Long Bien Bridge

This is Long Bien Bridge, probably the most famous bridge in Hanoi. It was built by the French imperialists in 1902, crossing the Red River and connecting two districts of Hanoi, Hoan Kiem and Long Bien.

It was of huge strategic importance and saw fierce battles during the two Indochina Wars against the French and Americans. It was particularly heavily bombed by the USA, but repaired each time – legend has it that the Americans only stopped bombing it when Vietnam started using US POWs to repair it each time it was hit.

We walked across it today on our last day in the city, having visited the famous railway street earlier. We also went to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum but gave up on that idea because of enormous crowds; we couldn't face spending a large part of our last day queuing. So we wandered around taking in the sights and smells of the city ... at one point we stumbled on a market stall selling cooked dogs. I'm not sure I've quite processed how I feel about that yet, but I'll spare you all the photo I took.

So – one more dinner out, one more walk around the streets, and then we are done. It has been the most wonderful experience and I can't recommend Vietnam highly enough as a place to visit. Back to reality first thing Monday :(