see hanoi

So, you must be thinking with Darren in my life, i'd be all tied down with baby and all, rite? 

Wwronggggg....!

Glad to say I just came back from a well-deserved trip to Hanoi - minus Darren who was with the babysitter..*miss*

Before, when i think of Hanoi, i think 'rustic suburbs'....'cheap'....and most important, 'MY kind of food'.

Now that i've experienced Hanoi, i'm adding 'friendly people' and 'linguistically-challenging' to my list.

Be prepared, as i'm gonna bombard you now with >70 pics below, so make sure you have the time for me now. =)

The first part of my story touches on the sights to see in beautiful Hanoi. Not many, just a little over 70 photos to view here, from my 4D3N spent there. Would have liked one or two more nights of frolicking in Hanoi, but alas, i was in full kia-su spirit to grab the promo fare for BOTH to and fro flight tics. So, i settled for the 4D3N combo.

Preparations for this trip was way way easier than the time i had sleepless nights about my NZ trip. 

Seriously, all i did was book online for my hotel (actually you can even look for one at the point of arrival). I did it anyway as i had my eyes set on a specific 'Tripadvisor'-recommended boutique hotel. More on that in a later posting.  

This here is Noi Bai International Airport - not as posh as expected, 

 but well-organised and not too huge a building that i had walk a thousand miles to my departure hall.

Every tourist who visits Hanoi is bound to stay inside the Old Quarters (OQ), made up of the original 36 streets that were here more than 1000 years ago, selling different trades eg silk, jewellery, art and many more. Traces of French architecture are still prevalent here after the country won its independence from France. They've even got a French Quarter which i hadn't got the chance to visit.

 The shady streets are narrow, extremely busy and full of passing pedestrians, motorcyclists,

 and cyclo riders.

 Not to mention, the occasional street vendors on bicycles and on foot too, selling everything from fresh fish from the sea, fruits (they've got really good non-fibrous pineapple!), yam, flowers to hair accessories, clothing and soft toys.

One can easily be tricked into paying a lot more when making a business deal with the lady vendors. With no calculator in hand, it's simply a process of showing each other different dollar notes until both parties come to an agreed price. In my dad's case, throwing in a shocked expression or a glare or two, helps him secure a better deal too. o_O

 This cigarette-selling shop has a creative way of displaying stacked-up boxes of the brands that they carry.

 This shop is so stuffed with stuffed toys, bet you can't even find the sellers.

 The policemen in Hanoi looking like they're gonna beat the crap out of whoever's secretly taking their photo.

 Tripadvisor ranked the Museum of Ethnology the number 2 must-see attraction in Hanoi, so i decided to see what's the big deal about this place.

 No doubt it's a really informative display of the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam,

 their houses and all,

 daily activities,

 but it got kinda boring towards the middle and end. Plus it was getting warmer inside the museum (air con not working??), i was starting to feel as unpleasant as this mask looks.

 Some of the sculptures looked cute though. All naked, but still cute.

That's when i discovered all those naked people carved were actually meant for a dead person's tomb. See below for more explicit poses.

The first picture of me and dear at the museum. Didn't manage to take as many photos in Hanoi as i wished...was fearing more for my safety. Trust me, stopping for photo-taking while trying to dodge hoards of oncoming motorbikes from all direction, is no easy feat. Go to Hanoi and you'll know what i mean.

Here's something interesting to know - the largest ethnic group in Vietnam are known as the Kinh, whilst the Chinese in Vietnam are known as the 'Hoa'. But they're only a minority group, making up only 0.95% (855,000 people according to the 2011 census) of the entire population of almost 90 million. Yup, you read that right...90 million!

In fact, when i googled,
Vietnam - 128,000 sq miles  - 90 million population
Malaysia - 127,000 sq miles - 28.5 million population

Can you imagine how crowded Vietnam is compared to our country?!

Dad says it's because Vietnam's civilization started way way back compared to ours ... more than half a million years ago perhaps. Whoaaa.. impressive.

See how much i've learnt from visiting a country? Note to self : GO on, see the world! heehee

Next, we tried their electric car 1-hour tourism ride that took us to 20 famous sights around the OQ and famous lake. It was a delightful break from the rather hectic manouevring we've been doing through the rows and rows of boisterous streets.

The eco-friendly ride brought us to places like the St Joseph's Cathedral (Nha Tho Lon), built in 1886 in neo-gothic style.

You can't miss Hoan Kiem Lake when u come to Hanoi. The name means 'Lake of the Returned Sword' from some story about a king blah blah and his sword blah blah. Nothing too fascinating about the story.

Just a bunch of locals resting a.k.a. sleeping by the lake...beats me why they grouped themselves there.

Somewhere near the lake lies the statue of Ly Thai To - a famous king of the Ly Dynasty. I had no idea who he was until i came back to KL and googled him. Reason being, we were so busy jumping in and out of our eco-car to take pictures of as many tourist spots as our driver could stop at. We had to go to 20 sites within an hour! where can, rite? I felt like i was running the Amazing Race!

Can you imagine crossing a road with motorbikes coming at ya from all direction?!

lane? what lane?

My first holiday with the in-laws...

..together with my Dad...sorry mum couldn't go with us coz she wasn't feeling too good. :(

Night time in Hanoi is always buzzing with excitement, no matter what day it was.

