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Published: June 17th 2010
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Hallo zusammen,
hier ist unser zweiter und letzter Blog Eintrag zu Vietnam. Wir sind ja im Sueden gestartet und dann die Kueste entlang nach Norden gereist.
Unsere letzte Station bevor der Hauptstadt Hanoi war Ninh Binh. Hier kann man auf dem Ngo Dong Fluss mit dem Boot entlang beeindruckenden Fels Huegeln rudern (siehe erstes Foto).
Von Ninh Binh war es eine kurze Busfahrt nach Hanoi. Auf dem zweiten Foto koennt ihr Elaine im Tempel der Literatur sehen. Diese Tempelanlage wurde frueher als Universitaet genutzt und ist heute Touri Attraktion. Neben den alten Tempeln gibt es jetzt Souvenir Laeden und sogar einen Geldautomaten!
Eine weitere Hauptattraktion in Hanoi ist das Mauseleum von Ho Chi Minh (der in Vietnam im Uebrigen liebevoll Onkel Ho genannt wird). Das dritte Foto zeigt das Mausoleum von aussen. Fotokameras sind im Inneren nicht erlaubt. Ho Chi Minh liegt in einem Glassarg und ist erstaunlich gut erhalten. Laut Lonely Planet wird er ein Mal im Jahr nach Moskau geschickt um neu einbalsamiert zu werden.
Von Hanoi aus haben wir eine Tour nach Halong Bay gebucht. Halong Bay ist eine Bucht mit tollen Felsformationen (siehe viertes, fuenftes und sechtes Foto). Die Tour war guenstig allerdings
dafuer super schlecht organisiert und sie wurde auch nicht so ausgefuehrt wie sie uns verkauft wurde. Zum Beispiel, antstatt nachmittags mit dem Kajak zu paddeln wurde es auf sechs Uhr morgens gelegt. Die Kajaks waren ziemlich alt und die Spitzen der meisten Paddel waren abgebrochen. Das Kajakfahren sah auf den Fotos im Reisebuero ganz anders aus!
Im Norden von Vietnam gibt es eine kleine Gebirgskette und ein beliebter Urlaubsort dort ist Sapa welcher unsere letzte Station in Vietnam war. Zu dieser Jahreszeit ist es dort oft wolkig wie ihr auf dem siebten Foto sehen koennt. Die Menschen dort leben ueberwiegend von der Landwirtschaft und Reisfelder gibt es ueberall (siehe achtes und neuntes Foto).
Viele Gruesse,
Patrick
Hello again!
Onwards north to the so-called "cooler" weather. Our first stop in northern Vietnam was Ninh Binh, which is home to enormous rock cliffs climbing out of green rice paddies. Being a little tired of city traffic, Patrick and I decided to opt for bicycles and take the scenic route to the cliffs. Despite a hand-drawn map provided by our hotel, we got pretty lost and spent most of the morning asking locals for directions and
fixing my bike's flat tire. Of course, we weren't able to find our way and eventually arrived at our destination via the busy road through town. We had a lovely time boating around the cliffs and caves (picture 1 is of the boats), with the afternoon's only downfall being my bike's second flat tire on the way home. Thankfully, using the skills we developed during our time in the Netherlands, Patrick was able to ride his bike with me perched precariously on the back, and push the second bike forward for the 9km ride home.
Hanoi, the oh so humid capital of Vietnam, was our next stop. We spent a few days covering the tourist basics: the sights around Hoan Kiem Lake, the amazing Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, the Temple of Literature (which houses the iconic symbol of Hanoi - see pic 2) and Ho Chi Minh's tomb (picture 3). Ho Chi Minh led the Vietnam independence movement from France and the Vietnamese of today appear to still idolize him. The crowds we faced on a Wednesday morning at his tomb would rival those found at an amusement park on a weekend. Patrick and I also celebrated our anniversary
in Hanoi, with the most amazing vegetarian meal I have ever and likely will ever have in my life. The recipes apparently originate from Buddhist's monks who use to trick their guests into eating vegetarian food that looks and tastes like meat. We ended our anniversary celebrations with an impressive water puppet show. It is THE thing to do in Vietnam and it is well worth the 2 dollar ticket.
Our next destination was Halong Bay. Although our 3-day packaged tour wasn't exactly what we were promised, the sights were beautiful and spending a night on a boat was a new experience for both of us (see pics 4-6). From east to west, our last stop in Vietnam was the mountain town of Sapa (picture 7). We had originally planned to join a group hike and get to the highest point in Vietnam (Fanispan peak), but the prices tourists agencies were charging were simply criminal. We decided to pack some lunches and spend our two days hiking around independently with the help of a bad map and the locals. Despite the fact that several paths we chose lead to us hiking in an ankle deep mixture of wet mud
and water buffalo poop, we still had a great time and saw some some beautiful sights. Pictured below are some of the rice paddies we passed during our treks (pics 8-9).
We've sadly now moved on from Vietnam (no more Vietnamese coffee!) but are looking forward to our time in Laos. Hopefully lots of interesting adventures to come...
Elaine
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Lotte
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Hey Elaine, it feels like you 're already travelling for years..... The pictures of Tam coc (especially the stange kind of mountains) look like the karstpeaks in china, I'd show you. hope you're not yet bored of being away from home. What are the plans for the comming months? It's really a pity that you 're not here anymore because the dutch really get crazy about the football world championship. All streets, houses, shops and people are orange these days! enjoy your time there! Greets, Lotte