Pia on Tour

Hué – Imperial City of Vietnam

January 5, 2017March 28, 2017 PiaLeave a comment

For the last hostels I used to book. But this time Isi convinced me, that we would not need any booking in advance, so we did not. And so we did not get into our hotel, that some other tourist had recommended! But they were really sorry and brought us to another hotel (probably belonging to another member of the family…). From there we walked to the imperial city, that is mostly destroyed by American bombs.

But, the ruins are still impressive and we finally got some sun. That day we did not do anything else, since we were quite exhausted after 14 days constant planning and thinking and paying attention, so we just updated our diaries, went for dinner and had a good-bye drink before our shuttle would take us to the airport (and from there to Hanoi) the next day.

I took about what feels like a thousand pictures that day. Here are only some impressions:

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Hoi An Culture Day #2

January 4, 2017March 28, 2017 PiaLeave a comment

The first time we tried to have a culture day, we basically stayed in a café for the most time. But this time we even payed for the ticket (then you can enter 6 historical places of your own choice) and went to some temples:

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Some old family houses, a Japanese Bridge

and a history museum – you can sit at the roof top quite nicely buy the way.

My Son

January 4, 2017March 28, 2017 PiaLeave a comment

I could not stay at a coffee place any longer, so we booked a guided tour to My Son (speak it: Me Son). Although the bus broke down (we just used that time to read and sleep), we made it to the park. That day it was raining constantly and I was already seeing myself to get absolutely wet, but then an American woman liked my earrings (thank you Jana!) and borrowed me her umbrella. Thank you so much, if you ever read this blog. You saved me that day.

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The Beach?

January 3, 2017March 28, 2017 PiaLeave a comment

In the afternoon, I met with Isi again and together we took two bicycles and drove to the beach

– only that it looked totally different from everything that I had expected. We thought that we could find some restaurants or a coffee place at the waterfront but no, we found the total opposite:

A stormy coast and a destroyed temple was all we found, but we had a good time – and apparently there are places farther up the beach, where you can eat and sit and enjoy the view, without having to stand outside.

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Cooking like a Vietnamese

January 3, 2017March 28, 2017 PiaLeave a comment

The hotel booked my cooking tour for today and I went with a Swedish girl we met the day before.

We started at the market, buying ingredients for everyone and then took a ride with the boat. Today was the first day without rain – and it should also be the last, so it is good that I used it well.

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On our way we had to switch boats:

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We totally fit into the scene:

And then we also got some jewelry made by our captain…

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And this is the place, where the magic took place:

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After we were introduced into how all those rice-products are actually produced, we started our cooking lesson, creating really delicious stuff:

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Culture Day?

January 2, 2017March 28, 2017 PiaLeave a comment

Although it was raining, we refused to stay inside for the whole time. We took our time with eating breakfast, but then rented two bicycles and rode the two minutes into the old part of the village.

There we left our bikes and walk around and found this nice temple and the cutest puppy ever.

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From there we went to the market and through some of the streets, before ending up at the café again.

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It is not like we did not have any fun 😉

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And this was the famous lemon pie with hot orange-flavored-chocolate (left side). A great end to a great day.

Happy New Year

January 1, 2017March 28, 2017 PiaLeave a comment

After we enjoyed our amazing breakfast buffet at the hotel, before we went to Ylang Ylang Spa – the place, where you get a full body massage for 60 minutes, some tea and cookies and can start relaxe into the new year.

We then walked down into the “city”, impressed by all those stores, selling leather, clothes, just waiting for you to walk in and order something tailored. We then stayed for some time in one of our two favorite coffee places in town: Coffee Roaster and Cocobox. Try the lemon meringue pie. It does not only look like art, it tastes like lemon-haven. Just the right combination of sweet and soury.

On our way back later that day we found what was going to be our tailoring shop. I actually had not thought of getting something done, but it was literally raining all day long, so there was not much else to do. Isi and I discovered the store “Funky Tailor”. The women are really nice and change your stuff as often as you would like them too. The prices are reasonable compared to what you might get at other places, for every additional item you get a discount off. I got a suit, while Isi got a Jumpsuit and we both got a blouse. You can either bring a sample of what you want, a picture, something that belongs to your sister and you want one yourself. They make it for you. You then pick your fabric and – if you do not have a clothing in mind before – something out of a catalogue that they have in the store.

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In Hoi An you can get every Wester food you like. But we wanted something authentic (besides, we already had had our share of coffee and Western cake that day) and so we asked our tailor for a recommendation. And found a nice lady right around the corner, who sells street food:

This is a special kind of noodle soup, that is only served in central Vietnam – and was our dinner for the following five evenings.

