9 Days to Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa
19 - 27 Feb 2011
Day 1 (19th Feb 2011) Kuala Lumpur (LCCT Terminal) to Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport
Our Air Asia flight AK870 departed at 6:25am from LCCT Terminal and arrived at Noi Bai International Airport at 8:30am. We have arranged for the hotel to pick us up from the airport at USD15 per trip.
We have booked two nights stay at Hanoi Spark Hotel in the Old Quarter for two nights via Booking.com for USD25 per night. Thereafter we planned to book a two nights three days Halong Bay tour followed by a two nights three days tour of Sapa. Upon returning from Sapa we planned to stay in Hanoi for one more night before we depart for home. Our last night in Hanoi Spark also cost us USD25 but this time we were given a suite, in fact we were told it is a honeymoon suite! The bathroom walls are made of glass!
After checking in we immediately venture out into Old Quarter to book for our Halong Bay tour (USD166 for 2 pax) and Sapa tour (USD148 for 2 pax). We also booked a one day tour (USD35 for 2 pax) of Hanoi for next day. There are many tour operators in Old Quarter and you just need to hunt around for the best deals. We booked our Halong Bay tour and Sapa tour from one operator and the Hanoi one day tour from another.
Having settled all our tours we now have peace of mind and continued our discovery of the Hanoi Old Quarter and later Hoan Kiem Lake.
Some info of the Hanoi Old Quarter
Packed with charming colonial architecture, Buddhist temples and pagodas, the Old Quarter, located near Hoan Kiem Lake in Hoan Kiem District, is Hanoi’s major commercial district. Its heart and soul is exposed in the ancient commercial streets which are named after their original businesses dating back about 1,000 years. Though most of the specialties (cotton, jewellery, herbs, and silk) have changed over time and have been replaced with a variety of modern-day commodities and services, visitors can still appreciate some of the original goods as well as get a feel of rich old Vietnamese customs.
The preserved shop-houses that lie along these roads were built a little over a century ago and were constructed in their long and narrow style to avoid being hit by high taxes. Each has a street-facing façade and multiple courtyards inside. The front part of the buildings is where trading takes place while the family occupies the rest. Though one shop-house was meant to be for one family (with many generations in it), nowadays it is more common to see quite a few families jammed in under one roof. Expect to find plenty of hip café, bars, a variety of restaurants, bakeries, boutique shops and art galleries in this historical area.
Just outside our hotel we discovered some of the Vietnamese favorite food. Pictured here is pigs intestine packed with pigs blood! We did not have the courage to try this.
Internal organs of the pigs are also a favorite with the Vietnamese
Our first taste of Hanoi street food, the fish noodles. Taste quite good actually.
We still prefer to sit on normal chairs with table for our meal instead of seating on the small stools
Hoan Kiem Lake
Hoan Kiem Lake is just 5 minutes walk from our hotel. This large lake is located in the centre of the city, with a small pagoda in the middle. It is enjoyed by residents and tourists alike as a place for relaxation and recreation. We walked round the lake, enjoying its calmness and the looking at the people and sights.
Ngoc Son temple
Our first stop is the Ngoc Temple. At the northern end of Hoan Kiem Lake is a small island with the Ngoc Son ("Jade Mountain") Temple. The temple supposedly dates back to the fourteenth century, although the current buildings were probably built in the eighteenth century. The temple is dedicated to the hero Tran Hung Dao, who defeated a force of 300,000 sent to invade Vietnam by the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan. There are also altars dedicated to the scholars Van Xuong and La To, the patron saint of physicians.
Ngoc Son Temple at the background
The island and its temple are reached by a red wooden bridge called The Huc, which translates to "Flood of Morning Sunlight". Either end of the bridge is guarded by large stone gateways with Chinese characters written on them. You can see how calm the water is.
