It was the onset of the ConoraVirus season, and our first 'CNY escape'. Never been to Vietnam before, I was looking forward to seeing the magnificent Ha Long Bay!
Pretty blue skies and the pride of Singapore.
Our fist night was at the Acoustic Hotel & Spa in the old Quarters. It's been around only for a few months. This was the eve of the Lunar New Year, or Thet, and hugely celebrated by the Vietnamese. We hired a cab via Grab app and the journey endured the heaviest rain we have
ever encountered, yes it was
that heavy, and being not in monsoon season...it was really weird. And in Ha Long Bay later, we saw the first rain in 6 weeks! #GlobalWarming? Damn! The hotel is a refurbished shophouse unit and it was pretty decent.
As it was late, and most restaurants were closed to Thet, we had dinner at the hotel, and it was bad..... nothing was working here.
Yikes.
A rainy and cold night in Hanoi.
A bright spot of the night is the fireworks at the stroke of midnight, and our room and little balcony had direct views!
The next morning saw our transfers USD36 per pax for 2 ways to our cruise Azalea. Here's the captain of the main boat in the little transfer boat.
We haven't been on a cruise for more than 10 years, and being '5 stars', Azalea was really comfortable. With 20 cabins and only 11 filled, there was much room for all to roam around .
Lunch was a buffet spread, overall pretty good. Our meal spot fot eh next few days.
It was a rainy first day, and a high contrast B&W photo is possibly the only way to make the shot.
It was a short hike to the start of the caves.
Our very enthusiastic guide for the entire trip.
Rather unexciting caves, which took ~20mins to cover ?
At the exit of the cave, life's priorities is listed for us.
Dinner was a multi-set course, very good stuff compared to the hotel earlier!
At ~9pm, it was the final activity of the day, traditional squid fishing! Ie no lures, just a hook!! Tough it was definitely so!
Very happy to have this on board, where you fill up your own water bottle! Save the Earth!
The next morning saw cloudy/clear skies and it was good to feel the sun!
Very nice light into the transfer boat.
day 2 in the Bay, it was cycling time!
a throw back into the room...very nice room, well done Azalea cruises!
At the end of the cycling, the guide took us to a village where a palace used to be, it was pretty abandoned less some kitties.
A friendly white meow came up to us..hehe
White meow looking pretty infront of an old building.
Ha Long and the other bays are made up of around 2000 limestone islands, and here on Cat Ba Island, the similar feel can be achieved. Not quite the Swiss Alpine valley, the vietnamese's version is really pretty too (pardon the poor photo!)
The guide demonstrating on the method to smoke a traditional pipe.
A farm visit.
The same farm visit and overlooking the very serene and pretty valley.
Next to the valley.
We visited a tiny beach in the afternoon.... nothing much to report as it was way too cold to swim!
A video of the valley.
We missed the cooking session on the first day, here the second day had the expected fried Spring Roll demonstration!
And yes, it was YUMMY!
"I don't know my name the next day"
2nd night of squid fishing, I could feel one tugging on my hook..but!
Final morning we went kayaking! Pretty calm waters and still cloudy skies though.
After checking out, it was still another 1-2 hours of time while the cruise makes it way back to the harbour.
A classic yellow light house to warn marinetime of old.
We went back to the old quarters for our 4th night in Hanoi. This time at Grande hotel. Also a refurbished hotel, this is also a few months old!
Off we went and looking for street food, this Bun Cha was very crowded and we decided to wing hygiene and try. Boy it was the best VN meal yet! The spring roll is the best I've ever eaten!
It's so good that I took a selfie!
This was the shop for the Bun Cha!
Next was the railway street.
The tourist with the mask.
Yes, when the train approached, everyone thought of trying to sneak photos of the train. It's fortunate to have ushers whistling and shooing people behind certain imaginary lines, else it'll be dead bodies every single day littered across the tracks. It was
that near. If I lifted my arm, it'll have been gone!
We're not really cafe / coffee peeps, and shopping wasn't really on the agenda too and it was walking around the old quarters and going for ...Craft beer!
Very yummy Passionfruit and grape fruit beers. Other ales ain't bad too! Hailing from Ho Chi Min.
IG wannabe
An evening shot of the Hoan Kiem lake.
A street Banh Mi..very light and cripsy crust, and yummy fake meats looking/tasting ingredients. This was to surpass a 'proper shop's Banh Mi. This cost 20 or 30k while the shops' was 90k!
The beer street, was led to believe that 10k dong (
Yeezy, NMDs Jordans on public display!
THe next morning, after checking out of the hotel, we went to look for this 'original Egg Coffee! Situated in a ultra old/dingy place, this coffee was super thick but not heavy, approve!
A look at the place, Cafe Dinh!
We did the touristy thingy and went to visit the Temple of the Jade Mountain. It was swarmed with locals as it was probably family outings over the Thet holidays.
Lunch was an rather atas place Madam Hien. Food was decent but service was poor. The staff didn't know 'minced pork' is not vegetarian ??
Nice al fresco vibes though. Wishing to dine in 16 deg C weather anytime!
That concludes our tour and it was another Grab ride to the airport for a 530pm flight back to Singapore!
Everything from food to accommodation, drinks are affordable for us, the temperature is also ideal while need just 2 layers. Vietnam, I'll be back!!!