I think I remember correctly, that her name was Phuong. So if you see her, take a seat, this is were the locals eat, and the food is great 🙂

Reliving History

December 31, 2016March 28, 2017 PiaLeave a comment

We got up pretty early, so that we could have breakfast before starting the day with the National War Museum of Vietnam. It is an amazing exhibition about the background of the war, the soldiers, the photographers and the people, who helped Vietnam against the USA. But although the pictures show so much cruelty and sorrow, you should never forget and keep it in your mind while walking through it, that this is only the perspective of the Vietnamese government. This is still a communist country, where it is not common to print the perspectives of the former enemy.

But still I would not want to miss out on that experience, so getting up early before our flight to Hoi An, was definitely worth it!

You cannot fly to Hoi An directly, but we took the flight to Da Nang. From there you have to take a cab into town, don’t let them tell you otherwise, because from the city you can take the yellow bus number 1 to Hoi An of 30000 Dong. Ask the ladies at the tourist information for a map and then you can find the bus.

In Hoi An our Hotel send a bus to pick us up and I can tell you, the Sunflower Hotel was our favorite Hotel during our trip! They have a bar and a pool and breakfast buffet and organize cooking trips or tourist tours for you. Everyone says that you always stay than anticipated in Hoi An. Well, we stayed for 5 full days. Can you imagine that?! 😀 And it was raining for the whole time!

Although it was New Years Eve, we were not really ready to dance – but after dinner and our free drinks from the bar we met some friends from HK (OMG 😀 ), who got the recommendation from the same friend as I did, so we suddenly became a large girls group, playing table soccer and then heading out to DANCE!

On the dance floor, I also met a friend from HOME, who just happened to spend his winter vacation in Vietnam and his New Year Party in Hoi An – and we managed to meet on the dance floor without knowing, what the other would wear. It was crazy and fun and a really great time!

Back to Saigon

December 30, 2016March 5, 2017 PiaLeave a comment

After our coffee, we changed into new clothes and wanted to walk to the next tourist information to find out, what else we could do in Can Tho.

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It was so unbelievable hot and we walked about an hour with our backpacks on our backs, until google maps finally lead us to the tourist information:

So yes, this is an internet coffee place… as you can see we also realized that and walked back but at some point gave up and took a cab to the real tourist information – that was directly in the opposite building to our coffee place from the morning. Since it was about 1pm already, we were really tired and exhausted and the only things you can do in Can Tho seem to be the Floating Markets (we did that) and a Bike Tour (we really did not want to do that in the sun at 1pm), we booked our bus back to Saigon – which still takes 3 hours.

In Saigon we took the bus from the main station into the city, which is way cheaper than a cab and probably not even less fast: Bus number 02 takes you to Ben Thaugh Market (Cho Ben Thaugh), that is located directly in the center of Saigon, and cots only 5000 Dong each. Before going to our hostel we walked to a shop, that Isi had heard about before and I can tell you, if you love pottery or are in Vietnam on your honeymoon – go here and buy a looooot! It is called Sadec District and for now my new favorite place to buy pottery.

We than had dinner at Wrap and Roll, a place to make your own spring rolls, that was really good,

before finally collapsing on our beds at the GoCo Hostel. I cannot say anything about the breakfast or how it is to stay there for a longer period of time, because we left very soon in the morning. But the beds were fine and the shower amazing, the staff really friendly and helpful (they carried our bags upstairs!) and you can make your own coffee/tea and probably dinner there as well.

Visiting Switzerland

December 30, 2016March 28, 2017 PiaLeave a comment

From Da Lat Isi and I took the sleeper bus to Can Tho, the capital of the Mekkong Delata – which is an area in southern Vietnam as big as Switzerland. So when you read about a one-day-trip to the Mekkong Delta you will understand, why we did not want to start from Saigon.

Our bus arrived at 5am in the morning and we took a cab to the center of the city. There we wanted to charter a little boat for a few hours to drive us around the floating markets. When we got off the taxi we were immediately confronted with a Vietnamese woman, who wanted to sell us a boat ticket. But she offered a ride on a tourist boat for 300.000 and we just knew that we could get it cheaper. But no. Not if you are in Can Tho, because here the anoying woman (she even appears on the maps.me field) rules the quai and interrupts every bargain you might start. People are afraid to deal with you and so we booked a tour in a smaller boat for 350 (originally 400 – always in thousands, guys. If I say 400 that equals 400.000 Dong) and a two hours tour.

The tour was worth it! So we soon forgot about the igly encounter at the promenade and enjoyed the view:

At some point a boat will approach you and offer coffee or tea and if you want to buy some you just say so.