Ngoc Son temple
These flowers are common sight during Chinese New Year, which the Vietnamese celebrated as Tet, or Vietnamese Lunar new year. We can see many of such blooms around Hanoi since Chinese New Year was just over a couple of weeks ago
Ngoc Son temple
In a room off to the side of the front altar is a preserved specimen of the lake's giant tortoise. There is still at least one such tortoise in the lake. During our walk around the lake we saw a large group of people looking at the water. Many of them saw the tortoise coming to the surface of the water.
Hoan Kiem Lake
The lake is a favorite among the photo enthusiasts. Also a favorite spot to take wedding photos. We saw many couples having their wedding photos taken here.
Hoan Kiem Lake
One of the pretty Vietnamese models having a photo shoot at the lake
A Vietnamese woman making a living by renting out her weighing machine at Hoan Kiem Lake
Willow trees along the edge of Hoan Kiem Lake
Reflection at Hoan Kiem Lake
Vietnamese ladies having their morning exercise, massaging each other
Tress with fallen leaves at the side of Hoan Kiem Lake make good background for photos.
Bread vendor at a busy corner in Hanoi Old Quarter
One of the more modern eateries in Hanoi Old Quarter. We had our dinner in the Thai Restaurant next door. The place is packed with lots of young Vietnamese.
Day 2 (20th Feb 2011)
We begin our one day Hanoi tour. Our first stop is West Lake. This lake is the largest in Hanoi with a shore length of around 17km (10.6 miles) and is a popular place for recreation with many surrounding gardens, hotels and villas. The lake is bordered with many significant places in history of Hanoi such as Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest pagoda in Vietnam.
The Tran Quoc Pagoda
This attractive pagoda is the oldest in Vietnam and sits on an island in the West Lake. King Ly Nam De commissioned the construction of this pagoda on the river bank 1,400 years ago. During the reign of King Le Kinh Tong (1600-1618), the pagoda was moved to its current location
The Tran Quoc Pagoda
Near Tran Quoc Pagoda is Quan Thanh Temple, one of the Four Sacred Temples of ancient Hanoi. Around the temple are many small pagodas with traditional Vietnamese characters which are similar to old Chinese characters.
The Tran Quoc Pagoda
An actual fragment of the Boddhi tree under which Buddha achieved Enlightenment was given as a gift from the prime minister of India in 1959 and now grows proudly in the main courtyard.
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
Our next stop is Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh is probably the most popular leader of Vietnam and known to his people as ‘Uncle Ho’. His body is preserved here in a glass case at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in central Hanoi (albeit against his wishes). Started in 1973, the construction of the mausoleum was modeled on Lenin's mausoleum in Russia and was first open to the public in 1975.
Security is tight and visitors should dress with respect (no shorts, sleeveless shirts and miniskirts) and everyone has to deposit their bags and cameras before getting in. Visitors are not allowed to stop and hold the constant queue up as the place is constantly busy. Uncle Ho’s remains are sent yearly to Russia for maintenance therefore the mausoleum is closed usually from October onwards.
One Pillar Pagoda
A short from Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is the One Pillar Pagoda. The One Pillar Pagoda was constructed to celebrate the tale of the heirless Emperor Ly Thai Tong, who dreamt about receiving a son from the Buddhist goddess of mercy and compassion, seated on a lotus flower. He married shortly after and bore a son, and the pagoda was built to honour the event. It is the most interesting of the city's numerous pagodas, and beneath the ornate curved roof people come to pray for fertility and well-being, with allegedly miraculous effects. The unique wooden structure was designed to resemble a lotus flower, the Buddhist representation of enlightenment, emerging out of the water, with the single stone pillar its symbolic stalk.
Ho Chi Minh Museum
Nearby the One Pillar Pagoda is the Ho Chi Minh Museum that commemorates his life, housing a collection of military orders, correspondence, manifestos and photographs that illustrates the crucial role he had in the country's history
Ho Chi Minh Museum
Portrait of Uncle Ho. Built in 1990 to commemorate his 100th birthday, the museum is dedicated to Ho Chi Minh's life and legacy.
