A Short Getaway to Central Vietnam - Hai Van Pass

The morning of our second day in Danang was free and easy. M and I took this opportunity to take a quick stroll by the beach before indulging ourselves in the buffet breakfast. At 11am, we gathered for lunch on board a ship, after which we proceeded to the highlight of the day "Hai Van Pass".

From the ship, we saw the famous suspension bridge in Danang

Hai Van Pass is a famous tourist attraction in Danang because it is located on top of a mountain and from there, you can see the magnificent sea view below. In the old days, the merchants will go through this pass during their trading routes. As the scenery was beautiful, they named it "Hai Van Pass" or 海云关 which means the gate of sea and clouds.

The drive up the mountain was around 40 minutes and along the way, we could already catch scenic sights of Central Vietnam. When we finally reached the top, I took a while to enjoy the sea, mountain and clouds. And of course, I wouldn't miss the opportunity to take a couple of pictures.

The sight along the way to Hai Van Pass

We are on the top!

Another beautiful view...

The pass of Sea and Clouds

After Hai Van Pass, we went to another famous beach nearby to take a rest and walk around. M and I decided to have a chat with our friends over a cup of coffee and some local sweets. It was really too hot for me to step out to the beach. (Yes, I am pampered.) By 4pm, we headed back to our resort as there was a dinner function that night. I didn't join in the event as it was a corporate function. But I had fun watching the Wimbledon matches in our hotel room. :)

The next morning, we checked out of our hotel and made our way to Danang International Airport to catch our 12.30pm flight back to Hanoi. On board the plane, I took the last chance to take a few pictures for keepsake.

Goodbye, Danang!

While Vietnam does not have the stunning sights that took my breath while I was touring around China, it presented various unique, subtle yet tasteful angles which were interesting for me. I was definitely glad to be in Danang and Hoi An. I guess I will be back but not soon. Perhaps in 5 to 10 years' time, when the infrastructure has improved. And my destination would be Nha Trang, where it's acclaimed to have the best beaches in Vietnam. Till then!

A Short Getaway to Central Vietnam - Hoi An

Last week, I took a short trip to Central Vietnam to M, who was there on a business trip. We stayed in Danang for 3 days and 2 nights, and made a short trip to Hoi An. I was pretty excited as this was the first time I was going to Danang, known for the beauty of its beaches.

We took a short flight to Danang (1 hour) via Vietnam Airlines and arrived at Danang International Airport close to noon. After checking into our hotel, we headed to a nearby restaurant for lunch. There, we met M's colleagues and guests from HCM City. Lunch was a sumptuous meal with seafood and lots of local dishes. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel for a short rest before making a trip down to Hoi An, a famous old town.

Our hotel room

The view from our balcony

Look at the beach!

Our resort just next to the beach!

The swimming pool facing the entrance.. Cooling!

Hoi An used to be a busy port for trade between the Champa people and Chinese, Japanese and Dutch before the bigger Danang port became popular. It is now declared a UNESCO Heritage Site and known for its cheap tailor shops as well as unique handicrafts stalls.

We were given a short tour by an English-speaking guide around Hoi An, who brought us to the famous Japanese bridge, a large Hokkien temple and a local house. According to the guide, Hoi An used to be inhabited by a large number of Japanese. The bridge is famous because it linked the Japanese settlement area with the French, Chinese and Vietnamese settlement area.

Our journey began after crossing the famous bridge

A view from the bridge

The other end of the bridge

The Chinese temple

A corner of the temple

Swirling incense

The mini Great Wall of China in the temple

The temple worships 妈祖 so this explains the boat

A monument to commemorate a Polish architect
He foresaw that land in Hoi An will become increasingly expensive.. and it is true!

Then, we were given an hour to roam around and enjoy the scenery around Hoi An before dinner commenced. M, Ch and I took the chance to explore some of the smaller, interesting shops around. We also went through their market which was still vibrant close to evening. I enjoyed the tour very very much. Unlike Hanoi, Hoi An was much more peaceful and quiet. Walking along the street was safe with few motorbikes and it was not very crowded.

The bustling street scenes and an interesting looking carriage...

Top left: A Blue Dragon restaurant! A non-profit organisation in Hanoi
Top right: The local market bustling in the evening
Bottom left: Yes, this is a boat..
Bottom right: It's a form of transport in Hoi An.

We also went through their market which was still vibrant close to evening. I enjoyed the tour very very much. Unlike Hanoi, Hoi An was much more peaceful and quiet. Walking along the street was safe with few motorbikes and it was not very crowded.

After the tour, we went for dinner on board a ship. Dinner was good and overwhelming (as usual). It ended early at around 8.30pm before we headed back to our hotel to rest and zzzzzzzz. I was quite tired by then and had an early night, unlike some of M's colleagues who went for sauna, massages and drinks! Am I getting old or what? :p

Weekend Trip to Cat Ba Island (10-11 May 08)

M and I took a short break to Cat Ba Island last month. The trip was organised by a local travel agent as a "thank you" trip for its clients. Apparently, it is a fairly common practice in Vietnam. :) The turnout was quite huge and there were 3 bus-full loads of passengers.

