Images of Hanoi

The little crop duster we flew on from Phnom Penh to Saigon for our connecting flight to Hanoi.

A Hanoi alleyway. Note the red Vietnamese flags with red stars.

Ho Chi Minh Museum (in the complex with the Ho Mausoleum).

The "Uncle Ho" Mausoleum with a giant communist-style plaza in front.

The Ho Chi Minh stilt house, a two-room structure where he lived for about a decade of his time in power.

A giant Ho statue in the museum.

Entrance to the Temple of Literature, the oldest university in Vietnam.

Tablets inscribed with the names of graduates.

The Museum of Ethnology, which has displays on a variety of groups indigenous to Vietnam.

A traditional fishing boat outside the museum.

Ian in front of a unique-looking wood and straw house at the Museum of Ethnology.
St. Joseph's Cathedral.

Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the "Hanoi Hilton," where John McCain spent more than five years as a prison of war.

Most of the museum concentrated on its use by the French as a detention center for Vietnamese rebels. The small display on American POWs was comically filled with propaganda.

The Jade Mountain Temple on the Lake of the Restored Sword.

Ian on the bridge to the Jade Mountain Temple (aka Ngoc Son Temple).

The turtle with the restored sword.

Dinner at Cyclo, where many of the chairs are converted cyclo seats.

Vietnamese rice paddies, as seen from the window of our van on the way to Halong Bay.

Junks in the harbor of Halong Bay.

The rock formations were stunning.

Ian in front of the famous Halong Bay rock islands, which compose a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Floating village among the rock islands.

About 30 families live in the village, which even includes a floating school.

We stopped at the floating village, where some of our fellow tourists purchased fresh seafood from the residents.

The Kissing Rocks formation.

Ian in one of the caves we visited at Halong Bay.

The trash can is in the shape of a famous Asian penguin???

I was digging the sepia pictures.

A large bottle of snake wine, which is sold all over Vietnam in varying quantities. And yes, every bottle contains a real snake!

A pretty sunrise on the morning of our flight back to Phnom Penh.

View of the Mekong River just before landing in Phnom Penh.