One of the earliest church in Hanoi
Temple of Literature
The Temple of Literature is Vietnam's historical seat of learning and is the most sacred place for the disciples of Confucius. It is one of the few remaining buildings from the original city founded by Emperor Ly Thanth Tong in the 11th century and is a well-preserved example of Vietnamese architecture. It became the site of the country's first university in 1076.
Temple of Literature
Consisting of a complex of small buildings and five walled courtyards, it was an exclusive establishment teaching the principles of Confucius. Over a period of 900 years thousands of Vietnamese scholars graduated from the university.
Temple of Literature
In the third courtyard is a pond, the Well of Heavenly Clarity, and beside it are 82 stone slates, mounted on tortoises and engraved with the names of successful graduates
Temple of Literature
There is also a temple dedicated to Confucius and an altar where the king and his mandarins would make sacrifices. In Vietnam, offering of currency notes to idols are common practice. They even burn the currency notes as an offering as witnessed by us at Ngoc Son's temple during our one day Hanoi tour.
Ngoc Son Temple entrance. The Huc is at the background
Vietnamese current notes (small denominations) are burnt here as an offering to gods.
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
We next visit the Vietnam Museum of Ethology. The museum consists of both indoors and outdoors section. While the in-housed exhibition is particularly informative, the outdoors display and activities make the museum stand out from the rest. There are a number of houses modeling after the traditional architecture of ethnic minorities, especially those who live in Northern and Central highland.
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
The ethnic houses are built on stilts and have staircase made from tree trunks.
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
Inside the above ethnic house is just like the long house in Sarawak. It has bamboo flooring and is very cooling, especially at night.
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
One of the outdoor activities at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is a water puppet show.
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
Another ethnic house at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology. The museum is especially a great choice for those who cannot find time to visit all remote areas where live the majority of Vietnam ethnic minorities
After our one day Hanoi tour ended we walked around the Old Quarters. Some shops in Old Quarter are still selling the Chinese New Year decorations
Our first taste of Vietnam famous spring rolls
We had our second night dinner at a Western restaurant beside the Hoan Kiem Lake.
Grilled mackerel fish that comes with rice.
The night scene of the place where we had our dinner on the first night
Hoan Kiem Lake at night with the colorful neon lights of the surrounding buildings. The building at the background is where we had our dinner.
Thang Long is the old name of Hanoi
The Huc at night with its colorful lights. While waiting to watch the puppet show we hang around Hoan Kiem Lake and enjoy the cool night air and the beautiful night scenery
After dinner we watched the world acclaimed water puppet show in this theatre.
Water Puppet Theatre
Authentic renditions of traditional performances held in Vietnamese villages since the tenth century. The puppets dive and swim in water, accompanied by music & songs with stories based on folk tales. Very entertaining. Puppets are small, so it's better to buy first-class tickets to get up close, but you also have to go to the theatre to reserve your seat.
The musicians for the water puppet show
Day 3 (21st Feb 2011)
We begin our two nights and three days Halong Bay cruise. The tour bus picked us up from our hotel. We were the last ones to be picked as the bus was packed when we boarded it. We had to squeezed into a small seat at the front and endured the three long hours journey to Halong Bay. Fortunately we stopped half way for toilet break and some refreshments.
On the night that we booked the Halong Bay cruise we read in the Intenet that one of the cruise ship sank in the Halong Bay two days ago. On 17th Feb night a cruise ship (QN 5198 Truong Hai) overturned near Ti Top Island in Halong Bay, Vietnam due to engine problems that caused the boat to gain water. According to witnesses the boat was submerged after only one minute. Most Tourists were already in their beds sleeping when the accident occurred. Among the victims were two Swedish women in their 20s. Other victims include tourists from UK, France, Russia and Denmark.
The tour company hid the news from us when we booked the tour. We heard from fellow tourist in our day tour the day before that the government has banned all Halong Cruise for the time being. We were only sure the cruise was on when we boarded the bus from the hotel
This is the cruise ship that we boarded for our Halong Bay cruise
Our bedroom on the cruise ship. Since we couldn't swim we requested the tour guide to arrange a room for us on the upper decked! Thank God he complied to our request.
