That was the last day we spent in Hanoi city. The next morning we flew off pretty early in the morning.. To think, just being at the airport, waiting to in line at the immigration counter and waiting to board the plane was eventful in Hanoi.. Well, I'll talk about that later..
Bright and early on Day 4, we followed a City Tour conducted by the same company as that of our Ha Long bay cruise.. It was ok at first, visiting various temples and pagodas.. then it became disturbing when we visited Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, where his dead body is preserved in probably wax.. and later it became boring with our visit to a pottery factory.. Snoozesville!!
The first Buddhist temple/pagoda we visited.. There were statues of Buddha of the past, the present and the future..
The Temple of Literature.. Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism all in one temple..
The tour guide said a Chinese movie was filmed here.. Anyone know which film? None of us could figure it out! Crouching tiger, hidden dragon perhaps??
Confucious' teachings carved into stone tablets carried by stone turtles..
Statue of the great man himself! My first time seeing Confucious' statue too!
Golden Sword Lake Temple.. Do you see the preserved turtle in the left bottom picture? The water puppet show tells of the story of the turtle and a king who owned the Golden Sword.. It is believed that the turtle took the sword from the king and brought it down into the lake and thus the lake was called Ho Kiem (Golden Sword) lake and the temple by the lake is the Golden Sword Lake Temple!
Ho Chi Minh's final resting place.. There were guards all around the mausoleum asking us to keep quiet as we walked into the "grave".. I was kinda shocked when I saw Ho Chi Minh's dead, preserved (I told you they like preserving stuff!!) body and four guards were guarding that body like someone would steal it if they had the chance.. Interesting, but freaky! They even had a museum built just to store his documents and stuff.. Imagine having a museum that featured just YOU!
And see the middle picture right at the bottom? That shrine is supported by just one pole. Legend has it, a king wanted a son so he prayed hard to a Diety and one night he dreamt of that one poled shrine and soon after, he had a son.. So he built that as a sign of gratitute to the Diety.
Pottery factory - total waste of time!! And it took us quite a while to get there too coz it's on the outskirts of Hanoi..
The only interesting sight we saw at the pottery place.. BTW, just like Hanoi city and it's division of goods sold at designated streets, this place sold nothing but pottery!!
Cruelty to animals!! Poor bull.. *Tears*
After our so-called city tour ended, we were sent back to our hotel. From there, we walked around Hanoi to get our long awaited shopping spree done! Also, to find more food! *Grins* We bought a whole lot of stuff ranging from silk to handmade jewellery for ourselves, our families, and our closest friends! Everything was just CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP!!!
It was terribly cold that day.. Like being at Genting at 3am in the morning!! So glad we managed to experience Hanoi's funny summer/winter weather~!! BTW, when we wore sweaters, Cindy didn't.. And when she did, we didn't! LOL! Her homeostatic balance a bit off already I think *grins*
We came across this urm.. I dunno what to call it coz it's not even a roadside stall as you can see.. It was actually a back-alley.. And decided to eat whatever the locals were eating.. The picture below shows what we ate at that urm.. place..
Wonderful and cheap porridge with "yu char ke"!! And when I mean cheap, I mean the locals pay VND 3000 (RM 0.60) and we (though cheated) paid twice the amount which is RM 1.20!! For a friggin' bowl of porridge with "yu char ke"!! CHEAP SIAL~!!!
Yucky, longkang water tasting, and CRAZY expensive chicken soup noodles!! Anthing above VND 5000 (RM 1) is considered expensive there!
We bought a whole lot of stuff from this shop coz the lil boy could speak perfect English (finally!!) and he was just TOO CUTE!!! Btw, would you believe his sister (the girl in green t-shirt) is SIXTEEN???
Went to this cafe to try Vietnam coffee and eat some corn we bought earlier.. OMG, the corn was sooo sweet and tasty!! And the best thing about it was.. there was NO added whatsoever!! No salt, no butter, NOTHING!! BTW, I tried their cocoa milk.. My advice to anyone who's going there, DON'T order cocoa milk!! Tasted like PERFUME!! *Gak!* (But although it tasted horrible and was stinging to the throat, it was kinda addictive! Boggles the mind!)