To get to Cat Ba, we had to take a 3 hours bus ride from Hanoi to Hai Phong. From there, we took a hydrofoil (about 45 mins' ride) to Cat Ba. Throughout the rides, the travel agent staff was constantly making jokes and playing games to create a lively atmosphere. Although I couldn't understand what they were saying, I had fun watching them.

A street scene from Hai Phong

Presenting the hydrofoil!

Inside the hydrofoil

When we arrived at Cat Ba at 1pm, we were given a short tour around the island, followed by lunch. Cat Ba is famous for its nature reserve park which is huge and well preserved. I had wanted to go there initially but Cu shared that it was too far and I would not have enough time to complete my walk. Sigh. That was a real disappointment for me.

The resort where we stayed in was very nice by the local standard. It had a pretty seaview where we could see huge limestone rocks emerging, coupled with two small beaches. Along the side of the beach, there were small hills where one could take a slow stroll up to enjoy the scenery. I thought the beaches didn't look enticing but there were lots of locals frolicking in the waters.

The limestone rocks out of the sea

The resort where we stayed

Nice swimming pool and facilities

One of the two man-made beaches in front of the resort

The other beach, taken during our short hill expedition

At night, we were treated to a sit-down dinner as well as a really entertaining performance by the organisers. Kudos to them! I couldn't stop laughing throughout the night as one of the male staff gave a near perfect impersonation as a female star! There was also a fashion parade where the staff swayed down wearing quirky costumes representating famous street names in Hanoi.

The male star is the fourth "lady" from the left in green and white

The next morning, there were some beach activities organised where participants could have fun and win small prizes. M and I opted out of the games as we did not understand what they were saying at all. Instead, we took a break and played pool, chess and surfed the internet. By 1pm, we were required to check out of the resort and make our way back. It was really quite an interesting experience for me.

We reached Hanoi at close to 6pm in the evening and decided to head off to Al Fresco's for dinner. Will share more on the food there in my next entry as this is to remain purely a "trip" report. :)

Discovery Travel and Living - Halong Bay

My family came to visit me in May and that kept my pretty busy for a while. Before the trip, I was discussing with M where I should bring them to shop, eat, sightsee, etc. Had to take into consideration various VIPs like my heat-averse dad, my shopping crazy brother, etc. :) The high point for me was our family trip to Halong Bay. Located 3 hours drive away from Hanoi, Halong Bay (or "Bay of the Descending Dragon") is located in the Gulf of Tonkin. It consists of a series of limestone caves rising from the sea and is quite a spectacular sight. Several islands along the bay contain enormous caves, open to visitors, with interesting-looking stalactites and stalagmites.

We started our journey to Halong at 9am in the morning and arrived at 1pm. After a fairly tedious climb to our junk (believe it or not, we had to jump over a few junks before reaching ours!), our cruise along Halong Bay began.

I was told that the scenery in Guilin is similar to Halong but ten times more majestic.

But this is already gorgeous to me!

Lunch was a sumptuous seafood meal served on board. We even stopped by one of the small "kelongs" and bought fresh clams. As expected, we were "cheated" by the locals who sold us the clams at SGD 10/kg. But the end product served on the table was yummy!

See the kelong here? They are tourist traps and not patronised by the locals.

After lunch, we went for our tour at 2 caves to view the stalactites and staglamites. The first one which we went to was the "Heavenly Grotto". I realised a fair bit of imagination is required before you can understand why the locals are so proud of the "natural sights". But I do agree that some of the figures look fairly real.

Can you guess what this figure is?

And what about this? :)

After the visit, we went to our hotel for a short rest before dinner. As I am not a seafood fan, I was disappointed to find seafood being served again! Grudgingly, I ate fairly little and quickly. The activity after dinner was a visit to the night market near our hotel. It was fairly big and we had fun walking around, browsing through some of the items. My mum bought a few bags from a young Vietnamese girl who spoke fluent Mandarin (gasps!) and I couldn't help but buy a cute little giraffe carving for VND 10,000 (SGD 1.00).

The next morning, we had a quick lunch (it was seafood again!! but we managed to convince the tour guide to serve some tofu and veggies) before making our way to Bat Trang, a ceramics village near Hanoi. We stepped into one of the biggest stores to visit the show room and their workshop to understand more about the ceramics making process.

The designs on the ceramics are drawn by hand, with one looking exactly the same as the other!

A layer of "special varnish" is coated over the near-end products to provide the shiny look before the ceramics are heated at high temperatures.

The pretty pieces at the showroom were too tempting for my mum who bought a few pieces as "keepsake". From Bat Trang, we headed back to Hanoi and officially concluded our 2 days 1 night tour to Halong Bay. It was quite a relief for me as I could finally be spared from the seafood torture. :p

Would I go back to Halong again? Well, my answer is "yes" though this time I would like to experience staying in a junk overnight instead of a hotel. Imagine staring up the starry sky in the middle of the night... Doesn't it sound good?