This time round, I was determine not to be labelled again as an early sleeper, by being sporting to at least do something at night, even if some of them I don really like to do...lol..Mr H Look tired during this trip...probably his snooze could have prevented him to get enough rest.(IMO though)
17th Sep
Arrival at night and the 1hr + ride to town make our night adventure relatively short. By the time we freshen up. It's Pitch Black outside. The Old Quarter area seem like a "dead" Town.
18th Sep - Hanoi City Night Activities
After Dinner @ KFC, we proceed to watch the Water Puppet show @6.30pm.
Actually, the idea of this puppet show is really engaging, but too bad, it was in traditional Vietnamese and I can't really follow..My Friend was basically Sleeping in the show...lol
I kinda expected the people behind the puppet to show their faces...I was seating at quite a distance, thus can't really see their faces....It's amazing and tough work for these folk who have to brave the water....every night...imagine doing this during winter...
It good to note that, although Photography during the show need to pay a fee of 15,000VND (S$1.50), I serious doubt they will catch u if u don have one..just keep your Camera or Video Cam in your bag, go into the theatres and start snapping....They cannot tell who have the tickets anyway. But I brought the tickets anyway as a good obedient S'porean...
Show ended in about 1hrs time, while the crowd hurrily out, We stay for a while to have photos taken...(but with shaky hands....it's quite blur)
Located in the busiest part of town, with show selling out almost everyday. It's the hottest show in town.
There are lots of Tour buses..ferrying tourist to the site..
The Theaters are Clean, and leg-roomed between seat are acceptable. Though I do hope they do it in English or have subtitles similar to those shown in Musical.
I took some photo of props which were either broken or too old and were replaced with newer one on display outside the theatres.
The night scence around the lake was spectacular, Ngoc Son Temple was lit in green. Taking photos here is a challenge. Tripod is recommended unless u have steady hand like mine :-p
My Blurry photo courtesy of Mr H steady hands....and this is the Best I can have after numerous tries...(Extra Training needed? - what can u expect ...lol)
The Place where we have KFC...There is a round-about just infront of the building...FYI, KFC is located on the 2nd floor. The first floor is the Ordering counter. Collection counter is on 2nd floor. As you Can See, there is even a 3rd and 4th floor. Very Good Concept as after meals, I can get some drinks and head up to the upper floor for some good scenery.
There is even a place full of coffee-house..targeting the Japanese and Korean
Playing with Camera Effects, Navigating the round-about need skills and is best done together with locals...Look at how much motorists are coming at u at this junction u will know it's tough....to out-ride them...lol
Our next Destination is the Night market which open from Friday to Sunday. It near this place....within walking distance, along Dong Xuan Street
It quite crowded, with the locals bring along their families as well as lovers...all looking at counterfeit DVD, Sport apparels, Food and decorative stuffs..
It's a relatively long stretch...going thr 3 cross junction to be exact. It covers an area spreading over 600 square meters covering Dong Xuan and Khoai streets.
After walking the night markets, as the night is still young, we decided to venture to a 2nd story of a building which is a nice cafe with good atmosphere....They have quite a number of these type of cafes here in Hanoi, not a common sight in Singapore unless u are at Clarke Quay. However they are usually kinda located at a "weird" corner...thus you might not catch it...
Order a Peach with Pineapple Milk shake, It's quite nice....
Try out the Hanoi Beer, Since I heard these are 1 of the 3 beers local drink. Hanoi Beer, 333 and Tiger(S'pore beer)
The lighting here is relative Dim. One can seat here for some chit-chat while watching the heavy traffic down below.
Yes, even at 9-10pm, they are still having super-jam pack motorist
20th Sep - Halong Bay night Activities
We Started our Halong Bay Tour on a Saturday. It's a 2day 1 night on a boat thing. Cost us USD$68. But I think we pay on the high side as some of the folks we met on the trip to Halong pay like USD$55.
There isn't much to do at night on a boat in Halong Bay. After Dinner, most of us loiter around the boat, some drinking while other smoking. The scenery was quite all right....but I think I miss out the sunset due to the location of our boat. We have A KTV Session with the folk mostly from Europe singing American songs...quite a fun night...but did't took it down on photos though.
The Boat Ladies selling stuff like water and tisbits are still around even till the wee hours. But it too dark to see what they are actually doing. I seen some of them like sleeping on the Sampan, while others are using their legs controlling the boat direction. I realise that some of these boat does provide "extra" Service for a sum of 1Million VND...(~250USD). Wow, what a way to make $$
There are quite a number of boats in the region, probably all providing 1 or 2 nights stay on boat which is the most popular tour for Halong Bay. They have one with extension to Cat ba island which include visit to National park, but we didn't go for that due to lack of time...and also cost....will cost us >USD150, but that will come with a hotel stay though
A photo of the room we are staying....FYI, Air-con is only on after 8pm due to regulations from gov to allow these boat to carry minimum power, a measure to reduce pollution in the area? Thus, most of us are actually not in our rooms but outside...enjoying the night breeze and since there is not much activities, It's was a relatively early night for both of us...lol (~12am though)
21st & 22nd Sep - Sapa night Activities
We next visited the home to ethnic minorities, gorgeous mountain scenery, and trekking paths connecting many tiny mountain villages, SAPA
It was suppose to be a torturous journey which include an 8hrs overnight Train to Lao Cai (Read : Lau Kai) and another 3hrs bus ride up to Sapa, and YES. SAPA is located in the highlands...and is relatively colder than Hanoi (This I didn't know)
But I somehow am able to sleep on the train...cos I don get to early Mr H loud noise..as he wasn't sleeping..lol
We Arrive via a mini-bus super-packed with passenger. Torturous for Mr H, still ok for me...as I kinda expected them to pack every single seats on the bus...and even luggages are being placed inside the van...We notice that the dates on return tickets was not printed correctly. After some discussion with the agent. He mentioned that we could change it during our return trip to Hanoi @ the Lao Cai Station.