Relaxing on the upper deck of the cruise ship
The weather was very cold in Halong Bay in the month of Feb.
The mountains in Halong Bay are like those in Quilin, China
There are many cruise ships of various designs in Halong Bay.
Our first stop is the Amazing Cave on one of the islands in Halong Bay. This is the view at the bottom of the cave.
Inside Amazing Cave
One of the amazing rock formation inside Amazing Cave
View of the bay from the top exterior of Amazing Cave
Walking to board our cruise ship after descending from Amazing Cave
Kayaking in the hidden part of the bay
Sampan selling various food stuff to cruise passengers
These boats are homes for some families, like the boat people in Hong Kong
This elderly couple live and cooked in their small boat.
Behind us is one of the bigger cruise ships
This is the part of the bay that we will spent the night
At night we fish for squids from the cruise ship
One of us managed to hook up one squid
We entertained ourselves at night with karaoke session.
Day 4 (22nd Feb 2011)
It was quite misty in the morning at the bay
After breakfast on board we arrived at jetty of Cat Ba island where we boarded a bus to Cat Ba National Park
Trekking up to the peak of Cat Ba National Park is no joke. Certain section we literary got to crawl our way up.
Finally we were at the top. After a short rest to enjoy the beautiful scenery we begin our descend which is equally challenging
Trekking down hill is slightly easy for certain section of the trail
After the trekking at Cat Ba National Park we checked into our hotel and had lunch. This is the view of Cat Ba town from our hotel room. After a short rest we boarded the bus to go to Monkey Island by boat.
Passing by a fishing village on the way to Monkey Island
The villagers here rear fish for a living. Notice the fish cages behind
View of the bay from Monkey Island
Monkeys Island beach. There are a few monkey loitering around the beach waiting to snatch anything from the tourists.
View from hill on Monkey Island
Day 5 (23rd Feb 2011)
Cruising back to the harbour to catch bus back to Hanoi
We had chicken noodles for dinner in Hanoi before boarding the overnight train to Sapa
Our chicken noodle
The chick noodle shop is a few minutes from Hanoi Spark Hotel in the Old Quarter
After dinner we went back to the hotel to wait for the bus to pick us up to Hanoi Railway Station for the overnight train to Sapa. The train depart at 9:50PM from Hanoi Railway Station and arrived at Lao Cai station at about 5:30am the next day. There are about 7 of us in the group.
Day 6 (24th Feb 2011)
At the Lao Cai station we joined about 15 more people to board a small bus for an hour ride to the hotel in Sapa, home to numerous colorful hill tribes (Black H'mong, Flower H'mong, Red Dao).
Upon arrival at the hotel in Sapa we were greeted by a group of noisy black H'mong people. At first we wonder what was the commotion about. Later we were told by the local tour guide that these people will follow us in our trekking to their village. The moment you start to talk to them, they will walk beside you all the way. Sometimes they will ask about yourself and other times they will share with you about their family.
Street vendor at Sapa town selling local fruits
Roadside stall selling bread in Sapa.
This is the beginning of our 7km trek to Lao Chai village to visit the Tay and Day tribes. We had to keep going along the bottom of the Sapa valley to get to Ta Van village, which is supposed to be the most beautiful one in the area. We had to rent a pair of boots for USD1 since our sports shoes are not suitable for the muddy roads.
Some of the H'mong tribe waiting to accompany us on the journey.
One native on the way to Sapa market to sell her vegetables
The scenery along the trail is fantastic. Just like Cameron Highlands.
There are vegetable farms along the way.
We stopped here for a break. Some of us who didn't bring along walking sticks bought the bamboo sticks for USD1
Some of the tribe carry their babies on their backs and walked with us
They are all waiting for the trek to resume. The one on the right make use of the waiting time to do some rope knitting
Farming seems to be the main source of income for the tribe besides tourism
We spotted a boar with her piglets. Looks like mummy is pregnant again!
