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Qutub Minar – they knew how to build
Hanoi take two
Our return to Hanoi from the Halong Bay excursion was the opportunity to catch up on the few things we had missed first time round.
Top of the agenda was exploring the old town, where the streets are named after their activity, eg “Silver Street”, just sells silver. All the silver shops are here and you pretty much cannot buy silver anywhere else in the centre of town.
Alta Gracia, Che and the Condors.
In search of highlights and educational opportunities, we head out to Alta Gracia, a well known Jesuit Estanza. Given the slow roads, we arrive 45 minutes before it closes for the siesta, it is a whistle stop tour. As it turns out, 45 minutes is plenty, we even have 5 minutes spare! The collection of about 10 rooms (each about 3m by 3m) has a bit of history in each, from pre-Incan, through the Jesuits to the 19th century. The place has a nice farmstead feel with a cloistered courtyard, but it struggles to reach “highlight” status.