Hoa Lo Prison Hanoi

Got a flight from Luang Prabang 'airport'. It was essentially a shed with a couple of desks and weighing scales. Once we arrived in Hanoi (Vietnam) there was what can only be described as utter confusion over Brad's passport. The photo didn't look like him- did he have any other ID...awkward! After showing it to nearly every immigration officer in …

This morning we decided despite the rain and wind and the fact there was a typhoon we would go site seeing. Firstly we went to the city's biggest temple (we don't think it was Buddhist maybe Taoism or Confucianism). The temple was actually very small, 1 courtyard and 2 actual praying rooms. It was a slight weird place there were beer cans piled as …

Today we got up pretty early, grabbed some breakfast and headed to Hoa Lo Prision. It was really interesting and walking through parts of it was quite scarey! The American Pilots that were captured during the war sarcastically called the prision "The Hanoi Hilton" hense the title! As we walked outside the prision I noticed that Sam was wearing a T- …

Arriving in Hanoi we realized how organized Bangkok really was!

There are so many motorbikes everywhere it was crazy!! And most importantly, there are absolutely no traffic rules! Crossing a street is an adventure in itself but we figured you just have to take small steps through the chaos and keep crossing.

We were leaving to …

Following our recent trend, I awoke at 1am with a massive feeling that something was wrong. I quickly checked my phone and found many messages from my mother. Luckily it was just that HSBC's Fraud Team had contacted my home saying that they were going to block my card and not something worse. My mother, bless her, had already spent 20 minutes on …

Hanoi was still cold when we arrived back from Halong Bay, but I was quite pleased not to be sweating constantly. We went on a walk around the city and had some food at Thai Express (nice to have Pad Thai again) then went in search of the old prison. We walked, and walked and walked- this time I decided to let everyone else worry about the …

Get woken up by the maids at 9am - great! Agatha says that she is going sightseeing today so we all decide to go together, after breakfast of scrambled eggs we all head out to see Hanoi with our map or each point to see!

The traffic is crazy and we actually can't believe how packed the city is, apparently there are around 3 million …

We arrived at Hanoi airport without any hitches & were greeted by a man with a sign & our name on it - this was nice considering we were staying in a hostel! The journey was about 40mins which was a lot longer than we thought. We pulled up opposite after going down really small side streets with locals all sat on the streets again most of …

Y partimos a Vietnam!...claro que la salida de China tuvo más de algún tropiezo....salimos de Guilin muy temprano, tipo 7am, hacia la estación de trenes. El hostel estaba cerrado y el nochero nos debió abrir la puerta...afortunadamente nuestros amigos taxistas no nos pusieron inconvenientes a la hora de hacerlos parar y llegamos al tren a la hora. …

Leaving China by bus was a bit mad d and b had got the bus tickets the day before when they went to get the books with there pictures in back. We had got a taxi to the bus station and sat in some posh seats waiting for our bus. When it came we all piled on me in the bag as usual d and b were the only people from there part of the world all the …

... of the biggest tortoise we've ever seen. This thing was a baby eater of massive proportions. We also went to Hoa Lo Prison Museum. Essentially the museum is all that remains of the prison which was ironically named the Hanoi Hilton by U.S. POW's ...

... service instead. Day 150 - Friday 23 January Decide we will do a load of Museums today. First stop Hoa Lo Prison, otherwise known as The Hanoi Hilton by American guests during the war. Doesnt open until 1.30pm though. Memorial House also closed. ...

... to daily rural life of the hard-working farmers in the rice fields. Next, on our tour was the Hoa Lo Prison Museum (or nicknamed by US POW's-Hanoi Hilton). Two thirds of the original prison was demolished in 1991 to make way for the Somerset Grand ...

... out.  There's lots to do here with museums and tourist attractions but the most interesting for me was what remains of the Hoa Lo Prison.  Or as the U.S. pilots called it who were held prisoner here.... The "Hanoi Hilton".  Most of it was ...

... and experts available to do this macabre task themselves. For lack of an appropriate word, the highlight of our tour was Hoa Lo Prison, or the "Hanoi Hilton", as it was dubbed by the Americans during the Vietnam War. For Scott and I the gruesome history ...

... was around so we figured we would come back later.  We continued south a bit then turned west and eventually came to the Hoa Lo prison museum.  This prison was built by the French in 1896, it was said to have been a former craft village.  ...

... We were the only westerners in the joint. Very, very yummy. Next, was a fun filled visit to the Hoa Lo Prison, better known as the Hanoi Hilton.  It is unbelievable that John McCain can equivocate on torture given the difference between his visit ...

... colors, hammer and sickle flags everywhere, and huge statue to Lenin in city center as well.    "Hanoi Hilton" (actually the Hoa Lo prison), which is where John McCain and other POWs were held.  The museum itself is mostly dedicated to ...

... cyclos (trishaws) to speed up the journey there.  We had one cyclo each – and asked to be taken to the Hoa Lo Prison.  We even showed them the Vietnamese writing on the map.  We ended up at the Hanoi Hilton hotel.  I’m ...

... House, Gucci, Burberry, and finally (with the help of 2 fellow English) we reached our final sightseeing destination - Hoa Lo Prison. The prison was used pre-1954 when the French incarcerated and tortured many patriots, and then again in the 1960s to ...