Finally we reach the place for our picnic lunch. The rest house is just across the bridge on the left.
Finally we know the reason why they are following us. They want us to buy their souvenirs, like bracelets, purses and key-chains. We bought some from a few of them since they have been following us the whole morning.
We bought some souvenirs from these two young girls
She has good complexion considering that she is out in the sun everyday
Small sundry shop in the Tavan village
This is the end of our 5 hours trekking. We have to take a bus back to Sapa town as we are too tired to trek back to Sapa!
Upon arrival in Sapa we went for a foot massage to relieve our aching legs. The massage here is quite cheap (VD200,000 for 2 pax). After that we venture around Sapa town, especially its market.
We discovered that the same delicacies we saw in Hanoi were also eaten by the people in Sapa
Dog meats are also being sold openly at the Sapa market. Dogs and cats meat are a favorite among the Vietnamese.
We begin our second trekking in Sapa this morning after breakfast in the hotel. This time it will be a shorter track to Cat Cat Village which is about 5km from Sapa town.
We stayed in this hotel for two nights while in Sapa
The trek to Cat Cat Village is winding most of the way.
Stone ware for sales in one of the roadside stall
Hand painted stones on sales
We stopped half way for a rest
One of many souvenirs stall along the trek
We brought 2kg of various lollipops for the kids here. The kids were delighted to receive them.
Kids enjoying their lollipops that we gave them
Smoked corns and meat are common in the village. They do not have fridge so the meat is preserved by smoking them and hung below the ceiling of their little huts together with the corns.
The girl has to take care of her brother from a young age.
Stuffed ostrich pecking at Lili
It doesn't seem to be a burden for the girls to carry their young siblings around
Most of the kids here have rosy cheeks
Cat Cat waterfall.
We stopped here for a rest and eat some local food
We stopped here for a rest and eat some local food
Close up of Cat Cat waterfall
We tried the rice in bamboo, roast eggs and pork skewer. Not bad.
The bamboo rice is eaten with some spicy sugar. The egg was tasty too.
After this hanging bridge, we took the jeep back to Sapa town.
Last photo with the kids
A variety of food on display outside the restaurant in Sapa town. Just pick what you want and it will be cooked for you.
Pork is hung outside the restaurant together with other food. You can select any part and they will cut and cook for you.
The main street in Sapa town. There are a couple of massage centres along the street. We tried another round of foot massage at a different shop, this time costing us VD180,000 for two pax.
The town square in Sapa town. In the evening there are many vendors selling their wares
Women folk selling their handicraft at the Sapa Town Square
After an early dinner at 5pm we boarded the bus to Lau Cai station for the overnight train to Hanoi.
Day 8 (26th Feb 2011)
We arrived in Hanoi around 5am. After some haggling we took a taxi to our hotel. Our room was not ready so we took a walk at Hoan Kiem Lake after we left our luggage at the hotel.
Hoan Kiem lake just after sunrise
We can find many groups of Vietnamese, especially the elderly doing their morning exercise near the lake
This tree has very thick and weird looking barks on its lower trunk
Morning scenery of Hoan Kiem Lake with the Huc at the background
This is taken on the Huc
The street was deserted in the early morning. In an hour it will come alive with bicycles, motorbikes, cars and trucks
This is the honeymoon suite we got for USD25 on our last night in Hanoi Spark Hotel. After checking in we, had a short rest before we walk to the Vietnam History Museum.
On the way to Vietnam History Museum we passed by Hanoi Opera House, one of the well preserved historical building in Hanoi. It was constructed by the French in 1901 and completed by 1911. It is not far from Hoan Kiem Lake and Vietnam History Museum.
This book in gold is among the many exhibits in Vietnam History Museum
Outside the vast compound of the Vietnam History Museum
One of many souvenirs we bought during our trip, dragon fly made from bamboo. It can balance on its mouth.
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