Vietnam, In Summary

I know I know, this is really outdated.
Better late than none, right?

So..we were in Vietnam for about 10 days.

http://www.vietnam-travel-guide.net/vietnam-map.html

Day 1 : Arrived at Hanoi in the morning, did some sightseeing, had lunch, watched the water puppet show, had dinner, checked in hotel ..we were so tired that most of us fell asleep during the water puppet show.. sorry, but we really had a loooong day as we had to be at the KL airport in the wee hours..in order to board at 6am

Ho Chi Minh Mausouleum - a 'must-go' to pay a visit to the much respected Uncle Ho.   

Walking along the streets of Old Quarters was quite an experience

We checked out the next morning and headed to Halong Bay.

As expected, the scene was breath taking, that's why it is a UNESCO World Heritage

The weather is very cold at this time of the year. So, we couldnt do any island hopping nor snorkelling.
We had a boat all to ourselves..lunch was on board..visited some caves, fish farms and headed back to Hanoi for early Dinner.

Why early dinner?
Cos we had to board a night train to Lao Cai which is about 254km from Hanoi.

I can't remember the exact time we boarded though..I think it was around 8ish.  The 4 bedded cabin was quite comfortable much to our relief.  Each coach with about 4-5 cabins has one toilet.  No..there wasn't any shower facility..so we could only 'dry clean' and went to bed..  As always..I don't normally fall asleep easily =.= so it was a bumpy night for me

We arrived at destination around 5am (I think)..we were hoping that we had time to wash up but..NO..we were basically shooed off the train !  Haha..that was another memorable experience!

So..with us all groggy and blur..we boarded a bus arranged by the tour agency for another 1 hr journey to Sapa.

Beautiful landscape

We enjoyed Sapa most. Despite the cold weather, it was around 6c in the morning and we were trekking up waterfalls and muddy village lands. My lungs almost froze.

Muddy muddy

Pigs!

The villagers were also very happy to see us :P

Red Dzao Villagers - waiting for us to buy souveniers from them

I like the pics from Sapa more, but I shall refrain from posting so many here but you can check out the video I did earlier - HERE


We had about 3D2N in Sapa, on the 3rd night we boarded the night train back to Hanoi and departed to HCMC by flight.

HCMC is like Shanghai of China..i.e. it's the business hub if the country.  So..it's a shopping haven :D

But.we did the 'necessary' first before indulging in Shopping..

Check out the traffic!

Notre-Dame Basilica

Like...being a typical tourist visitng the typical attractions in HCMC :P

Main Post Office

Reunification Palace

And de-touring a little further to Cu Ci and Mekong Delta..

Traffic jam at the canal

People of My Tho

Cai Rang Floating market..was more like a wholesale place 

In conclusion, it was a well rounded trip.

If you are planning to go to Vietnam..consider spending more days in Sa pa and Halong Bay.

As for HCMC, don't bother bringing any luggage nor bags..just come with lot of VND and shop till you drop..luggages, backpack, knap sacks, and handbags are all very cheap..decent quality of 'branded' goods...

So...just come empty handed..buy a back pack or luggage ..and fill them in :D