Day 1 - Arrived in Hanoi at night. Too late for anything except a quick supper.
Day 2 - City tour, which included the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, one pillar pagoda and temple of literature. In the afternoon, we wandered aimlessly along the confusing streets of the Old Quarters.
Day 3 - Departed early in the morning by bus to Halong jetty for our 1-night Halong Bay cruise escapade.
Day 4 - Arrived in Hanoi late afternoon, shopping at the Old Quarters.
Day 5 - Domestic flight to Danang, headed to the Marble Mountains by taxi, then Hoi An (1 hour from airport). Late lunch at the hotel, followed by casual stroll in Hoi An heritage town.
Day 6 - Continued to explore the heritage town. Mid-afternoon, tanned ourselves on the golden beaches of Hoi An.
Day 7 - Domestic flight to Hue, transferred to hotel by taxi which took us via the scenic Hai Van pass and Lang Co beach (3 hours). Early afternoon, visited the Imperial Palace, Citadel and the sprawling Dong Ba market. Rest of the day was spent wandering along the south bank of the Perfume river. Ended the day with a mighty fine massage at our hotel.
Day 8 - Domestic flight back to Hanoi. Took the public minibus to Old Quarters and almost lost our way! Last dinner in Hanoi before we flew back to Singapore at night.
For those of Facebook, I've already posted some pictures of the trip. Facebook is getting too slow and hard to use lately. I spent about 2-3 days posting a miserable count of 60 photos! Bleh. Gonna post them to my blog instead next time. In any case, I will try to cover the Vietnam trip from a different perspective (since the main attractions are already on Facebook), a more personal insight, if you like and different pictures, of course! :)
Here are my favourite highlights of the trip!
1. Culinary delights
I dig Vietnamese food, seriously. A street cafe can whip up the best Pho - beef noodles in soup (pronounced fur) I've ever tasted. And the best thing about Pho in Vietnam? They don't come with the mountain of bean sprouts that you'll find in the same dish locally.
So anyway, whatever you taste in Vietnam is bound to be pretty good, and the price is decent too. Our only complaint about food was on our Halong Bay cruise (which, by the way, was a complete rip-off). The seafood dinner which we were promised comprised fried fish fillet (instead of a proper steamed fish), crab claw (where's my salted egg yoke crab?), you get the drift...
Our choice of meals were guided by what our palates desired, the Lonely Planet guidebook, and friends' recommendations. From the expensive Bobby Chinn's and Green Tangerine to the moderately priced cafes overlooking the river in Hoi An, to the uber cheap street hawker porridge and desserts, everything we tasted tantalised and tingled our tastebuds.
Supper at Bobby Chinn's, serving Western-Asian fusion cuisine. The decor was very oriental, think red lanterns and drapes. Food was pricey but definitely yums. Lynn and I had the foie gras, burger and creme brulee.
Green Tangerine. Housed in a colonial building with a lovely courtyard. Pricey menu and best bet (and value) seemed to be the 4 course Vietnamese set menu.
Dinner in one of the cafes on Bach Dang road overlooking the river. We had our meals in Hong Phuc twice and one dinner at Cafe Des Amis, where the resident chef, Mr Kim whips up different dishes everyday. There is no menu, you just choose between the vegetarian, meat and seafood set. As we were the first customers in the restaurant, Mr Kim took pains to introduce each dish to us and showed us exactly how they should be eaten (although at times, I wished he didn't as he was using his (unwashed) hands to handle our food!) He was a red-faced and chatty man who was very eager to show us the compliments his previous customers had left behind. Of course, he was not a tad shy in showcasing his past culinary experience, which includes working as a food taster in the Vietnamese army.
One of the many cafes lined up along Bach Dang road at night.
Day view of the river.
Some might say that sampling street food is a must when one travels. We were tempted, indeed, but the risk of diarrhoea and food poisoning was too serious to ignore. The thing about street eating is that the stallholders would, 99% of the time, not be conversant in English. So we had to resort to finger pointing and rephrasing ourselves in as many times as required to get ourselves understood!
Nonetheless, we did try out some Vietnamese porridge and cow's offals (which we bought and hardly touched) at this street stall in Hue.
And desserts on the pavement of the Old Quarters.
Lynn's loving the desserts!
2. Revolutionary art - Propaganda posters
"As with many communist nations, the tradition of graphic propaganda in Vietnam predates its national independence. Propaganda art is hopelessly intertwined with the nation’s struggle to achieve and maintain its independence. In accordance with the Leninist dogma, propaganda assumes its rightful station as the sole validation and ultimate goal of all art."
- adapted from http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/art-of-the-vietnam-war-the-vietnamese-view
It is also said that during the Vietnam War, the artists painted for political purposes, to raise spirits, and troops for the fronts.
You can find lots and lots of propaganda posters here!
Another quirky shops with cool t-shirts, magnets, shot glasses and other paraphernalias that would make great souvenirs!
Propaganda billboards...promoting nationalistic pride?
Prevention of HIV/AIDS?
3. Beaches of Hoi An
On Day 4, we checked ourselves into the Swiss-belhotel Golden Sands Resort, a 5-star establishment with a private beach! Ooh La La! The beach was clean, neat and best of all, we didn't have to pay a single cent for the use of the beach chairs! In comparison, I would concede that Thai beaches still win hands down with their fine, white sand and clear waters.
After the sun has set...
Excited little girls!
4. Vintage and quirky finds
We stumbled upon this quirky shop at the Old Quarters - Noda. Wished I could buy everything in the shop, they were so lovely! And I loved the handmade bears made out of pretty checkered and striped fabric, complete with the ubiquitous conical hat!
These retro lanterns are handmade in the town of Hoi An and you can get a medium-sized one for US$2 and the smaller ones at US$1. Lynn and I went into almost every lantern shop wanting to buy some back home but we bought none in the end. Bummer!
Vintage petrol kiosks.
Really cool vintage cars found in our hotel - La Residence Hotel and Spa. The best hotel we stayed in during our trip!
5.Alleys and walls
Don't ask me why, but I think these simple, uncomplicated walls and alleys provide an awesome backdrop for photography.
This is Lynn, my photographic muse.
Isn't she lovely?
Ain't she cute?
Where's Lynn?
