12/01/2006
Hanoi
Hoan Kiem Lake (Lake of the Restored Sword) is in a park in the
middle of city, and has been compared to Central Park in New York. The
18th-century Ngoc Son Temple (Jade Mountain Temple) is on an island in middle of
lake.The Old Quarter is a maze of old shops and markets.
The Temple of Literature, built in 1070, became first university in Vietnam
in 1076. Pho Van Mieu, corner of Pho Quoc Tu Giam, +84.4.942.1061.One Pillar Pagoda, originally built in 1049, was destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries. It was made to resemble a lotus flower, and sits on stilts in a lake next to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. Pho Ong Ich Kiem.
Ho Chi Minh City
The Cu Chi Tunnels were started when the Vietnamese
were fighting French. During the Vietnam War, it became a 150-mile maze, with
bedrooms, kitchens and even a hospital. However, it was also filled with bugs
and disease. Today, tours are given through sections of the tunnels northwest of
Ho Chi Minh City. +8.84.829.8914.The Emperor Jade Pagoda, built in 1909, features a multitude of elaborate carvings of deities—Taoist, Buddhist and ethnic. 73 Mai Thi Luu St.