Captivating Hoi An

29.12. In order to get most of Vietnamese way of life the first adaption was to switch my sleeping rhythm to "go- to bed-early-get up-early". I therefore headed to that tiny little ancient town by only a 5-10 minutes walk at around 8.30am. So many sights and lovley places located within a small square makes Hoi An pretty walkable.

Starting my tour in the west of Hoi An I passed another Vietnam War Memorial. Turning left lovely little streets with vendors invited me to have a deeper look. It was almost impossible to walk more than 100 meters without stumbling into a Pagoda, Church, Temple or another sight.

As you can see the weather is awesome. I read before that if the weather in Danang & Hué is bad it should be good in Hoi An - I can just agree.
 
After buying flipflops for around 2,5 $ and a cold drink I just sat down at the riverside and watched the people go by. Hoi An offers two little islands ("An Hoi Islet" & "Cam Nam Island") in the south, which are walkable as well.

Here are some pictures of the sights I have visited on my walking tour:

North-East of Hoi An

Vietnam War Memorial

Welcome to Ancient Hoi An

Streetview of Hoi An

Japanese Covered Bridge

Assembly Hall of the Cantonese Chinese

Phac Hat Pagoda

Phac Hat Pagoda

Boat on Thu Bon River

Thu Bon River

Riverside View from An Hoi Islet

Fancy Chinese Restaurant on the Islet

"Animal life" on the Islet

View from the East side of the Islet

In the early afternoon I returned to my hotel for a place to hide from the burning sun and for a short nap.

Later, in the evening I had a short run to greater Hoi An. Humidity almost killed me - of course not literally. One really has to enjoy the smaller, non-tourist parts of the city with natives hanging out together and having a cup of tea or a cold beer.

By checking out Hoi An´s "nightlife" I first had dinner in the ancient town and enjoyed a drink at the promenade. Stunning place to be -it really makes you smile and forget about everything...

On the road from Hué to Hoi An

28.12. Talking to natives and other backpackers convinced me in skipping Danang (third largest city of Vietnam, inudstry, huge luxury resorts and in general a city in the development - not what I was looking for) and heading directly to Hoi An. I left Hué at around 1pm by a crappy old bus, which bounced down the streets (4,5 hours / 4 $).

Some impressions from the journey to Hoi An:

Of course, the bus drove us (accidentally - for sure!) to a hotel, which offers "nice, cheap rooms - look look! - very cheap" - No Thank You, I´m fine! At that point I again appreciated my "Lonely Planet" that bewared me of scam, duplicates and provided some helpful hints, as well as my great stay for the night. Due to a promotion (not sure whether promotion is used quite inflationary here...) I found a cheap but awesome room at the north end of Hoi An.

It took me only a little less than 10 minutes by motobike with a friendly woman for around 50,000 Dong (around 2,5 $) to reach my hotel. As mentioned above, a wonderful place and great deal so far!

Will check out Hoi An tomorrow as Vietnamese life seems to slow down after 8pm and at around 10pm one can hardly find someone on the streets.

Still in Hué

27.12. Due to the bad weather we took some time to recover ;) Hanging out in the city with some guys ended in a  relaxed evening with tasty local food, some drinks (local beer 0,50$ and JackyCoke 1$), pool and watching the Premier League.

Loanc, Na, Lee

I & Tri

Hué - the Capital of the Nguyen Emperors

26.12. After exploring Hanoi and Halong Bay I travelled down to Central Vietnam with destination Hué  - ordained by Unesco as a World Heritage in 1993. Gladly I found a nice place to stay (my budget really likes it!), located south east of Song Huon - the Perfume River.

The weather is ok - won´t complain at all. Warm and cloudy during the day, chilly in the evening. Many people told me that Central Vietnam is covered by clouds this time. South should offer more sunny days and beaches as well. Looking forward to it!

Hué is naturally divided by the Perfume River. On the south east one finds busy streets, hotels, restaurants or natives following their businesses. The north east is dominated by the Citadel that includes a citadel-into-the-citadel. One finds the Tu Cam Tanh , the so called "Forbidden Purple City". Hué also has Vietnam´s highest flag, which was destroyed three times but rebuild every single time (people seem to love it). Entrance fee was bit expensive (55,000 Dong / 2,75 $) but it was worth it. It is quite funny withdrawing "1 or 2 million dong" from an ATM ;)

Entrance Gate of the Citadel

Vietnam´s Highest Flag (37m)

Inside the Forbidden Purple City

Thai Hoa Palace

Ngo Monh Gate (to Forbidden Purple City)

Imperial Enclosure

Imperial Enclosure

Side Gate

Rudiments of Vietnam War

After checking out the historical places it took me to Da Bang, a market where one finds almost everything. The smell of tropical fruits, oriental spices and the supply of every kind of appareal was a great experience.

Late afternoon and evening offered a recreative time with some friends I met here.

Playing pool with Lee & Bob.

So far there is a huge cultural difference between Northern and Central Vietnam. The more you approach the South the more open-minded people appear. Anyway, I am having a wonderful time. Taking life easy, watching the world go by and exploring the culture of Vietnam is so recreative.

Merry Christmas

After the trip we went back to Hanoi but the streets in the inner city were heavy loaded by traffic. People getting crazy and even by foot it was nearly impossible to pass the streets. A 20 minute walk from "downtown" took me around 80 minutes this evening. Motobikes, traffic and people all on the streets...It´s Christmas time!

I wish you a wonderful, delightful and MERRY CHRISTMAS! Enjoy your time!

Halong Bay

Today was about travelling to Halong Bay in the NorthEast of Vietnam. It took us around 4 hours one way. I can tell you, Vietnamese traffic/roads are terrifying...Anyway, I got on a cruise with an included meal which was a great deal. Visiting the caves on the Island and the Floating Village made it even better. Halong Bay (even though it was a bit chilly) is an awesome place to be. Wonderful landscape as you can check out below.

Halong Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cat Ba Island

Cat Ba Island

Cat Ba Island & Floating Village (around 80 people live there and there is a school)

Caves on Cat Ba Island

Floating Village

"Kissing Couple"

"Lonely Man"

First Steps

After a short but recreative night I started the day with an awesome free breakfast on the rooftop of the hotel. Was so hungry as there was no food around when I arrived (why do shops in Hanoi close at all?).

Anyway, here are some impressions of my first day in Hanoi:

Perfect Travel Buddy

Old Quarter

Old Quarter

Ngoc Son Temple

Ngoc Son Temple

Ngoc Son Temple

Hoan Kiem Lake

East Old Quarter

Jade exposition in the National Museum of Vietnamese History

Everyone has to earn some Dong

Lenin

Center of Scientific and Cultural Activities

Ho Chi Minh´s Mausoleum