Vietnam – The Trail of Hanoi (14)

My last posting on my trip in Hanoi. Vietnam. Yes, still in Old Quarters.

Me on trishaw following another trishaw in front of me. It kinda nice to sit in one of them and seeing the motorbikes zooming past you.

A spontaneous shot.

Look at all those wires on the electric pole!!

Sunset it approaching soon…..

Another stall selling all sorts of things…..

… and locals hanging outside a stall and having their dinner.

That’s all for my journey here. So… the next question, where to next? If you want to know, then follow me on my blog to find out. =)

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Vietnam – The Trail of Hanoi (13)

So much things to see in the Old Quarters, Hanoi. You can practically takes shots after shots.

Lots of locals on their bikes and putting their bikes on the side of the road.

A lady selling French baguette on the road side.

Another lady selling a local dish and her customer sitting on stool enjoying their meal.

Walking on the street selling toys

Colourful…

More shots of the alleys and you can see the local parking their bikes back to back.

Follow me on my last posting on my journey in Hanoi.

Vietnam – The Trail of Hanoi (12)

Still walking around the Hanoi’s Old Quarters. Every corner we turn, the view was full of interesting to capture.

Guess sometimes words can’t describe them as well as photos.

The Old Quarters was filled with locals and also tourist buzzing everywhere.

Ladies looking at the choices of shoes to choose from.

Pictures of locals eating at the side of the street having their dinner.

Beautiful flowers for sale.

Along my walk, I managed to bump into a small wet market alley; something I like to venture as this was where all the happening and things among the locals which a tourist may not see on the Main Street. .

More pictures to come in my next post. 😊

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Today we are heading back to Hanoi’s Old Quarters which is near Hoan Kiem lake. It has the original street layout and architecture of old Hanoi. The city consisted of only about 36 streets, most of which are now part of the old quarter. Each street had merchants and households specialized in a particular trade, such as silk traders, jewelry, etc.

Our first stop was St. Joseph’s Cathedral; a church on Nha Tho Street in the Hoan Kiem District of Hanoi, Vietnam. The cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hanoi to nearly 4 million Catholics in the country.

Exterior of the cathedral

Interior with the view of the alter.

From the church we took the trishaw to get around the old quarters. Socialist statue by Ho Kiem Lake.

The locals on their motorbikes and lots of trishaws too.

It is always nice to slowly walk along the road or little small alleys in the old quarters as you can really see the life of the Vietnamese people there.

Vietnamese dolls ….. So many types and so colourful as souvenirs.

A common sight of stalls selling specialize in just one thing.

More pictures to come on old quarters. Stay tune….

Vietnam – The Trail of Hanoi (10)

Welcome back! This was the next morning. Yup we stayed on board the junk for the night. There were about 10 room (if I recall correctly) on lower deck each room was equipped with aircon, shower and a window with a view. =)

In the morning, we took a boat ride along the protected bay. As you can see, the water was so calm.

The shot below was our boat where they anchored 2 junk together as we went in a big group and had to use 2 junks.

Some people from the other junks took the chance to do some canoeing.

Another shot of our boat…

Then we headed through one of the caves to get over the other side.

going through the tunnel passage.

Locals coming with their goods to sell to the tourist like us.

Heading back.. we passed a fishing floating village in the bay area.

Do you see a guy’s face?

So the next question, where’s next? Wanna know…. then see me on my next posting. =)

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I am still in the grotto of the from Sut Sot Cave at Halong Bay and looking out to the bay from 30m high. The view from the opening of the cave is magnificent. I took lots of photos but I decided to share only the nicest.

You can see the junk coming and going out from the jetty on Bo Hon Island.

Loved it especially when the junk open their sail…..

 

Coming down and heading back to the junk boat to continue our tour to visit another island; Cat Ba Island.

 

More pictures to come. =)

Vietnam – The Trail of Hanoi (7)

Hi.. Still with me? Good. 😊 Today we will be going to visit the famous bay in Vietnam. Located in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam is the Halong Bay which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bay belongs to Hạ Long City, Cẩm Phả town, and part of Van Don district. It features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes. Ha Long Bay is a center of a larger zone which includes Bái Tử Long bay to the northeast, and Cát Bà islands to the southwest.

When we reached the bay and we were lead to our Junk. It was really fun as we had to cross in between junks to get to ours without failing into the sea. We took the the overnight cruise on the junk. There are so many junk boats in the bay to bring tourist the around the bay.

Junk boats sailing out to the bay

while some were waiting for tourists to board their boats.

A baeutiful scenery caught on the boat while sailing on the bay

Arrived at Sung Sot Cave (Cave of Surprises). It is the largest cave in Halong Bay, Vietnam located at the Bo Hon Island

Jetty at Sung Sot Cave.

the grotto in the Sung Sot Cave.

Like what you see? If yes, then keep following me on my next post in Halong Bay. =)

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More picture of Tam Coc (Halong Bay on Land). Guess the pictures tell you more than me writing. LOL!!

Still on the boat ride on the rice paddies and enjoying the beautiful view and reflection of the rock formation around the Tam Coc.

 

Local kids on the boat…

Another house next to the trail.

Heading to one of the 3 caves in Tam Coc.

Another beautiful reflection of the rock formation on still waters.

Still with me? Mmmm where will I be heading next? Wanna to know.. then follow me on my next posting. =)

Vietnam – The Trail of Hanoi (4)

Another day in Hanoi but today, we were heading out of Hanoi city to…. Halong Bay on land. 😊 Yes you may have heard of Halong Bay where you take boat out to the bay but this one is slightly different.

This is a typical traffic in the morning in Hanoi. Lots of motorbikes.

More bikes than cars on the road.

On the way, we could see lots of skinny houses as seen below.

Not sure what sort of building out in rural area but can see that it is built behind a padi field.

To get there, we have to go through small town and dirt road. What a bumpy ride.

Along the way, I managed to take some shots

Goats……

and a nice red temple near the ‘bay’

Follow me on my next posting to see the Halong Bay on Land.

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Welcome back to Hanoi. We were heading back to the city for our lunch.

Another typical life style of the people in Hanoi having a meal on the side of the road on stools. A very common sight.

A Vietnamese lady playing the Vietnamese bamboo musical instrument in the restaurant that we had lunch.

After lunch, we headed to the West Lake (Hồ Tây) which is a freshwater lake in the center of Hanoi, Vietnam. This is the largest lake in the capital and a popular place for recreation with many surrounding gardens, hotels and villas.

Before stopping at the lake, we visited one of Vietnam’s ancient Four Sacred Temples built during the reign of King Ly Thai To from 1010 to 1028. The temple features detailed wood carvings of sacred animals, trees and flowers in its structure. It was said that visitors who visited were encouraged to pray for health, luck and happiness during their visit to Quan Thanh Temple.

You could hire boats to go around the lake or have lunch on a floating restaurant.

The entrance to the small island where the oldest pagoda is found.

Trấn Quốc Pagoda in Hanoi is the oldest pagoda in the city, originally constructed in the sixth century during the reign of Emperor Ly Nam De. It was believed that the age of this pagoda is around 1,400 years old.

One of the building in the temple ground.

After that, we headed to see the famous water puppet show in Hanoi near the Hoan Kiem Lake. Very interesting performance to watch.

The people behind the scene who are controlled and played the puppets in the water.