North Vietnam - Central Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa
There was this friendly bloke called Jelle (pronounced Yeh-Ler) whom we met on the SG-Hanoi flight. Upon further conversation after the initial Hello-excuse-me-I'm-sorry-I-took-the-window-
seat-but-I-need-to-go-to-the-bathroom-now friendly shift-and-squeeze to get him onto the aisle, he recommended a guesthouse for us to put up at that was very popular with backpackers, mostly because it is the first place mention in the Lonely Planet guide under Budget stays and it never occurred to said backpackers that there are about a few hundred others with the same publication. Anyhow, we decided to all pile into a cab and share the fare to get to Thu Giang after arriving in Hanoi airport where we found 1) the exchange rate to be a hell lot better than in Singapore and 2) that people could smoke in the enclosed baggage claim area where we held our breaths as long as we could while the Vietnamese happy to be back at last gleefully collect their Pampers/Various odd boxes, plastic wrappings-wrapped luggage. Strange. Anyhow, we arrived at Thu Giang Guesthouse unscathed from the hustling of the cabbies to find that there were fortunately vacancies at the guesthouse. And for 6USD per room per night for a twin bedroom, it was pretty decent:
It was a short stay at Central Hanoi and we departed for Halong Bay the next day, a 6 -hour long minibus ride to the legendary limestone karsts created from the swishing of the tail of a dragon who descended from the heavens.
Halong City looked like a pretty charming place too, probably would have been more novel to explore the rustic village than to have lunch onboard a boat amidst the karsts.
Another 6-hour ride back to Hanoi only to prepare for leaving that very night. To Sapa we go! Land of many tribes and minimal visibility. Up in the highlands, the french-colonial tourist town of Sapa coexists with tribal saleswomen who travel up and down everyday to earn the big tourist bucks.
And then back to Mountain View Hotel just in time for dinner. And to prepare to head back to Hanoi the following evening. Rush, pack, desperately try to dry wet jeans and socks with a feeble hair-dryer.
As much as I hated being sick in the cold weather and trudging around in my wet jeans, I was to come back to Singapore only to realise that I had loved what time I spent in Hanoi. Lovely times, more lovely because you were there.
(Photos were taken by the boyfriend, with a Canon 300D)
seat-but-I-need-to-go-to-the-bathroom-now friendly shift-and-squeeze to get him onto the aisle, he recommended a guesthouse for us to put up at that was very popular with backpackers, mostly because it is the first place mention in the Lonely Planet guide under Budget stays and it never occurred to said backpackers that there are about a few hundred others with the same publication. Anyhow, we decided to all pile into a cab and share the fare to get to Thu Giang after arriving in Hanoi airport where we found 1) the exchange rate to be a hell lot better than in Singapore and 2) that people could smoke in the enclosed baggage claim area where we held our breaths as long as we could while the Vietnamese happy to be back at last gleefully collect their Pampers/Various odd boxes, plastic wrappings-wrapped luggage. Strange. Anyhow, we arrived at Thu Giang Guesthouse unscathed from the hustling of the cabbies to find that there were fortunately vacancies at the guesthouse. And for 6USD per room per night for a twin bedroom, it was pretty decent:
It was a short stay at Central Hanoi and we departed for Halong Bay the next day, a 6 -hour long minibus ride to the legendary limestone karsts created from the swishing of the tail of a dragon who descended from the heavens.
The stones.
And the people who live amongst them.
Halong City looked like a pretty charming place too, probably would have been more novel to explore the rustic village than to have lunch onboard a boat amidst the karsts.
Another 6-hour ride back to Hanoi only to prepare for leaving that very night. To Sapa we go! Land of many tribes and minimal visibility. Up in the highlands, the french-colonial tourist town of Sapa coexists with tribal saleswomen who travel up and down everyday to earn the big tourist bucks.
"Hello, what's your name? Where you from? You buy this from me, I be your friend?"
Daughter of the Hmong family we visited.
Tribal beauty to-be.
But boys will be boys.
"What are you lookin' at?" "What are YOU lookin' at?" "You want a piece of me?"
Adventurous trekking in the foggy and damp air led by Lok, our guide. Definitely not for the faint-hearted.
And the ducks who are trying to run from bird flu.
And then back to Mountain View Hotel just in time for dinner. And to prepare to head back to Hanoi the following evening. Rush, pack, desperately try to dry wet jeans and socks with a feeble hair-dryer.
Bi (pronounced like an obstinate "Bee", pouty onset with a slight puff of air), son of one of the owners of Mountain View Hotel, Ninh Hong.
He's like the vietnamese child version of Won Bin.
As much as I hated being sick in the cold weather and trudging around in my wet jeans, I was to come back to Singapore only to realise that I had loved what time I spent in Hanoi. Lovely times, more lovely because you were there.
(Photos were taken by the boyfriend, with a Canon 300D)
the recovering alcoholic raved at 6:27 AM
1 Comments:
hehe 350D's expensive! since it's relatively new. 300D's going for cheap second-hand now :D you can check out forums.clubsnap.com under the buy and sell section (you need to sign up for a free account before you can activate the search function)
am back from bangkok! will upload posts soon
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