nice to watch during the night ….
Hue – illuminated bridge
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Tag Archives: Vietnam
Hue
Hue is the city of the former emperors of Vietnam. They ruled the land until the french invasion and Uncle Ho got the key to Vietnam here in 1945. Lot of history. We started easily with a nice breakfast (included) and rented a motorbike from a local young man we met last night. 5 $ per day is the usual rate here. Traffic is not that terrible as it´s in Hanoi but I took all of my concentration to drive the small bike. But it worked and even Mandy said that she doesn´t fear the ride.
Call a driverFirst stop was the Citadel. Built by vietnamese Emperors based on some old chinese buildings. Entrence fee for foreigners 5 $. Not soo much to see it took 30 mins to visit the ruins. Maybe for persons who are interested in historical and/or architectural things. At least nice to see. Next place should be a tomb of one of the emperors. We just had a silly city map, worthless. So we started on the bike southwest direction as mentioned in the travel guide and met two others guys (with a good map) so we just followed them.
Parking for the bike should be 10.000 Dong. Too much so we paid 5.000. You have to bargain whatever you want. The tomb was nice to see got some ideas :)
We drove back to Hue to have a quick lunch and decided to visit a location which is recommended by our travel book for authentic cheap food. Owned by an old deaf-dumb man. And really it was great food. We rolled spring rolls by ourself and had shrimp pancakes. Really yammi. And paid less than 5 €.
Awesome foodWe gave the rental bike back and went straight to bed for a nap. Just one hour because we´re on vacation. But not enough time afterwards to get the last sunlight on the pool. Doesn´t matter we´ll spend the whole day tomorrow here…
Pool at Century HotelFound even in our tourist area nice local food for a reasonable price. A big market on the banks of the parfume river took place and it was fascinating to see how what people do for leisure. Lots of food and stalls with items. One more cocktail than in the famous DMZ bar DMZ bar at Hue. The plan was to leave after a cocktail and coffee but we met the guys again (from the ride) and had a nice chat with Michelle and Nigel (both Canadians) until 11pm and had some more beers for sure. What a pretty nice day.
Hai Phong – Hue
Hai Phong is the 3rd largest city in Vietnam and the big harbour connects Vietnam and China. Central bus station as usual, found coffee and some snacks. We thought it would be like in Thailand where busses stop during the ride for a break having a snack etc. We booked a sleeper bus and as soon a one of those busses arrived we had a first look. Not too bad. But the seats , even with a length of around 1.80 m, are not flexible and very strait. The next nightmare comes up as we noted that there´ll be no break during the ride. Estimated time : 12:00 hrs. *sigh* Bus driver stopped and I bought just 3 small old baguettes and a bottle of water. We tried to get some sleep and it worked for a couple of hours. At 7 am we had a break and got a vietnamese breakfast, means a Pho Ga and a cold coffee. It took 5 (!!!) hrs more to get to Hue which means in total 17 hrs on the bus.
Bus to HueBut we rewarded ourself with a 4 star hotel in Hue, pool and gym included :) Great view to old city and tomorrow we´ll rent a motorbike to see ancient places. Hotel is Century Riverside Hue clean and not expensive.
Keep you updated…
Cat Ba – hanging around
While waiting for the cruise (starts within next 30 mins…) we spent the day in Cat Ba town and its surrounding. I got up at 6:15 and practiced some exercises (taekwondo patterns) and watched people doing Tai Chi Chuan. May be I´ll ask at the next time if I can jump in the crowd. We had a small breakfast and rented a motorbike just for cruising around. One more coffee in a local shop outside the main tourist area, great and really strong and half the price. Back in town we bought another small backpack for Mandy and went straight to the beaches which are closed to our hotel. Hopefully the picture gives you a (and us as well) foretaste what we´ll expect at our cruise.
