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Now en route to Vietnam with Singapore Airlines
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I arrived in Hanoi just after Vietnamese New Year which is welcomed with kumquats
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My first stop turns out to be a pedestrian street of bookshops
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I spent hours in the Women's Museum where I learned a lot
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Displays in the Women's Museum are good, and the audioguide adds a lot
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This was the only hands-on display, and it took us a while to figure out how to move the mill stone
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The third floor dedicated to women in Vietnam's history was the most interesting for me
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An award-winning photo
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It was finally sunny when I left the Women's Museum
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I think there are more scooters than cars in Hanoi
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A quiet area in the French quarter
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The Hanoi opera house was modeled on the Opera Garnier in Paris
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Here in front of the Opera House is where I began to see all the wedding and fashion photo shots
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The Sofitel was a particularly popular backdrop
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At the Sofitel, a mother-daughter shot?
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Ly Thai To, founder of the Ly dynasty and of the city, stands in a busy square to the east of Hoan Kiem Lake
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The girls from an English club who interviewed me
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The red bridge to Den Ngoc Son (Jade Mountain Temple) beyond these ladies in white
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Pop-up cut paper cards and fruit for sale at the entrance to Huc (Sunbeam) Bridge
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The Den Ngoc Son temple is very popular
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Lighting incense at the Turtle Temple honoring the founding of the city
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Heading back to the hotel along Hang Gai street
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Chua Quan Su (Ambassador Pagoda) is Hanoi's center of Buddhism
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Birds, even pigeons, seem rare in Hanoi. These are inside the Chua Quan Su complex
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The main entrance of Chua Quan Su (Ambassador Pagoda) is decorated with lotus lanterns
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One of two bells at the back of the Ambassador Pagoda complex
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Almost endless scooters parked outside a hospital
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In front of Saint Joseph's Cathedral
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I took a couple's photo at the cathedral and they returned the favor
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Befriended by this sweetie at Chua Ba Da (Stone Lady's Pagoda)
