French Quarter

Our first stop is to the Note Cafe where Izzy left a message for Holly when she was here in December.  It’s a riot of sticky notes over four floors so we enjoy a salt coffee and smoothies and leave several notes of our own. 


We then make our way through the French Quarter past St Joseph’s Cathedral which is packed as today is Easter Sunday.

Hoa Lo Prison (Hanoi Hilton) is a grim visit. Over half the space is dedicated to details of the French who built the prison and incarcerated Vietnamese revolutionaries.  It details their poor treatment, poor rations, lack of space, corporal and capital punishment.

The remainder talks of the American War and the prison was used to hold the pilots who were shot down whilst bombing Hanoi.  The exhibits say how the Americans were pleasantly surprised by their treatment here and show them playing volleyball, celebrating Christmas and receiving medical treatment. 

From here we walk through the remainder of the Quarter to the old Opera House which is closed.  When you sit on the steps and look out the buildings and the wide streets are evocative of Paris.  But the noise, heat and people are pure Vietnam. 


We have bun Cha for lunch again, do another round of shopping (handbags and shoes) head to Beer St for a drink and several plates of chicken. 

Then it’s off to Cheers hostel where we meet some of our tour group for the Ha Giang loop.  We have a briefing at 7:30 and then are taken to our sleeper bus at 8.   There are about 24 beds on the bus and we settle in for the night. 

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