Freitag, 6. Februar 2015

Week 20 + 21: Hue, Halong Bay, Hanoi (24.1 - 29.1.2015)

 

My first plan was to go to Sapa, a city in the north of Vietnam. But in order to get there you need to take a 8-10 hour bus journey. But I thought that I will lose too much of time when I go there as I only had 10 days in Vietnam. After a short look I found flights to Hue which had a decent price, and I booked the flight. So I flew on Saturday afternoon to Hue and stayed there until Monday evening. Hue as a city is nothing special and there it has not so much to see, but the Imperial City is on the other side of the River. The Imperial City is quite big and it has some beautiful places, to get inside you have to pay an entry fee of 105’000 VND (around 5 USD).
After Hue I spend one night in Hanoi before going for a two day trip to Halong Bay. I booked a tour at a tour operator. To get to the Bay takes around 3 hours by bus and then there are the boats waiting. Unfortunately the weather was cloudy all the time. But Halong Bay was really nice, in the tour we visited a cave, a beach (or you could go to climb a hill), an oyster farm and you had the chance to go kayaking.  In the two day tour we were back at the harbour at 1 pm and were back in Hanoi around 4.30 pm. There are one day tours as well which leave Hanoi around 8 am and return at 7 pm, if you don’t have the time for more days I would definitely go for a day trip (to be honest I am not sure if you really see that much more on a two day tour).
After the tour I spend one night in Hanoi before flying back to Taipei on Thursday morning. Vietnam had some really beautiful places unfortunately my 10 days were not enough to see everything. But Vietnam will stay on my list and I will have to go back some day to see other places as well.

On the way to Hue
A gate to the Imperial City
Flagtower of Imperial City Huế
Flowers
Some houses
Railway track
Thien Mu Pagoda
At the Thien Mu Pagoda
An old car
Thien Mu Pagoda
Can't remember the name of this place
Diem Phung Thi's Art Exhibition House
Sunset
A gate to the Imperial City
Truong Tien Bridge
Truong Tien Bridge
Gate to the Imperial Enclosure
Thái Hòa Palace
A golden Dragon
Imperial City
Imperial City
Imperial City
Imperial City
Imperial City
Flower
Imperial City
Flower
Ruins
Dragon
Duyet Thi Royal Theater
Imperial City
Can't remember where this place was but somewhere in the city
The plane back to Hanoi
Hạ Long Bay
A boat
Thien Cung grotto
Hạ Long Bay
Hạ Long Bay
Hạ Long Bay
Hạ Long Bay
Beach
Cruising ships
Oyster farm
Ha Long Bay
Hanoi Opera House
Turtle Tower

Mittwoch, 4. Februar 2015

Week 20: Hanoi (22.1 - 24.1.2015)

I arrived in Hanoi on Thursday afternoon and stayed there until Saturday in the afternoon. The weather was colder than in Ho Chi Minh City but it was still warm (Temperatures around 20 degrees).  During my stay I had a lot of time to see the city and visit some temples. I didn't visit many museums but went to see some of the temples. To visit these places it was necessary to pay a entrance fee.
Compared to Ho Chi Minh City I found Hanoi to be more relaxed and that it has more things to see in Hanoi. At least the lakes with the parks give Hanoi a greener look. When it comes to traffic there are still many motorbikes in the streets are narrower. In the old district the sidewalk was sometimes used to park the motorbikes so it was almost impossible to walk there. So it was often necessary to walk on the side of the street.


Overall I liked Hanoi as a city it has some really nice places and it seemed to be more relaxed than Ho Chi Minh City.

Turtle Tower
Big watch at Hoan Kiem Lake
A dog on a scooter
Thong Nhat Park (Lenin Park)
Two men playing Chinese Chess
Entrance to Ngoc Son Temple
Can't remember what this building was...
Hanoi Opera House
National Museum of Vietnamese History
Main Gate to the Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu)
Well of Heavenly Clarity
Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu)
Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu)
Flag Tower
At the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long
Imperial Citadel of Thang Long
At the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
Presidential Palace
Entrance at Chua Tran Quoc

Chua Tran Quoc


Chua Tran Quoc

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum at night

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum at night
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum at night
St. Joseph's Cathedral (Nha Tho Lon)
Streets
Restaurant

Streets