Mandy infront of the Cat Co beachHanoi – first day
We were picked up at 9 am by the guy from advisor hotel and moved there. Time for first tourist stuff. Took a taxi to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and when we arrived a big queue told us “it takes a while” but anyway we are here to see Uncle Ho. Faster than we were thought we stood in front of the big mausoleum and soldiers in white uniforms watched about everybody (“obey the rules…”) Neither pictures nor speech allowed inside but I took a photo while waiting in front of the entrance.
Uncle HoAfterwards we went down the streets searching for the temple literature which is the oldest university in Vietnam founded in 1070. Even Konfizuis taught here. And for sure there is a shrine to honor him. But today students get their degrees and especially young ladies were dressed in Ao Deis (traditional vietnamese clothes) and they looked beautiful. I asked friendly if I can take a picture and here it is…
vietnamese baeutiesNext stop was a cafe we had a fantastic iced coffee and a fresh yoghurt. Yammi stuff. That was enough for today went back to Advisor hotel and had a rest for few hours. I´m on vacation :) Room is good with a private balcony above old quarter and I´m sitting here while writing this post. 5 pm we started for Bia Hanoi which means get a beer for 5.000 dong. Or 2 or 3 and have chat with other traveller. So we did and met Stephan from Scotland and talked about Asia and while Hanoi is so amazing. Having a Pho Bo for dinner and went back to our hotel.
Schedule for next days is Halong Bay cruise and we found an offer for a one cabin boat which means just only to of us will go to Halong Bay for 3 days. Great. Don´t like the idea hanging around with 10 other guys. Too old for that shit :)
I guess we´ll go down now and have one more beer…. cheers.
Hanoi – first impressions
Flight duration 2 hrs from HKG. Waiting for our luggage 1 hour. Immigration is easy if you have already have a visa. Visa on arrival is possible as well but better it´s already in your passport. Booking the hotel for right date – good idea. We were waiting for the guy who should pick us up at the airport but nobody was there. Later at the booked hotel we recognized that hotel was booked for 18th NOV and not for 17th. Friendly guy from the advisor hotel brought us to another small hotel just for one night. So we had a walk around and found a lot of food stalls on the street which is really great and we missed that in Hong Kong. Dinner for two of us including beer 5 Euro. A single package Marlboro less than one Euro. Draught beer in a beer bar 5000 dong which is around 30 Euro cents. I love this :) And billions of motocyclos. And each of them use the horn permanently. What a big noise.
So day starts with coffee and this post, we´ll move to the advisor hotel later on and will have a walk through Hanoi. Pics follow soon…..
Hong Kong – Hanoi
After a busy week in Hong Kong it´s time to start vacation. And even not everything is crystal clear at home (means work) I´m excited to see Vietnam. Had a vietnamese dinner last night with my HK buddy to get myself in the right mood for Vietnam. Flight is scheduled at 1:30 pm and I agreed to have a private car for pick up at Hanoi airport. It´s more expensive than a normal taxi but I like the idea that somebody raises a piece of paper with me name on it. Seems I´m at the stage of luxury backpacking :)
How to know that you´re not a HK residential ? You don´t use escalators at all the time :)
Hong Kong – city of lights
I guess I mentioned that before but Hong Kong looks definitely better during the night. We went to Victoria Peak last night and it was amazing to Mandy as it was to me when I saw the city of lights at the first time. And even the Laser & Light show at waterfront is worth to stick among all other tourists (and there were a lot of…) Business for me, leisure for Mandy and spend every evening together, that´s really great. Next stop Hanoi… let´s see. We got our visa here in HK finally and it´s half the price than in Germany and faster. Yeah….
Hong Kong by night seen from Victoria PeakSnow falls….
… at the end of October. Too early. Looks like christmas is in front of the door. *sigh* But the good news is … 2 weeks to go until vacation ! This we´ll travel through Vietnam. Thinking about since more than 10 yrs we decided to go there this year. Travelling from Hanoi to the Saigon with stopps along the coast. Friends of us have been there last year and told us a lot about beauty of nature, easy going and excellent food. So looking forward going there…. and for sure keep you updated about the journey and you´ll find our route and pictures here…….