Lenin Park was one of our favorite places. It was so interesting because it had a ghost-like quality to it. The lake was polluted, although men still fished in it. And it had all these run-down-no-longer-in-use amusement park rides that helped you imagine what it was like 30 or 40 years ago.
Another interesting spot was the Hoa Lo Prison Museum, or “Hanoi Hilton,” where John McCain was imprisoned. The museum stressed how horrible the Vietnamese prisoners were treated by the French and how wonderfully the Americans were treated. (Make sure you look closely at the books that were in the gift shop.)
We enjoyed the number of birds kept outside of shops.
The most challenging part about traveling in Vietnam, and Hanoi in particular, was walking around and crossing the street. We had no idea how crazy the traffic would be. Pedestrians have few rights. Once you’re out in the street, cars and motorbikes probably won’t run you over. But, they definitely won’t stop for you if they see you coming. So, what happens is you have to slowly weave your way in between them. As Lonely Planet says, it is an artform. At first, we would find a Vietnamese person and follow them across, but eventually we got the hang of it. Now that we’re back in Seoul, it’s so quiet and orderly, it seems as if we’re in a small town.
