And so, my Final Trip for 2011 was to Hanoi. Huiqin came to join me for 3 days and 2 nights. It is a city that has nothing much. Or at least, nothing much caught my attention.
So I picked Huiqin from the airport and here we are in a cab.
After resting in the hotel, we decided to talk a walk out in the town area. We were putting up near the Hoan Kiem Lake. This is the place where there is the highest concentration of tourists.
Generally, it was cold, but not too cold that it was uncomfortable. The air was polluted like all cities and especially so in Hanoi.
We decided to watch the water puppet show but it was so dark inside and the photos didn't turn out well.
For dinner, we went to the famous "Cha Ca". It means grilled fish. Ca means fish. In fact, the entire street was named after this dish. There are a number of stalls selling this traditional dish, but this stall was the best or at least that was what I was told.
This was actually more like fried fish rather than grilled fish. The shop only sells 1 item and that is this dish. Plain Noodles go with it, however, I cannot remember what the noodles are called.
It was a really old building and I am sure it will not pass BCA checks. As you can see, this is really a touristy place. Ang Moh behind...
After dinner, we went to the lake for a walk. I was told that "when you feel stressed, just sit by the lake and you will feel very relaxed".
The Next day, we went to Halong Bay. This was what we have been looking forward to and seriously, this was the highlight of this trip. We were so looking forward to rekindling the times we had at Doubtful Sound in NZ. We are in a Chinese Junk here.
Halong Bay is famous all around the world and it is one of those heritage sites that conservationists are conserving. Imagine a hilly area that got flooded. That is how it is like. I was told that during the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese empire actually spread as far south as to Halong Bay. I'm impressed....
The symbol of Halong Bay is this so called "Fighting Cock" boulders. It is unique as it stands as if 2 fighting cocks are facing each other. I explain to Huiqin and she said I was "Talking Cock". but it is true...
There are people living here in the Bay.
We then decided to explore the inner caves and this was by row boat by the locals.
We walked the caves too...
The journey back from Halong Bay to Hanoi was again 3.5 hrs on a very bumpy road and in a very cramped van. It was not pleasureable at all.
Then it was more street walking the next morning before we leave for the airport back to Singapore.
Bought street food too. This is their "donuts". There's green bean paste inside too. The sasame flavor was the best!
Last cup of coffee at Highlands Coffee.
1 comment:
nice!
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