Oh My Janey

Gloomy Day in Halong Bay

For our second day in Vietnam, we went to Halong Bay! It wasn’t part of the plan because it’s supposedly very far, but the travel agency gave us a really good discount. Besides, it’s apparently the number one destination in Vietnam, said the travel agent. It’d be a pity to pass up the chance.

Apparently, it is also veeeeery far from Hanoi. And when I say far, I mean four hours to and fro Halong Bay! Yes, we were on the road for a total of 8 hours that day, and my butt seriously hurt. REALLY HURT. But you know, it was worth it. Thank you dear travel agent from convincing us to take the Halong Bay package.

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Jinky and I were part of a tour that’s entirely Japanese. Seriously though, we’re the only Filipinos and the rest were Japanese! Our tour guides was also separate from theirs. So it was weird that Jinky and I had a separate tour guide. It somehow felt like we should have paid more. Felt so exclusive! Hehe.

It was drizzling when we reached Halong, so I was a bit afraid of what we’re about do. After all, we would ride a boat, a big one but it’s still a boat. I don’t know how to swim! It’s just really lucky that it really didn’t pour. It was gloomy the entire time but not that nauseating enough to be  crazy to be out in the sea.

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Hoan Kiem Lake Sunset

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Hồ Hoàn Kiếm or Lake of the Returned Sword is at the very heart of the Old Quarter in Hanoi.

I was planning to watch the sunrise at the lake during our trip but failed to wake up early even once. But I guess watching the glorious sunset more than makes up for it. It was unplanned, we simply didn’t know what to do while waiting for the puppet show to start. Since Hoan Kiem Lake was just right in front of us, it seemed sensible to just sit there and wait for the sun to set. [Read more…]

Hanoi Diary: The Old and the French Quarter

Many things have happened since we booked our trip to Hanoi. We thought four of us would be going on a trip to Vietnam but it turned out that the two actually booked a flight to Ho Chi Minh. A lot of planning resulted into the decision of meeting halfway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh which are 15 hours apart. But that plan also failed since the two ended up not going at all.

So it’s down to Jinky and me, and being short on cash, a week before our flight we were still contemplating whether we’d go through the plan or scrap it altogether. After much guilt-tripping, we decided to just go and hope that our budget will suffice. A day before our trip, we still didn’t have an itinerary. At least we already booked a hotel, and at least someone would pick us up at the airport.

We arrived in Noi Bai airport at around 1AM. It’s an ungodly hour so it was no surprise that the airport was almost abandoned, and there were barely any cars in the parking lot. It was a good choice to have availed the airport transfer service of the hotel.  We were picked up by a good-looking driver dressed in a dress shirt, slacks, and leather shoes. He looked as if he’s on his way to a party, but no, he was just going to drive us to our hostel. Heehee.

We had a really good first impression of Hanoi, because once arriving at our hotel, we were told that we’re given a deluxe room, instead of a standard one, for the same price! So we were pampered immediately. The room was amazing! I was in love with that room for four days, and mainly it’s the reason why I didn’t want to leave Hanoi.

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