Our next stops: Hue, Ninh Binh, Sapa und Hanoi - it isn´t the final version in english!!!

Hue

Hue at night

From Danang we took the bus to Hue. Actually we thought there is a normal bus coming, but it was a sleeper bus. The bus didn´t seem very trustworthy, but we didn´t have any chance so we got in. Eventually we survived the ride. :)

sleeper bus

We already went to Ganesh, an Indian restaurant, on Phu Quoc and Hoi An. On their business card we saw they also have a restaurant in Hue. We were looking forward to it and were lucky, that the restaurant was right next to our hotel. So we went there for dinner! :)

On the next day we walked around Hue. We had a stop at this small and cute restaurant. The owner was deaf mute and very friendly. She showed us a picture which showed her and her seven siblings. Who were all deaf mute except for one. Food was delicious.

In the evening we met up with Bärbel again. We had dinner together. The restaurant we chose was only one house down than the restaurant we were in for lunch. The owner was deaf mute as well. Strange, is it a scam maybe or do they want our pity – we thought? But we were wrong. He showed as a picture as well with him and his seven siblings, all deaf mute except for one! They all own a restaurant in the same street and the woman is his sister! J We got a little present from him. A bottle opener, he made from a piece of wood and bolt with a nut. And he gave us a photobook with pictures from all over the world, where the costumer sent him a picture together with the bottle opener! He’s already got a picture from Cologne and Bremen! :) A simple but yet cool idea!! :)

Marleen and Bärbel with the bottle opener

modell of the citadel

Sightseeing in Hue

One of the most famous attractions is the citadel. It’s a small city with its own fortifications. Many years ago the emperor lived there with his family and staff. 

dragons standing for good luck

The gates have always three entrances. The middle one is for the emperor or king, the left and the right side is for the women and men but separate.

the three gates

For the next day we booked a day tour to a pagoda and three tombs.

Pagoda

If you were wondering as well, what the difference between a pagoda and a temple is, here is the answer. A pagoda is a place for worshiping but monks are still living there. Temple is worshiping only.

first worshiping

second worshiping

The way back to the city on the dragon boat wasn´t very impressive.

dragon boar

On the third day we took the train at 9pm to Ninh Binh. We booked the soft sleeper, but it wasn´t really soft! :D In fact we wondered how anything could be any harder.

Philine and Nils

Ninh Binh

As we arrived the bad weather started. We decided to stay the whole day in the hotel! :) Our hotel manager recommended a good restaurant and so we went there, where we met Philine and Nils from Germany. He is a mathematician and she a psychology student. From the first moment we liked them! :) So we gave them our email address so we could stay in touch and maybe meet again, because we had the same route in Vietnam! You want to know if we met them again?? Read further! ;) 

Hanoi – our first days in the capital of Vietnam

Finally after a two hour drive we arrived in Hanoi. And the same as everywhere in Vietnam: Cab and scooter driver were waiting at the end station to give us a ride. It´s so annoying, they don´t go away, they follow you for the next few minutes. But we chose the serious company which is called Mailinh.
Rush hour is pretty much the whole day, scooter, cars and busses everywhere. It´s so busy and noisy, just annoying!! 

Sightseeing in Hanoi

A big attraction is the Water Puppetry Performance and a mass processing as well. But of course, we wouldn´t miss that! :) Taking pictures cost us 20.000 dong (1 US $). But you should see what we saw! ;) The performance played in the water. Unfortunately they told the story in Vietnamese, but it was funny anyway and worth seeing!

