After we had a lovely breakfast on the boat, we then headed back to Hanoi for a few hours before we took an overnight train to Hue, Vietnam.
On the way we stopped at a Pearl Farm and it was pretty interesting to see them all shucking these oysters. I would not want to do that all day.
On our way! Some fields 
Pearl Farm Sign 
Finding the pearls
Back in Hanoi, we were given a few hours to ourselves so Clint and I and a couple of other people from the group wanted to go the Hanoi Hilton or rather the Hoa Lo Prison. American POWs named it the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam war. It is known as one of the most brutal prisons with extreme punishment. And though it is known, to us, mostly as a prison for American POWs during the Vietnam War, it housed more Vietnamese revolutionaries than Americans. (over the years) The French began construction in 1896 and it took 5 years to complete. It was a huge complex, at that time, but has since seen a lot of it demolished over the years.
Walking to the Hanoi Hilton 
Entrance 
Hoa Lo Prison sign 
Walls in the courtyard 
A visual of what it would have looked like with prisoners and how they slept 
Toilets 
Some bios of some of the American POWs 
A very interesting and sad history 
Some reliefs
We grabbed a bit to eat at some spot on the street and then we had to go to the train station to catch the overnight train that would take us to Hue, Vietnam. The cabins were for 4 people, two sets of bunks so we shared with Christine and Steve, a lovely couple from Australia. We had spent the day with them as well so we were all pretty comfortable together. The guys took the top bunks and we took the lower bunks. This was a different train ride than the other overnight train we were on, it was a bumpier ride and very noisy.
It was a different experience for sure but we made the most of it and actually enjoyed the experience.
The next day we were in the city of Hue. Stay tuned !
Trums Travels 