Back in Hanoi

Ho Chi Minh mausoleum

Hoa Lo Prison built and used by the French
 during the colonial period and then by
 the Vietnamese to house American POW's

Back in Hanoi for couple of days we went for the more famous sites. A mixture of the old and new.
Politically the approach was a mixture of national pride in having defeated the French and the Americans and forward looking conciliation and a desire for good relations with the West. An example at Hoa Lo was pictures of John McCain, unsuccessful presidential candidate, there as a POW and more recently a visiting US senator.
We have felt quite safe here on the streets; hostility - none, street crime not in evidence. The most challenging thing is crossing the road; the traffic is seemingly lawless but operates to its own rules. To cross the road you wait for a gap and then step out and proceed with confidence relying on  the traffic,. cars motorbikes etc., to avoid you. Overtly looking from side-to-side is to be avoided as they will assume you intend to give way. To date it has been successful.

Approach to Temple of Literature which
 was originally founded as a  Confucian
 university in the C11th
 

On route to Temple of Literature