See all of the photos from Hanoi.
We continue our excursions with our group of 10 in Hanoi Vietnam with a 2.5 hour drive from the port in Halong to Hanoi. Our first stop was a pearl factory where we were shown how they “seed” the oysters as well as what type of pearls come from what types of oysters. They, surprisingly, offered us 30 minutes to shop. We bought Karen a beautiful pendant and ear rings with Golden pearls. They we were off to Hanoi, a city of 9 million people and 7 million scooters. Our first stop was Hoa Lo Prison also know as Hanoi Hilton. We decided to no enter and just took a 30 minute stroll around the streets.
Our next stop was the Temple of Literature, built-in 1076 as Vietnam’s first university. It was established within a temple to educate Vietnam’s royalty, mandarins and members of the elite. The university functioned for an incredible 700 years.
We were taken for one of the best tour lunches we have had and took some pictures of area.
After lunch, we went to the “Train Street” where shops are up next to the rail road tracks and trains come through as many as 9 times a day. They shops have to move their tables and chairs and all the people right before the trains come. It was wild.
For our final activity, we had the choice of a trishaw ride or a water puppet show. We had no idea what the puppet show would be but knew we didn’t want another trishaw. It was fascinating and very entertaining.
Due to traffic, it took almost 3 hours to drive back to the ship. It was a long, long, day but very interesting. Tomorrow we will slowly cruise out of Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site.