We had a nice stop along Xa Phu Dien as we biked our way out of Hanoi.
I thought the cacti along the beachfront to be interesting. I wasn’t aware that the area would be that arid.
Here we came across a nice selection of fishing boats from the nearby village.
When we visited Hanoi, we came across the monument for John McCain.
The monument reads;
On October 26, 1967 in Truc Bach Lake, the people and military of Hanoi captured alive U.S. Air Force pilot John Sney Macan, whose A-4 jet was shot down onto Yen Phu electric plant.
A small correction was that McCain flew for the Navy, not the Air Force. Notwithstanding the ethics of the war, he was a hero. Even if he was captured.
You can get just about anything from the Hanoi Market. And the best way to keep things of course would be to keep them alive. The net full of frogs is a good example. Tastes just like chicken, so I’m told.
Nice little bucket of fish ready for filleting.
Here we have some very fresh eels ready for the BBQ.
So for the first day of the official bike tour, we get to be biked around. Much safer to use an experienced person when going through Hanoi traffic. It can be horrific looking, but it always ran smoothly.
Our first stop was the farmers market. Everything was freshly butchered, so refrigeration was not really an issue.
They had an amazing selection clams to choose from.
And of course the fish were still alive and kicking so to speak.
Here I am in front of the historical Hanoi Opera House. My friend and I were just walking around the city and we came across this. They were having a show that night so we thought we just had to attend.
I took a photo of the billboard showing that this would be ‘ a unique way to experience the Vietnamese culture’.
The show was amazing series of acrobatics, juggling and balancing. Here is the case after the show.
After the show my Brent and I looked around for a bit to eat. We came across this restaurant with an amazing street view outside of the opera house. Italian tapas. Needless to say the food was amazing. And there was always the wine.
Brent and I managed to snag a couple of free coupons for egg coffee. Yes, raw egg dropped into your coffee like cream apparently. Quite tasty.
The restaurant is actually on the second floor and there is only a small alley to access it. Something that no one would head down without someone with you.
In Hanoi, I tried to capture the amazing dance of the scooters. How they manage to mingle about is amazing.
In the evening, people gather around the lake. A central spot for socialization.
A couple were having their photos taken for their upcoming celebrations. So I couldn’t resist.
Brent and I continued our tour of the National Museum in Hanoi. Some of the ancient texts are shown below.
The courtyard holds displays of various graduates. The Plaque show below describes how they retained the dedication steles of some of the oldest graduates. These were erected on turtles. One of the four holy creatures.
The Dragon was a great attraction. I attempted to find out a bit mroe about the urn. But you can see the dragon relief on top of the building in the background. The dragon is one of the countries four holy creatures.
We continued our visit at the National University. We entered the fourth courtyard and the altar to Confucius shown here. I have added the plaque which gives a good outline as to how kind and clever the gentleman was.
The turtles outside the altar are associated with the graduates of the University. The golden turtle below can be found right beside Confucius. I did some research and there are plenty of photos of the golden turtle but I did not find its direct association. So I can only assume it may celebrate the Confucius students that first accompanied him in his travels.
As we continued our tour of Hanoi at the Quoc Tu Giam National University, we stopped to view some of the impressive Bonsai plants. 
You can see that the plants are arranged in an island format. Each one seemed to suggest a different story
Here we are at the National University, Quoc Tu Giam. Established in 1076. The Temple of Literature refers to the Temple of Confucius. Very serene.
The plaque describes some of the activities. Second photo is one of the Khue Van Pavilion leading to the second courtyard.
My friend is in front of the Third Courtyard of the temple with the Thien Quang well.
Turtle Steles lists names of graduates.
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