Hanoi Hotel

HTML clipboard Hanoi, Vietnam, November 9, <br>2009&#8211; <br>Hoa Binh Palace hotel in Hanoi has just released their promotional room rates <br>for 2009. This hotel is located smack dab in the middle of Hanoi&#8217;s exciting old <br>quarter providing easy access to the famous Red Bridge and National Water Puppet <br>Theatre. For just ...

... bus ride ( i like the journeys lots! See some funny things, like bodies being put into coffins on the street!) It was Nicolas 22nd birthday, so we got her a vietnemese hat to wear for the day. Half way we stopped at a factory, where they sewed a picture form a photo. I asked how long it took to make- 6 months!! They were really nice too, I decided I would buy one, but Kat said Hanoi was cheaper. Really liked Hanoi straight away, busy and looked like ...

... up from the emerald waters of The Gulf of Tonkin. Some are small islands with beaches and grottoes, others form natural bridges that small boats may pass under, and still others contain enormous caves in their bellies! <br><br> I had the fortunate opportunity to visit one of the caves and was absolutely astounded at the sheer size of the cave. As I entered into the mouth of the cave, I was in awe of the icicle-like ...

... 10 times out of 10 you'll get one that services four or five different bars as well as the families that live in the building. I was in a bar on Duong Thang when I was using one such toilet when waves of water started coming under the door. Turns out it was three little kids brushing their teeth in a bucket and a mum doing some washing in another ...

... amazing experiences you could imagine. We entered the dining room which was almost empty except for about a dozen staff. We were ushered to a room in the rear of the dining hall where a table for two was set up. We were treated to four dishes. One pork with capsicum, barbeque pork, a bean and carrot dish, a special mushroom dish<br><br>And tomato and egg soup all were delicious but it was not the food that was amazing. <br><br>After we finished our ...

... part of town. Later that afternoon, I was in the room and Suzanna was in the other&#8217;s room performing a fashion show of her new clothes, when I got a knock at the door and there was the Manager and her daughter, who was about 5, and they had a cake for Suzanna. I&#8217;m ashamed to say it was after no prompting from me, but they&#8217;d noticed her DOB in her passport, had a cake made for her and then delivered it with the Managers daughter so she could sing Happy Birthday to ...

... eat that doesn't look too dodgy. On Tuesday 19th May we headed to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, apparently it was his birthday so it was absolutely crazy full of people there. The line went out of the grounds and around the street corner, luckily it was a fast moving line and we entered the Mausoleum after about 40 min. It was kind of creepy seeing a dead body like that, plus it had a strange red/orange light ...

... our good friends -- it seemed like a mass exodus with going away parties what seemed like every other day. New people were arriving, of course, but as our future was a bit uncertain, we failed to make the same bonds with them as we had with our old buddies who had departed.<br><br>Nevertheless, we had a great and extremely busy summer, all of it spent in the confines of the city -- until my family decided to come to town.

... the Perfume pagoda wasn't actually a pagoda, but a big stalagmite. This was just a prime example of turning something natural into a religious edifice, and having people throw money at it. Both of us were not too impressed. Lots of stalactites followed, apparently having different meanings such as wealth and fertility. At this point I think both of us were thinking that 50 USD would have been better spent elsewhere. Ah well. At least ...

Hey everyone! It feels like a lifetime since I've last updated this thing- I've been flying around this crazy country in lightning speed! the last time I wrote, I was about to go diving in Nha Trang- The diving was a lot of fun, but I really think I've been spoiled with my diving experiences on the great barrier Reef- nothing seems to be as good! I did get to see a bunch of wicked cool fish and some beautiful corals though- and the crew was wonderful! I'm having a ...