We didn't get back to Hanoi until 5:00 PM. Once we unpacked and settled in again, we decided we'd head out for some pho. The place we went to was hectic, packed and hot but damn was it good.
The restaurant.
Electricity.
I went out around 10:00 PM to shoot some long exposures of the traffic. I ended up meeting a Norwegian photographer in the same spot.
After that, we went out for some Vietnamese Egg Coffee. According to Wikipedia, "The drink is made by beating egg yolks with sugar and coffee, then extracting the coffee into the half of the cup, followed by a similar amount of egg cream, which is prepared by heating and beating the yolks."
It doesn't have an "eggy" flavor but is more of the consistency of a light coffee milkshake. Excellent.
Day 7
The next morning I woke up early and walked out to Hoan Kiem Lake. I wanted to shoot some early morning pictures but there were two issues. One, the light was horrible. It was overcast and drizzling. Two, I had left my camera on the table in the hotel with the AC set as low as it goes. Once I walked out into the 90F heat and 99% humidity the lens fogged up for what ended up being an hour. I salvaged a few pictures.
Fisherman.
Everyone was out doing tai chi, yoga or running.
Turtle Tower, located in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake.
Street corner.
Good ol propaganda.
There were two military museums we wanted to visit today. Google said both were open, but it seems both are closed on Fridays.
We could still walk around the outside and look at some of the displays.
F5A.
Shot down.
Huey helicopter. Used extensively throughout the Vietnam War.
A massive Soviet transport helicopter.
A wall of scooters.
The next stop was the Hoa Lo Prison (known as the Hanoi Hilton). It started pouring rain once we arrived at the Hoa Lo Prison. We took shelter for the half hour that it poured. We also observed several cockroaches approaching the size of a large mammal.
Now US Senator, John McCain, spent several years here in captivity. The prison was nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton".
After the prison, we walked around Hanoi a little more. We came across this railroad track that passes through this tight space.
Scooter.
Railroad tracks.
Statue of Vladimir Lenin.
Ho Chi Minh was the communist revolutionary that once led Vietnam. Today, he is embalmed inside this mausoleum just as Vladimir Lenin is in Moscow. Uncle Ho is shipped off to Moscow every fall for... "refurbishment".
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.
We also visited the One Pillar Pagoda.
The Presidential Palace was built in the early 1900s and was where the French Governor-General of Indochina lived.
The wreckage of an American B-52D Stratofortress that was supposedly shot down in 1972.
Next up was lunch. We went to the original place that invented Cha Ca Thang Long (Vietnamese Turmeric Fish with Dill).
No more clouds for a second!
After lunch and some down time at the hotel, we set off for a walk to find some souvenirs. The hotel recommended this market, but it seemed that everyone was closing up shop when we arrived.
So much going on.
One more Vietnamese iced coffee.
Stir fry for dinner, probably the least impressive meal of the trip.
