Honeymoon Vietnam - Hanoi

Our first day in Hanoi is exploring the Old Quarter - tiny streets full of storefronts, people and motor scooters everywhere. Scooters are the defining fauna of metropolitan Vietnam, they’re everywhere, they make up at least three quarters of the traffic. As such, the traffic is very different than in the US, it feels like a flow of particles or flocks of birds; groups of scooters merge and flow around the bigger masses. First thing that came to mind was how scooters were like schools of small fish, moving around the big whale-buses, and the medium-sized shark-cars. There are very few traffic rules or stop lights, everyone just goes when they can, where they can. And there are special pedestrian guidelines for crossing the street: walk at a steady pace, do not stop, speed up or slow down - the scooters will navigate around you. It’s very unnerving the first time, but it works, and you get used to it, more or less.

We went to Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Hanoi Hilton, where American POWs were kept during the Vietnam (excuse me, American) War. They had John McCain’s flight suit on display, which was pretty cute, and pictures of him when he was shot down and as a senator when he went back to Vietnam in the 1980s. Hoa Lo was built during the 100 years of French occupation of Vietnam, and there’s exhibits about of torture and hellish conditions inflicted by the French supported regime back then. And since it’s French, there’s even a guillotine! Walking back to our hotel later we stop and get a drink at the real Hanoi Hilton, which is just about the plushest hotel in the city.