We arrived in Hanoi at 7 am somewhat shattered after a 10-hour journey and we asked a taxi driver at the bus station to take us to a hotel in the Old City. He dropped us outside the San Boutique Hotel in Ng.Bao Khanh street where we got the last room. It is very close to Hoan Kiem Lake so, after a short sleep, we set off to look at St Joseph’s Cathedral and then the Ngoc An Temple in the middle of Hoan Kiem. The cathedral was built in 1886 and, apart from a nice stained glass window is very austere. I had been to Ngoc An before but was too tired to appreciate it and, as Jennifer didn’t see it, we both wanted to go.
A beautiful lily
A photo of Hanoi in 1885 from a street exhibition
Saint Joseph’s Cathedral
Picture of Mother Teresa
Street next to Cathedral
Turtle Tower built in honour of the mythical turtle which demanded that Emperor Le Loi return the sword to the Dragon King
Ngoc An Temple
The giant stuffed turtle caught in the lake.
The Hungry Ghost
Part of the temple