Water Puppetry Performance

On the other hand the Ho Chi Minh museum was not the best except you are fluent in Vietnamese! :D On this day we were too late for the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh – next time.

museum of Ho Chi Minh

Sapa – “Don´t need it – don´t like it”

rice fields in Sapa

Our next stop was Sapa. We booked a soft sleeper again and, big surprise, it was soft! THANK YOU!! :) The trip was planned for eight hours in the train, but we were two hours late. From Lai Cai to Sapa we took the shuttle directly to our hotel. 

soft sleeper

Philine and Nils were already there. Actually we booked the standard room, but Marleen tried everything to get an upgrade and so we got it – the superior room! Thanks to Philine and Nils for this great tip! ;) The room was amazing and the breakfast buffet as well! So far we almost had the whole time only baguette with omelette, fried egg or cheese for breakfast, but still good! :)

We were told and we checked the weather forecast, that the weather very bad most of the time. But we were lucky, because we had two days of good weather! :) We talked to Nils and Philine and decided to rent a scooter, so we could discover Sapa on our own. Sapa is world renowned for its cascading rice fields. How you can see on the pictures it was well worth it.

rice fields in Sapa

H-Mong

Of all the annoying and pushy sales people in Vietnam, those of the ethnic group called „Hmong“ are by far the worst. If you think a serious look, followed by a clear “No” and looking in the other direction would chase them off, you haven’t met the Hmong. They just keep trying to sell you their useless merchandise, which you could easily buy for less in one of the thousand shops in the city. Nils comment after a long time staying polite and nearly 1000 “No, thank you” was –very fitting in german- “I don’t need it, I don’t find it pretty either”

Marleen, Philine, Nils and Fabio

village life in Sapa

At the next day we went back to Hanoi, but this time we booked the hard sleeper!! The mattress is only two cm. thick and is on top of a wooden frame. That wasn´t really comfortable. There are three floors, but we were lucky that we booked the first floor!! :) And of course we were late again! :D

hard sleeper

Hanoi – our last days Vietnam

At 5.30 am we arrived in Hanoi. Nils and Philine took a later train. We decided to meet again later that day. After we all checked in and took a shower we started. Marleen and Fabio already checked out the Vincom Mega Mall. There are a lot of shops for shoes, clothing and furniture, for everything you need! That’s amazing!! But there is more than that. You could go ice-skating right in the middle of the mall, a big water park with a lot of slides for everyone, a bowling centre, a cinema and an arcade!! WOOoohoooW!! We took a cab to go there, because if you would walk it would take you about two hours. Philine, Nils and Marleen went for the water park (Daily ticket for 8,5 US $), Fabio decided to go for the arcade! We had fun for the next three hours except Fabio, because almost every game was defect, too bad! L But the water park was worth the money!! And at the end, we had the perfect picture!! :) Asia is so brilliant, you go out for lunch and dinner and have the whole day fun in a water park and take I cap everywhere you want to go and you have still money left!! :)

Vincom Mega Mall

the perfect picture

Ho Chi Minh mausoleum

On the next day we went to the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh. We had to wake up very early because the last entry was at 10.15 am. We took the cap, because it was about to start raining! :D It was really strange to see the dead body of Ho Chi Minh in this cube of glass! Of course, taking pictures weren´t allowed!

We spent the evening together in our hotel room with pizza and watched movies.

The last day we spent on updating the blog and writing postcards.

In order to identify the people who are actually following our blog and made it so far, please send us a massage with “rock, paper, scissor” so we know who our real friends are and who’s just pretending ;-)

8 days in Hanoi without a single day with sunshine.. :( We are ready for the next adventure, Bangkok here we come!! 35 degrees and 90 % humidity, maybe we will wish the weather from Hanoi back! :D Stay tuned!

Some impressions of Vietnam

The architecture in Vietnam is different to ours. They have very narrow houses. We were told, the rent used to be based on the width of a house and it didn´t matter how high or deep a house was.

Shopping malls are not common in Vietnam. If you are looking for something special, for example something for your office, you have to go in the street for “office supplies”. There is an office supplies shop next to the other office supplies shop. In the next street you will find everything for your kids or for the kitchen.

Last but not least, special thanks to Nils and Philine for the funny days. Our "roadtrip" in Sapa and lazy days in Hanoi with pizza and movies! :)