Hanoi beer.. Tasted just ok.. Nothing to shout about.. We played "Bullshit" again and drinking a sip of that was the punishment.. Magdalene just drank it, punishment or not! LOLS!
Hanoi Vodka.. Tasted more like surgical spirit cum thinner than anything else! The vodka in Malaysia tastes so much better!
And here is our final picture in the hotel we stayed at, taken with the manager, Ms. Thien, who was of great help to us (plus, she was the one who arranged our "upgrade"!!) Thanks loads, Ms. Thien!!
Hotel Phoenix rocks!! Free publicity man~!!
Now, about the eventful stuff that happened at the airport.. while we were lining up at the immigration counter, this one Vietnamese woman just came charging up in front and cutting the line!! She literally pushed everyone to get in front, only to be told to go behind and line up by the customs officer! LOLS! Then, she tried inching her way through to the front a lil while later.. So what we did was this; we stood side-by-side, me on the left, and a friend on the right.. I was blocking the woman.. So my friends kept going and going from the right while I blocked her from cutting queue! It was quite "kiasu" and bitchy of us but who can stand such a character??
Then later while queing up to board the plane, a whole bunch of Vietnamese workers (probably housekeepers) went out of their line to try to cut in front, pushing their way through! Then they were told to go behind by the airport staff.. So instead of going to the end of the line, they tried to nudge their way back into our line and since we were already pissed off by the woman earlier, we refused to let them cut in and closed whatever gap there was between us! Gosh!
But on the whole, I have to admit, I did enjoy Vietnam, not because I liked the place coz I didn't! But because of the company I went with.. And that made the trip worthwhile~! (Plus, we spent less than RM 1000 and that included the air fare, accomodation, and transportation!!) END!
When we got back to the Guesthouse, we were shocked to learn that due to some mistake on their side or something like that, there was no more room for us to stay and that they had moved us to another place down the street.. We were pretty upset when they told us that coz we had gotten to like the Guesthouse and when we saw how small the doorway to the new place was, we were abhorred! Seriously, it was just one small, dinky doorway whereby only one person could enter at a time!
Until we went inside.... Oh my gosh, the place was HUGE!! And they had more computers than the previous place! Then we got to know that they had shifted us from a Guesthouse where backpackers stay, to a TWO-STAR HOTEL for those who vacation without getting mud on their feet! And trust me, in Hanoi, a two-star hotel is like staying at Hilton in KL!! Well, maybe that's exaggerating it a lil.. but what I'm trying to say is that it's really good for Hanoi standards!
Qi Yun, Jen and me in our new room!! They had cable!!! *Wee~!* (Plus our room was bigger and prettier than Cindy, Cathy and Mag's room! *Grins*)
Finally, a PROPER bathroom! LOLS!
Because the eel noodle was so good, the 6 of us, together with Ha and Aaron, decided to eat dinner there again. At least this time, with the Australian Vietnamese couple, we didn't have any communication problems!
Glutonny at it's best~! Haha!
Vietnamese girls are generally really pretty.. Like this one.. BTW, they love taking photos as well and they seemed to be quite amazed by digital cameras coz they kept looking over our shoulders to see our cameras... Maybe it's a luxury to own one in such a poor country.. Speaking of poor country, I forgot to mention that my first impression of Vietnam was that they haven't really recovered from the war... It's that bad!
Oh, speaking of communication problems, I never did mention about how we converse with Vietnamese people when it came to purchasing stuff/food did I?
Well, on a general note, Vietnamese people speak little to no English. And if they weren't Vietnam Chinese, they wouldn't know how to speak Chinese either.. So when wanted to purchase stuff from them, we'd converse using a CALCULATOR! At least they knew how to shake their heads when they disagreed with the price we were asking for and nod when they agreed.
