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Caught the early flight to Hanoi. Checked into the Camellia 5 Hotel, a real dump. Booked a 2-day Ha Long Bay Tour and walked around the Old Quarter. Crossed the red lacquered Huc Bridge to Den Ngoc Son Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake. Had lunch at Ace Sapa. Walked to Ly Quoc Su Pagoda. Walked around the French Quarter. Stopped at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, a fairly large Catholic cathedral, and quit nice. Toured Hoa Lo Prison, where Sen. John McCain was held as a POW. They even had his flight suit on display. Walked to Chua Quan Su Pagoda where we saw worshippers chanting—never heard anything like it before. Stopped for a drink at Le Club, the courtyard bar of Hanoi’s famous Sofitel hotel. Had some fresh Belgian-style beer at Bia Do (Red Beer) and then had dinner at Highway 4. We had camel (wasn’t great, quite tough), frog legs (yummy), and Hue spring rolls. We also tried some of the herbal liquors—Felicia had a raspberry liquor and a red plum liquor; Todd had “Emperor Minh Mang” and “One Night, Five Times, Four Sons.” Potent stuff, heavy on the ginseng, but good. We passed on the liquors containing snakes, geckos, starfish,
or sea horses.
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Liya
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Love it!
“One Night, Five Times, Four Sons" huh? Love the name of that drink!