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Hanoi

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Hanoi

The beautiful old capital of Vietnam, now full of growth and change.

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Nearly 1000 years old, Hanoi’s capital has always been at the heart of Vietnamese culture – a place where poets and painters walked the shores of the central Hoan Kiem Lake hoping to spot a magic turtle. The 21st century is bringing changes – and honking cars! – to the one-time sleepy communist capital. Hotel rooms start at $10 in the Old Quarter, a crooked web of "36 streets and guilds" with lanes named after vocations: tin-making, herbs, chicken feet. Across the Hoan Kiem Lake are grandiose reminders of the French Quarter, most prominently the Metropole Hotel, a standout for those who can afford it. All visitors should stop by Van Mieu, the ancient "temple of literature"; Hoa Lo Prison, the famous "Hanoi Hilton" where John McCain spent several years; and Uncle Ho himself – who, against his instructions, rests in a Lenin-style mausoleum near Ba Dinh Square, where he quoted the America's Declaration of Independence while writing Vietnam’s own – way back in 1945.

Hanoi travel guide by robert tripwolf

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