And when it came to food, we just looked around to see what others were eating, and asked for the same thing by pointing and then showing how many of that we wanted using our fingers.. Of course, that didn't always get us what we wanted.. Our mistake, we should have brought a Viet phrasebook!
While walking to a preserved fruits stall Ha and Aaron had recommended, I managed to see Vietnam's infamous SNAKE WINE! A cure for about everything, so they say.. And EVERYTHING includes erectile dysfunction! Who needs Viagra anymore? LOLS!
Preserved fruits stall.. Everything in Hanoi seems to be preserved.. You'll see what I mean later.. But I gotta admit, for a person who doesn't enjoy preserved fruits, I kinda liked the taste!
A church (or was it a cathedral) we passed by during our walk to yet another fruit stall.. When I showed this picture to my cousin, she said it was the same church from Takeshi Kineshiro's Anna Magdalena~! BTW, do you spot anything urm.. "paranormal" in the picture?
At a fruit juice stall... Something like the mixed fruit stall we went to on our first night.. Only this one had blended strawberry with passion fruit juice and avocado juice.. Didn't really like the drinks here.. And you should have seen the amount of sugar they put in!! I kept wondering if diabetes is prevalent in Vietnam!
After we had enough of walking around and being all full of mud and having bruises here and there (me at least), we went back to the hotel and on our way back, lo and behold, I found MILO!!! I was ecstatic, mind you, coz I haven't had milo in days!! But my happiness was short-lived when I took ONE SIP of their so-called milo!! It was too sweet, too milky, and just... YUCKY!!! From there on hence, I said I wouldn't wanna come back to Hanoi again!! LOLS!
NOBODY messes around with MY milo!! Roar~!! Note to self: Bring milo 3-in-1 next time I go overseas! LOLS!
And as you can see in the picture above, Cathy was in my room.. Yeah, the three girls came over to our room later that night and the six of us played the card game "Bullshit" or "Bluff".. Had totally forgotten about that game until Ha and Aaron reintroduced it to us on the junk.. I think I posted a picture or two of us playing cards on deck in my previous post..
It was a really fun game night coz Cathy was really innocent, Mag kept making mistakes when she was bluffing, and coz Cindy didn't know how to lie when she didn't have cards, she just flipped open the card the previous person threw down.. LOLS! Went to sleep pretty late that night.. And in the morning, we followed a pretty boring city tour.. Will blog about that soon..
P/S: Jennifer can really sleep!! I tried waking her up by talking really loudly into her ear but she didn't even wink! *Faint*
Ha Long bay, which is a UNESCO heritage site, is about 4 hours away from Hanoi city and is situated at Ha Long province. We followed a tour and went on a 2 day 1 night cruise aboard a Chinese junk! We met a couple of great people there; an Australian Vietnamese couple, Ha and Aaron, and a white from OZ as well, Eric.
On the way to Ha Long province & at the jetty...
P/S: Vietnamese graveyards are in the middle of the paddy fields.. So when you see paddy fields, there's a high chance you'd see a cemetery out of nowhere!
On the junk & on our way to Ha Long bay...
Visit to Amazing Cave...
Can you see the tortoise formation in the picture on the bottom most left hand side? It is believed that if you touch the head, you'd have long life or your wishes would come true.. I know my wish did~! And in the last pic, can you make out the Goddess of Mercy formation?
Would you believe this cave is male? And he definately needs no viagra? And look properly.. Can you see where it's aiming at? Here's a hint.. There are THREE holes on the ceiling of the cave... *Grins*
While at Ha Long bay...
What we did at Dao Titop (Titop Island)...
While heading back to dry land...
So in conclusion, what we did at Ha Long bay was basically camwhore, camwhore and camwhore somemore! LOLS! It comes with the "beautiful girl" territory.. *Grins*.. And next.. Hanoi at night on the 3rd Day and Hanoi Day 4!
Have you ever seen the sunrise from atop the clouds? The array of colours and burst of sunlight was just... breathtaking!
