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Author: adrian (page 4 of 8)

Thought of a joke

What do you call someone who always takes a sudden beeline to where they want to go?

Vera

Ho Chi Minh Museum

The Vietnamese Mona Lisa…

Ho Chi Minh statue

Ho Chi Minh statue

The man himself (in wax form)

Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh

Viet soldier

Viet soldier

Couldn’t read much of the stuff in the museum as it was all in Vietnamese. This museum is obviously geared towards the opinions of the Vietnamese and it is interesting to see it from their perspective.

Plus… air-con!

Needed western food tonight

Black Jack's

Black Jack’s

I went for a burger… it wasn’t even the biggest one they sold!

Black Jack's burger

Black Jack’s burger

Obviously it was bloody brilliant….

Ninh Binh

After a 2 and a half hour bus ride in a seat designed for the shorter gentleman, we arrived at Ninh Binh.

A temple at Ninh Binh

A temple at Ninh Binh

Laura and I on a boat

We’re on a boat!

Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh cave

Ninh Binh cave

Obligatory photo:

Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh

Totally worth the painful bus ride!

Water puppet show

 

Water puppets

Water puppets

The show lasted around 45 minutes and was very entertaining. If not for the plot (it was in Vietnamese), then for the music and the intricate puppetry.

The plot was easy to follow with little scenes lasting 3-4 minutes maximum, each with their own story to tell.

Before we went to this puppet show we read reviews and a handful were saying that they couldn’t believe there was no English translation (really?), or “a little context would have been nice!”. Honestly, no “context” is needed to get the point of the scenes.

The music is performed live and you can find yourself watching them instead of the puppets because of how good a job they do.

Old Quarter, Hanoi – Guide book tour

Quan Chuong

Gate of the commander of the regiment

Hang Me Street

“Lantern” Street

Tree

Fancy restaurant

Fancy restaurant

We found a market where bought a few bits.

Went to the lake with an island in the middle. Visited the temple on the island that we paid about $1 to get in to.

After all that we had to barter a $2 (from $3) “tuk tuk”? back to the hotel as it was too hot to walk back the whole way.

Meanwhile in Shawlands

At 10am yesterday the signage of the Granary pub fell of on to the bus stop below. Luckily nobody was hurt.

Granary signage

Granary signage

Granary signage

Granary signage

Essence Hotel, Hanoi review

Impeccable! Extremely polite. Extremely helpful. Their breakfast was great. Their dinner was great. Air-con. Laptop in the room. Quiet room despite being in the middle of mayhem on the streets… there was a beer festival going on and we couldn’t hear any of it.

Right in the middle of everything, so restaurants, shops, buses, taxis, everything was easy!

10 Reb points
😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹
(Nout wrong with this place)

Good morning, Vietnam!

This is a breakfast fit for a king in comparison to the previous hotel we were at. A lovely variety of fruit, cakes, and meats.

Essence hotel breakfast

Essence hotel breakfast

We both had the French toast with cinnimon and it was great! Brilliant start to the day, we will need it to survive the hotter temperature here.

First night in Hanoi

After a 45 minute drive from the airport, we arrive right in the middle of it all! The streets are 10 times busier here than in Cambodia. Streets that are the width of a large Europenian car are being walked on, driven through, cycled through, and biked through all at once … with millimeters to spare. It’s impressive. If I was driving I would haveĀ been stressed about the damage, but our driver is obviously used to it.

We got out the taxi and were greeted by this. The street was so densely packed with people, the atmosphere was fantastic. Food everywhere, beer everywhere, people everywhere.

Old Quarter - Hanoi

Old Quarter – Hanoi

Our room

Our room

After dumping all our stuff in the room, next on the agenda was dinner. We had a wonder round the streets near our hotel and sat down at one of the many placed that offer food. All the place you can eat or drink at have tiny tables and chairs for you to sit on! We went for Salt & Pepper Chicken (grissle or feet, we are not sure). We tried it, but didnt eat all of it as it was basically like eating cartilidge. Great experience, though.

Chicken

Salt & pepper chicken feet

Our view from our seat

Our view from our seat

The hotel room has a laptop in it. Total Good send, as using my mobile all the time is wearing thin. A previous guest was clearly a connaisseur of the adult material, with such a specific search term to get right to it.

Google search history

Google search history

IMAG4897

Oft.

You know who you are, Dirty blighter!

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