Blogs from Northeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 18

It's all in the wiring - From Hanoi - Ha Long - Ho Chi Min

Asia » Vietnam » Northeast » Quang Ninh » Halong Bay August 5th 2012

If I could sum up everthing that I understand about Vietnam - I would say - It's all in the wiring! As Jeff and I hopped around the old city of Hanoi I suddenly looked up to see a power pole that looked strange to me. It took me a few seconds to realize that the wiring system looked terrifyingly hazardous and I couldnt take my eyes off the mad mess of black wire. Jeff tried to focus on a taking a picture that would show the true horror of those wires that had no direction or order. He stood with the camera stuck to his eye as cars, motorbikes and people were weaving around us and then out of nowhere Jeff said: "it's a total mess but everything seems to work" That is how I ... read more

narodny park Cuc Phuong

Asia » Vietnam » Northeast August 5th 2012

na ceste

StanikaKacenka

Miesta, ktore sme planovali navstivit dnes sa nachadzaju pomerne daleko od Ninh Binh, preto sme sa rozhodli prenajat si motorky. Pri ranajkach sa nam prihovoril chlapik, ze kam ideme a ci nechceme sprievodcu, nakoniec sme suhlasili. Stanik dostal minutove rychloskolenie v ovladani skutra a vyrazili sme. Hlavnym cielom dna bol narodny park Cuc Phuong. Tu sme si presli 6 km okruh cez dzunglu a videli 1000 rocny strom. Cestou spat k skutrom nas nejaka miestna mnohopocetna rodinka uz dost jasne pod vplyvom pozvala na ochutnavku miestneho vina. Vino sa pilo cez jedinu velku slamku pouzivanu vsetkymi. Vyzerali velmi druzne, ale museli sme ich opustit a pokracovat. Dalsou atrakciou tohto parku je jaskyna prehistorickeho cloveka. Tato jaskyna bola naozaj zaujimava, pri troche fantazie sa dalo predstavit ako tu asi zili. V parku sa tiez nachadza zachranne centum ... read more

Ninh Binh a jeho malebna krajina

Asia » Vietnam » Northeast August 4th 2012

okolie Ninh Binh

StanikaKacenka

Dneska sme sa rozhodli stravit cely den na bicykloch a objavovat krasne okolie Ninh Binh. Hotel sa na svojej vizitke chvalil najlepsimi bicyklami na prenajom v meste. Na bicykloch nefungovalo nic - ziadne prehadzovacky, svetla, brzdy sa dali pouzit maximalne na trubenie. Ale nevadilo nam to, aspon sme si trocha vyskusali ake je to byt miestnym. Po asi tak 10 minutach jazdy mi vyfucalo predne koleso. Stanik sa vratil do hotela a medzitym stratil mapu. V hoteli si vyzdvihol dalsiu, ale tu nasledne stratil tiez. Mapa vsak bola uplne od veci, vobec sa v nej nedalo orientovat, v podstate to boli rukou nakreslene ciary, takze to az tak nevadilo a vzdy sa bolo koho opytat. Krajina je tu naozaj krasna. Cely den sme bicyklovali okolo ryzovych policok, malych jazierok s lotosovymi kvetmi, kacickami a chladiacimi sa ... read more

navrat z Halongu

Asia » Vietnam » Northeast August 3rd 2012

zatoka Halong

StanikaKacenka

Rano sme vyrazili spat do pristavu. Akurat bol odliv a tak sme mali moznost vidiet mangrovniky a ich odkryte korene. V tento den sa nad vodou vznasal opar, ale neprsalo a teplo bolo stale rovnake. Potom sme cakali na bus, ktory nas odviezol do restauracie, kde sme mali obed. Po obede sme cakali na bus, ktory nas odviezol spat do Hanoia. Po prichode do Hanoia sme cakali na dalsi bus, ktory nas viezol do Ninh Binh. Povodne sme mali do Ninh Bing dorazit okolo 8, nakoniec to bolo o 10.30. Ale to je tu normalne, vsetci s tym tak nejak rataju.... read more

zatoka Halong a ostrov Cat Ba

Asia » Vietnam » Northeast August 2nd 2012

prichod na ostrov Cat Ba

StanikaKacenka

Budik sme si nastavili na 6.30, ako odprucany cas na pozorovanie vychodu slnka. Akcne sme vstali, slnko uz bolo samozrejme davno hore a tak sme spali dalej. Po ranajkach sme vyrazili k ostrovu Cat Ba. Tento ostrov je naozaj velky, su tu cesty, chodia tu autobusy. Cestou sme sa zastavili v narodnom parku Cat Ba, kde sme vystupili na najvyssi kopec ostrova. Vystup nam dal poriadne zabrat. Nie tak kvoli dlzke, ako vdaka prisernemu teplu a dusnu. So saunou sa to porovnavat neda, toto bolo ovela horsie. Kym sme sa vratili k autobusu, tak vsetko nase oblecenie bolo uplne mokre. Popoludnie sme mali len pre seba a tak sme sa vybrali najst nejaku plaz. Chlapci skocili hned do prvej zatoky, ku ktorej sme prisli. V zatoke boli malinke lodky, na ktorych zili ludia a voda podla ... read more

