Hanoi Vietnam

Unsurprisingly, Vietnam takes its revolutionary foundations very much to heart. They're shown off and commemorated in the national Revolution Museum in central Hanoi.

Quan Thanh Temple in the Ba Dinh district of Hanoi next to the southeastern corner of West Lake is a Taoist temple that dates back to the 11th century.

Hoan Kiem Lake (also known as Sword Lake, Ho Guom, or Lake of the Returned Sword) is at the very heart of Hanoi's Old Quarter and a cultural heart of the city. And it's rather beautiful.

Despite it being a replica of what was once a thousand-year-old pagoda, the One Pillar Pagoda is today considered one of Vietnam's most iconic Buddhist temples.

At 1400 years old, Tran Quoc Pagoda, in a picturesque spot on a small island in Hanoi's West Lake, is the city's oldest temple. And while small, it's quite beautiful.

Even Uncle Ho needs a holiday. Even while he's away on his annual autumn sojourn in Moscow, his mausoleum in downtown Hanoi still gets the royal treatment.

Hanoi has a lot of lakes. They provide a respite from the crushing traffic and incessant bustle in other parts of the city.

This is not a place of sweetness and light. Hoa Lo Prison, better known in the west as "the Hanoi Hilton," was first a French colonial jail for Vietnamese political prisoners and later used during the Vietnam War for American pilots held as prisoners of war. And it's a place with an especially grim history.