Beautiful! And this is just a picture! The real thing was.. wow!
We reached Hanoi at about 10AM local time and hence, our 5-day journey began~! The first culture shock we got when we reached was the fact that Vietnamese drive on the right side of the road! Well, that culture shock didn't last long coz it was replaced at once by how they drive on the roads! In three simple words; DANGEROUS, RECKLESS, LAWLESS!
From left: Magdalene, yours truly, Cathy, Jennifer, Qi Yun, Cindy
Millions of motorcyclist in Hanoi itself! And seriously, nobody knew how to keep to their own lanes nor followed the traffic rules e.g. everyone still moves although the light is red so traffic would be coming from all four sides!
The next culture shock we got was how narrow and small yet tall their houses were.. We later got to know that it costs USD 40,000 per square foot in Hanoi and that's why people build their houses that way!
Their stairways were narrow as well.. and windy too! BTW, notice that the motorcyclist is using a face mask? It's not only because of exhaust, but also because Hanoi is a really dusty (and dirty) place!
It might be dangerous for Vietnamese to speak Viet when around Chinese people.. Can you see why? *Grins*
We checked in to Hanoi Guesthouse and were happily greeted by the manager Ms. Thien and another guy in charge, Ha. After asking them for a map of Hanoi, we walked blindly towards Ho Kiem lake where the famous water puppet theater was situated. From there, a really friendly Vietnamese woman told us where we could eat good food.. and she was right!
Hanoi Guesthouse! Cathy found this place online! Three cheers for Cathy!!!
Three people to one small room.. BTW, the toilet was so small, it was almost impossible to move around while showering! We literally had to stand straight while taking a bath!
First place we went for food! Most of the food stalls in Hanoi are like that and that's considered pretty good! Most food stalls aren't stalls at all! Well, you'll see what I mean later..
BBQ non-halal meat with Vietnam rice.. Yummy~!! They also had spring rolls.. Really good!
Me enjoying my food~!!
After lunch, we went around to look for more food! Hey, new place means new food! Wasted no time there! Walking around blindly some more, we came across a couple of interesting sights which you would definately miss if you weren't on foot!
The next food thing we tried.. Some kinda glutinous rice with lotus seed paste and meat or something like that.. Seriously, we were never really sure of what we were putting into our mouths! LOLS!
Lo and behold! An ATM machine out of nowhere! Haha! BTW, we became instant millionaires in Vietnam.. That's how small their currency is! And any shops that sold anything above RM10 would have a security guard! Seriously, we even saw one in Gloria Jean's!!
Some part of Hanoi.. Check out the electric/telephone wires! It's like that all around Hanoi city! And that one is considered okay and neat!
Every row of shops specialise in one thing. For instance, if you wanna get cheap bras, then you go to the row of shops on your left.. If you wanna get cheap silk, you go to the row of shops on your right.. All the shops sell the same stuff but the stuff differs from one row to another..
When we were worn out from walking so much (plus our tiring 3 hour flight), we went back to the guesthouse to rest and recuperate before going out later in the evening for dinner and for our water puppet show! We then went to the night market and later headed back to our guesthouse to rest before our early departure to Ha Long bay early the next morning~!!
Through thorough online research, Cindy found this stall! Yay, Cindy!
Some organ thingy cooked mashed up and mixed with mushrooms..
Eel glass noodles! Wonderful!!
I truly enjoyed the eel soup! *Sluuurrp*
Walking somemore, we found this stall selling fruits with coconut milk! What caught our eyes was the number of people eating there!
You see, they use taller stools as tables, and shorter ones as chairs.. I didn't know this.. So I sat on a table until the guy comes and tells me that it was a table and not a chair.. LOLS!
Inside the water puppet theater..
Too bad we couldn't understand a thing coz they were speaking in Viet! (And to think they're suppose to cater to tourist)
At the night market.. All of us were half dead by then LOLS!
And next, Day 2 of my Hanoi trip~!! "Stay tuned!!" *Grins*