zatoka Halong a jeho ostrovceky

Asia » Vietnam » Northeast August 1st 2012

zaliv Halong

StanikaKacenka

Vlak dorazil do Hanoi okolo 4.30. Hned sa na nas vrhli taxikary, takze najst taxi nebol najmensi problem. Sofer nas zaviezol do nejakej tmavej ulicky a tvrdil ze je to nas hotel. Samozrejme ze nebol. Nakoniec nas odviezol kam sme chceli a napriek tomu, ze sme sa uz pri nastupe dohodli na cene, zacal vyjednavat. Nastastie /skusenosti/ sme si veci nedali do kufra ale mali ich so sebou v aute. Zaplatili sme na com sme sa dohodli a odisli. Chvilu sme cakali a uz pre nas prisiel autobus do Halong Bay. V meste Halong Bay sme prestupili na lod s nazvom Phuong Dong 06, ktora nas mala zobrat na plavbu po zalive Halong Bay. Tento zaliv je v UNESCO a je znamy svojou uzasnou sceneriou. V zalive je okolo 2000 z mora vystupujucich kamennych ostrovcekov porastenych ... read more

Two out of seven

Asia » Vietnam » Northeast » Quang Ninh » Halong Bay July 29th 2012

All the boats heading out to the bay

fastlane

When planning what to do and see while I was in Vietnam, everyone told me I needed to go to Ha Long Bay. I didn't really do much research other then a few google image searches and it looked really neat, so I booked a trip with my hostel I was staying at in Hanoi. The one thing I did learn was that you get what you pay for on these trips to Ha Long Bay and not to be too cheap. With this advice I had to choose between a 60, 75 or 85 dollar excursion for my two day, one night trip aboard a boat in the bay. I went for the 85 dollar mostly because it would have less people maxing out at 14 on the boat. It was a good choice! I ... read more

Some of the nearly 2000 islands that make up the bay

Day 11 - Travelling north to central Nam

Asia » Vietnam » Northeast July 29th 2012

grumpynortherner

On to the boat then back to the bay. Feeling abit drowzy today but soilder on!! once we got off the boat we left one tour gide (gangsta magic tricks nd everything) and met another who would take us to the bus station. we ate at quite a buzzing place for lunch which was good and the bus trip back last ages. Din't manage any sleep really but got to know people better and then once w got off the bus we traveled (walked) down what I can only describe as a dual carrigway / motorway (blooming scary) we left the spanish girls atthe stop and then got on our overnight bus (beds were ok but not built for westerners) the whole day was taken up by travelling the drive to Hue was rough and slow ... read more

Halong Bay, not as dirty or as polluted as you'd expect

Asia » Vietnam » Northeast » Quang Ninh » Bai Tu Long Bay July 29th 2012

UploadedFile6

TheGibber

The title of the blog may seem a little toungue in cheek however after travelling north through Vietnam every person I met who had been to Halong Bay commented on the level of pollution and dirt and not a lot else really. Im not saying it is the cleanest environment on the earth it is however the largest tourist attraction in Vietnam and when you consider that the majority of junk boats carry between fifteen and thirty passengers the level of pollution per capita increases somewhat. So a little pollution is to be expected, I understand that due to it being a natural attraction the average tourist expects unspoilt landscapes and views, the reality is that this is very uncommon to find. When i arrived in Hanoi i hadn't as yet booked a trip to Halong ... read more

nas prvy den

Asia » Vietnam » Northeast July 28th 2012

Hanoi

StanikaKacenka

Vstavat sa nam velmi nechcelo, ale museli sme. O 10 sme mali stretavku s Misou, pri jazere Hoam Kiem. Nase cakanie hned vyuzila skupinka studentov, ktori si sem chodia precvicovat aglictinu na turistoch. Hodiny anglictiny su drahe a toto je pre nich vyborna prilezitost. Pre nas to zas bola prilezitost povypytovat sa na veci, ktore zaujimali nas. Pri jazere Hoam Kiem sme hned navstivili nas prvy chram Ngoc Son. Odtial sme sa vybrali do byvaleho vazenia Hoa Lo, nazyvaneho tiez Hanoi Hilton. Velmi prijemne prostredie to nebolo. Kusok odtial na nachadza pagoda Quan Su, budhisticky chram. Atmosfera tam bola velmi prijemna, nikto si nas velmi nevsimal, mohli sme sa volne prechadzat ako sme chceli a pozorovat ludi pri ich beznom zivote. Zvysok dna sme sa rozhodli stravit prechadzanim po ulickach stareho mesta. Typicka ulica vyzera takto: ... read more

Brief history of Vietnam

The conquest of Vietnam by France began in 1858 and was completed by 1884. It became part of French Indochina in 1887. Independence was declared after World War II, but the French continued to rule until 1954 when they were defeated by Communist forc...more history

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