Apparently, Highlands Coffee is Hanoi-bred (sorta like Vietnam's version of Starbucks), and very much recommended by the locals here. Unfortunately, we had no time to try the coffee there.

Did i mention that the best way to SEE Hanoi is to scour the streets of the OQ? Seriously, there are plenty to see when you go on foot. The locals, the roadside shops, the makeshift stalls and the (other) tourists never fail to impress me. When you run out of steam, just hop on a cyclo (bicycle rickshaw famous in Vietnam) for  a small fee (about 3 USD for 2 hrs).

Here's what one would most probably stumble upon :
This Hanoi Backpackers' Hostel was sooo packed with Westerners, they spilled out onto the road! Apparently, it's very famous among the independent travelers and was a former Diplomat's house, turned into Vietnam's first and only international-style backpacker's hostel.

Dear got oober-excited when he saw his fave chicken outlet. Can you spot him in the queue?

Pappa-roti in Hanoi!

Couples sitting by Hoan Kiem Lake.... (lame, i know)

An enthusiastic Dad can't stop taking pictures and videos, much to the curious looks of the public. Guess the i-Pad ain't much of a trend here.

Another major attraction in Hanoi is the Thang Long Water Puppet Show. I've heard conflicting reviews about it, so i decided to check it out myself.

We paid 5USD for the so-called VIP seats (closer to stage). Despite having several shows every day, it was a full house. Expect hoards of Westerners watching this puppetry show the same way they watch a theatrical play - in silence. We were shushed a couple of times for commenting aloud among ourselves.  -.-

Using different water puppets like this...

...i sat through the entire 50 minute performance of puppetry on water. And enjoyed every minute of it!
The people you see below are the puppeteers, not the puppets.

Together with live musicians, the talented bunch tells (and sings) about the lives of the Vietnamese folk, so rich in culture. The performance was faultless, lively and humorous at times. Definitely worth watching, at least once.

The most famous market here is the Dong Xuan market. Equally packed with people at night...

...and during the day.

Dong Xuan market from the outside.

Hundreds of motorbikes were parked in this huge parking space.

Best place to get clothes, shoes, bags and even MORE clothes all under one roof.

This stall below sells all kinds of hats.

Ideal place for my souvenir-hunting mission!

My second day in Hanoi was more of a day cruise to Ha Long Bay which began with a 3-hour bus ride from my hotel to the pier.

On the way, we stopped by an arts centre.

They had a wide range of handicraft for sale. Touristy places like this, you just know it can't be cheap.

I was most fascinated with their silk-weaving.

Very beautiful indeed, but it comes with a rather hefty price-tag. For example, an A4-sized piece can cost somewhere between RM 250 and RM 400. Unframed too.

When we finally approached the pier, we were ushered into our boat.

As we sailed into Ha Long Bay, the scenery got more and more breathtaking. Hard to imagine this Unesco World Heritage site consists of about 1,600 islands and islets.

Aaah...simply relaxing.

Daddy and I.

Dear and I.

The others and I.

The in-laws.

Our package of 30USD/pax included a simple lunch served on the boat.

The 4-hour cruise brought us to nearby floating villages where fresh seafood was sold.

Numerous fruit sellers in boats were close to bugging begging people to buy their overpriced  fresh fruits.

The number of ships that set sail to Ha Long Bay every day was very impressive. I was kinda surprised to see the kind of publicity it got from the Westerners. In fact, I saw more of them there than Asians.

Yup, Ha Long Bay was indeed worth going. A day cruise would probably suffice, since there isn't really much to do during the night on the boat except for maybe squid fishing and retiring to bed early to catch the morning sunrise.
I doubt you can catch a clear sunrise amongst the mystical and ethereal looking limestone islands.

It was so calm and quiet out there, perfect place to relax your mind while basking on the deck of a ship.. Hopefully this place remains so, for eternity.

Our last stop was Dong Thien Cung (Heavenly Palace Cave).

Dad used to say 'See one cave, see all caves' after I brought him to Gua Niah.
He's hoping this particular cave might change his mind, as he enters the opening of the cave wearing his trusty cap on...

...to avoid bumping his head onto the cave-wall.

It turned out to be an easy walk inside the 'Disco Cave'. 'Disco' because the entire cave was so majorly lighted with so many different colors, it felt kinda...fake.

The cool stalactites and stalagmites were of various shapes and sizes.

This here has got to be my absolute favourite stone formation. Eerie but magnificent!

Almost time to make it back as evening approached.

Another 3 hours to head back to the hotel on a very very bumpy bus ride. Bumpy due to the poor road conditions and horrible suspension system of the bus.
The seats were so narrow, we hardly had any space to stretch our legs. This poor fella below had no choice but to stretch his leg in the wrong direction.

So, to Halong Galaxy Cruise, i have this to say to you..."Get a better bus!"

Other than this teeny-weeny unpleasant part of my trip, i still enjoyed and cherish a cultural Hanoi and the scenic Ha Long Bay during my brief visit here. Do hope i'll return here one day.

To little Hanoi, .......'Kam em' (means 'Thank you') 

(next part of my Hanoi chronicles shall be on 'thuc pahm') ... go figure. ^.^