My days were pretty routine. I would wake up, have a fabulous breakfast at the hotel (fresh eggs to order, beautiful fruits, vietnamese foods, toast, fresh watermelon juice, coffee), rent a bike for $1 then ride to the beach. I would stay at the beach all afternoon, having lunch at a number of little restaurants on the beach. They let you have a free beach chair for eating at their restaurant, so it worked out really well. After the beach, I would go back to my hotel, relax (haha!) and get ready for the evening.
There were a number of great bars and restaurants in the walking district of Hoi An. There are a lot of shops that do custom tailoring as well, but I managed to steer clear of those! Overall, this was a quiet, nice city that I really enjoyed.
From Hoi An, I took the train the Hanoi, Vietnam's capital city. Hanoi is very much a city, and had similar vibes to HCMC. I have discovered through my travels that while I like cities, I really prefer smaller cities (under 1 million people). Hanoi was a constant bustle, but it was enjoyable. I stayed at the backpacker hostel my first night, and that was a lot of fun. Vietnam is a very backpacker-friendly country, so there were tons of young people. The hostel workers led us on an impromptu pub crawl, and we went from bar to bar, leaving only when the police showed up to shut it down!
One of the major tourist sights I saw in Hanoi was Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. "Uncle Ho" is actually laid to rest here, and his body can be viewed. I went on a Sunday morning, and I had to wait around two hours in line to get into the Mausoleum. Tons of Vietnamese were there to pay respects, along with many tourists. I was glad I read ahead of time about the strict dress code, because they don't begin to enforce it until you are almost on Mausoleum ground, which was after at least an hour in line. I passed many women with short dresses and tank tops on that had to leave the line to find more appropriate clothing. They did have a stand selling shawls and tights, though I am sure the mark up was significant!
From Hanoi, I took a two day cruise of Ha Long Bay. This is bay filled with over a thousand jagged islands. While it was incredibly beautiful, I hate to travel as a part of organised tours. I dislike being told when to do what, and because of that I didn't enjoy the Bay as much as I could have. It was still incredibly beautiful, but I would have liked to do it at my own pace. Unfortunately, there is really no other way to travel there. I did have a great group on my boat, and there was a late night dance party aboard the ship with a bunch of Uruguayans, a Dane, and a few Quebecois girls.
After finishing Vietnam, I travelled to Vientiane, Laos by plane to begin the next leg of my adventure!
Hoi An:
The "Old Quarter" walking street.
My typical day.
Bridge at night in the Old Quarter
A view from my bike ride to the beach.
Just one of my many, many delicious Hoi An meals.
Another beach view!
Hanoi:
The streets of Hanoi
A neat lake in the middle of town.
Uncle Ho's house.
This is just part of the line. It was incredible how many people there were.
A normal street filled with shops and activity.
My meal staple in Vietnam: Bahn mi (sandwich with meat, veg and cheese on a French roll) and bia hoi (beer served on the street for about 20 cents a glass).
Ha Long Bay:
Ha Long Bay
My stateroom on the junk boat.
Making pearls.
1 comment:
How is he making pearls? Thanks for the update!
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