The Train is SP1, Departing at 9.10pm
The Train Station at Hanoi is relative small, just walk in straight with your ticket, there will be a conductor straight ahead who will check your tickets. (See photos above)
Inside the Station, there is this notice board display all the train that are at the platform. We Spotted out Train, SP1, which is on Platform 6.
There are signs located beside the train to indicate which trains are at the platform.
The Train cannot be compare to those in Europe, They are relative old and does not move as fast. But they are relative smooth, I thought old trains are usually bumpy..
The Cabin where we are to spend the night was not as small as I thought it was. Relative Clean to look at...but I doubt that the bedsheets were washed regularly ...There is a "sandy" feel to the sheets. But Air-con was Great. The only complaint is having to share with 2 other passenger (Local usually) whom we have no idea who they were, Thus have to be careful with our belongings.
It was raining heavily when we reach Lao Cai, we hurried for shelter. My clothes were drenched in the heavy rain. The next 3 hours, we were cramped into a mini-bus for our journey uphill to SAPA.
Night Time is SAPA is similar to Halong bay. Since this is a small rural town in the hillside. I didn't expect much.
After Dinner which we is included in the Tour package we had, We decided to venture out in our Tee and shorts though the temperature was relatively cold (~20C i think, like Aircon,but colder)
Dinner was Good from the look of Mr H.
I enjoyed my Vietnam Coffee, though it's late evening, I still drink Coffee, as Coffee rarely affect my sleep...
We spotted this cozy corner, and decided to check it out....for some drinks and talk to relax after a tired travelling day. It was located at the hotel just a 5min walk downhill...yeah....our Hotel, Summit Hotel is on a hill. There is even Massage Services...but Vietnam Massage is different from Thai's massage, I shall Elaborate later.
The place seem to be bigger than where we stay and have more activities going on. But since it's the low season now...most of the activities are with the staff themselves...
This is the Cozy Corner I was talking about. It was empty except a few "Ang Mo" and Vietnam girls talking at 1 corner...I can see the Ang mo are trying to get these girls to bed....
We order Tiger beer after hearing so many recommendations from the folks from europe during the Halong Bay Trip
Among the 3 beers that I mentioned earlier on, Hanoi Beer, 333 and Tiger, Tiger is the most balance in term of taste. It's not too light. I manage to finish this in a shorter time probably due to the weather as well.
I didn't know there is a night-off Rule in SAPA. By 10pm. All the lights in the town were out. We tried to walk around but everywhere was pitch black except these stores at the city center still open....We actually wanted to go the other side of town where we found lot of pub, but it was too dark, and I felt relative dangerous to do so as well...
22-Sep - Train ride back to Hanoi
It's time to return back to Hanoi after 2 days of trekking @ SAPA. These 2 days must be one of the healthiest day in Mr H's life...doing so much exercise...to loss weight..lol. Haha, for me, nothing much change except I felt that I might put on weight with feasts after feasts from Breakfast Till Dinner. We Left the Hotel at around 5.30pm to catch our train at Lao Cai, 9pm. We notice some of our fellow passenger are on the earlier train (8pm)...seem like we are the only ones going for the 9pm slots.
It took us just about 75mins to reach the train station, in contrast of 3hrs we took when we are going up to SAPA. There is something wrong with our tickets as we waited till almost 8 to get it settled. By that time everyone have left for their train except us....
To kill time, We decided to have coffee at the nearby cafe beside the Train station.
Vietnam Coffee as usually, after having this for almost everyday of the trip, kinda use to the taste....sweet and thin
As the time approaches, we decided to try our luck to see if the train arrived early so that we can get abroad to rest...There is quite a number of people waiting at the entrance of the Train station for their trains.
The Train Schedule is display just outside the Train station, saw our Train, SP4 schedule as well.
This time round, we are in Coach 5, 5th car from the Engine. This Ticket is actually not ours as our ticket was taken by another couple...Some miscommunication...i suppose....but as long we got our tickets....everything is ok.
We decided to go in early, the ticket master didn't even bother to look at my tickets....
The Interior this time round is slightly different, I wonder is there a Class upgrade. There is a LCD TV in our coach. But It's not working anyway......I slept through the journey....There is this couple who know mandarin who spoke to us....I heard my friend say, during the night, the guy actually went slept with the girl(his wife) who is on the top tier bed....lol
A photo in the cabin...lol..before leaving the Train...
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