the entire night.  Very hard to get any sleep.