Flower Village Hanoi

... wave remained for the whole week and the average temperature dropped to around 10 - 12 degrees Celsius which felt even colder considering the high humidity. Usually I would be okay with that temperature, but since they do not have any heating devices in the rooms my hostel room cooled down to 14 degrees which was way too cold for my taste. Even with 2 blankets I was still kind of freezing. When I realized that the air condition was still on in the class rooms I kept wearing my ...

... a happy chappy. Well he is...because its been amazing....truly amazing... And this brief and short description in no way even touches the surface. I've travelled through 14 countries, I've done countless long and tedious bus trips, I've drank **** knows how much alcohol and smoked just the same, My nose is barely talking to me anymore an my liver packed his bags a long time ago! I've been to places that are the most amazing spectacle, got the kodak moment, stood ...

... nichts Besonderes anzubieten hat, habe ich einen Ausflug nach der Perfume Pagoda untergenommen. Sie ist die grosste Pagoda von Vietnam und ganz schon. Wir sind einen Teil der Fahrt mit einem kleinen Boot gereist, das war super. Die Ruhe, die Natur, hervorragend !
Zuruck in Hanoi habe ich den Nachtzug Richtung Norden genommen und ich habe 2 Personen aus Australia kennengelernt aber das ist schon eine andere Geschichte.
Bis bald
Cyril

... est magnifique mais le tout est gâché un peu de sa popularité religieuse et touristique. Dans les airs, on était un peu surpris de voir un téléphérique comme on peut en voir dans nos merveilleuses stations de ski. Au sol, le chemin est parsemé d’échoppes brinquebalantes et on est accosté toutes les cinq minutes par des revendeurs de souvenirs au long des deux Km. La visite n’en fut pas moins désagréable pour autant.

... by massive limestone
giants jutting out of the sea. The roof of the boat had lounge chairs,
so after a lunch consisting of a variety of Vietnamese dishes, we
changed into our bathing suits for a swim (or "togs" as Australians
call them). Several people jumped off the deck level of the boat (the
3rd level), into the water below. Our tour guide (a 21 year old recent
graduate from Santa Clara University who just happened to be at the
right place at the ...

... of Asia and old expatriate.

we decide to visit the town of Hoi An, which is located by the sea towards the center of Vietnam. He is a former port commissioner who has kept all its character and with its beautiful colonial houses with a strong Portuguese influence has been declared a world heritage site. We sillonnons an afternoon all the small streets. There is a beautiful unity between all the houses of one floor with the inevitable tourist shops at ...

... traveled to Europe, Russia and China as an assistant. He then learned more about communism and returned to Vietnam to expel French Colonialism and set-up communism. The museum had some good side exhibits that portrayed how disorienting the 20th century was for many people and how the plethora of ideas that were floating around may have influenced Uncle Ho's development. After the museum we headed over to the Museum of Literature. This museum was not ...

... Bay. On the way there wasn't much to do but sleep or watch the many passing scooters. Scooters and bicycles are very popular in many third world countries, and for many people it is the only vehicle they can afford, so people have to be creative with using them. Moving couches on a bicycle in New Delhi, adapting a scooter to run on train tracks in Colombia are a few examples. Of all the places we've visited the Vietnamese have the most creative ...

... Park the following day. We took a motorbike ride there which after overcoming the initial shock was probably the best way to get there and to see and appreciate the island. From here we took a 4 hour boat ride to Ha Long City through the breathtaking Ha Long Bay. We stayed in Hanoi for a couple of days before boarding (just about!) our flight to Bangkok to meet Andrea and Ken.

... or so, we wandered around the streets, impressed at the odd bit of colonial style architecture...



...we found a great street stall selling nothing but (super?) furry animals... HOW cute?!



There was just enough time to find a particularly interesting type of local ice cream (just for you Ste!)... I'm ...