On 21 Feb, i travelled again. This time round, i fly to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to begin my 5 Days 4 Nights adventure in this communist country.
Day 1 - Arrived at HCMC at 9am. While on the way from airport to the hotel, my heart nearly came out by looking at the hectic traffic they have. There are so many motorcycles and all the vehicles came from different directions. I told Jack, well, we have to learn how to cross the road :P
After checking in, we came to People Committee as the structure caught our attention. There is a sculpture of Ho Chi Minh which is the leader of vietnam. Very impressive.
Then, we head to Ben Thamh market and start our bargaining skills. Well, not good enough as we realised that there are stalls which sell the items at much much lower prices without bargaining..lol..
After that, walked to War Museum. All about the Vietnam War. Since im not a historical person, i nearly dozed off while walking through the museum. Its a very sad to read the history of Vietnam War. We walked back to hotel again and freshen up before heading out for dinner and went for a couples of drinks to end the evening.
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| People Committee |
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| Ben Thamh Market |
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| Pho |
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| War Museum |
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| Post office |
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| Beer!! |
Day 2 - Woke up early as we have a half day tour to Cu Chi Tunnel (USD 24). The tour guide pick us at 8.30am. First, we came to a factory where those bamboo plate are made. The workers there are all mentally or phyiscally challenged and really amazing to see how they still able to work despite those problems they have.
Then, another 1 hr drive and arrived at Cu Chi Tunnel. The guide shows us the way how Vietnamese perserved and survived under the attack from American soldiers. Very nice place that i highly recommended to go. The "Rat hole" which they used to hide in the tunnel is really small and cramped. I went in and walked for 5 mins and i really cant take it. After the tour, Jack and i went to Ben Thanh Market again to continue our shopping spree since is our last day in HCMC. Afterwhich, went to Post Office to buy Water puppet show and began to walk there. Arrived on time and the show was quite ok. Dont understand but pretty entertaining.
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| Cu Chi Tunnel |
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| Water pupper show |
Day 3 - After breakfast, went around the hotel and look for Saigon River. Very dirty river..lol..went to have tea break before heading to airport to catch our flight to Hanoi.
Flight was delayed for 1 hr. Arrived at Hanoi with our driver waiting for us to pick us up. Check in and settled down. It was 6pm. Had dinner, walked around the vicinity, found a market and began to stroll there. After 45 mins of walking, we haven reach the end of the market, we decide to turn around as both of us were tired.
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| to Hanoi |
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| Massive traffic |
Day 4 - Woke up early again and head to Halong Bay. 4 hrs bus ride from Hanoi to Halong Bay. Phew..~~ finally arrived at Halong Bay at 12.30pm. Had lunch on the boat and the scenary was breathtaking. Then went in to the cave and see limestone..impressive!! After spending 4 hours over there, we spent another 4 hours on the journey back. Reached Hanoi about 7.30pm. Went out to do last min shopping before calling off the day.
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| Welcome to Halong Bay |
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| Cave |
Day 5 - Last day at Hanoi. Supposed to catch the flight at 3pm to HCMC but was delayed at 5.25pm. It was further delayed at 6.45pm. I will miss my connecting flight at 9.15pm since the flight only arrived at 8.45pm in HCMC. Luckily, we went to airport early and managed to get an earlier flight from Vietnam Airline at no cost. To reader there, if you are choosing Jetstar Pacific as your domestic flight and if you have connecting flight follow suits, please be extra careful. Jetstar Pacific always delaying their flights and i will never take Jetstar Pacific again!!
All in all, Vietnam is a nice place and worth visiting before its get expensive. :D
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| Last Day in Hanoi |
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| Q up at Jetstar Pacific |
