My Active Trip To Asia - Vietnam, Hong Kong and Sydney
I finally posted some photos of my trip to Vietnam, Australia and Hong Kong. I spent about 2 weeks in Vietnam, 1 day in Sydney and 1 day in Hong Kong.
We left Wellington and flew to Sydney. In Sydney we went to the Opera House and went about halfway across the Sydney harbour bridge. I found the smallest beach in Sydney right near the Opera House.
Then we flew to Hong Kong. We travelled quite a distance in Hong Kong, walking around the whole peak. I would really recommend it because it's a nice walk with great views and hardly any people.
We finally made it Hanoi in Vietnam having not slept all that much even thou we had everything that a traveller could have like travel socks, sleeping eye mask, ear plugs and anti jet lag pills. Maybe noise cancelling headphones would have been better but we were in cattle class so most of the time trying to sleep is spent trying not to touch the person next to you. We made it there bloodshot eyes and all.
Hanoi is a very up and coming city in Vietnam. It's still building constantly and I have no idea why they don't build up. They used to be restricted to 3 stories but now it just seems rather odd they keep doing it. We went to the water puppet theatre which was really good. After Hanoi, we went to Halong Bay.
Halong Bay is a great place for relaxing on amazing beaches and climbing on picturesque rock formations. We had an amazing Junk (boat) cruise that you can see in my pics. It was kinda crappy weather but no rain, just foggy. We went kayaking and went on to a man's house that is on the water because he breeds fish. Then I really felt I was in a totally different country. He spoke no English at all. Our guide had to translate everything which made it quite funny because our guide didn't exactly speak perfect English. Then we flew to Da Nang, met some of my dad’s friends and then headed off to Hoi An for 3 nights. Then back to Da Nang.
Da Nang was definitely one of the highlights of the trip because I got to meet a lot of my dad's friends there. My dad was there 3 or so months ago teaching English for volunteer work. When I first got to Vietnam it seemed like everyone just wanted our money probably because almost everyone who comes to Vietnam has more money than 90% of the population. Getting to know the friends of my father was great; every one of them was very nice. It's very good to get a local's perspective :) There are some really nice cafes there. My favourite was Soi Da, with their live music and the bar feels like you are outside which you kind of are but not quite.
Hoi An was very cool. Some of the nicest people we met in Vietnam were there. They all seem so happy. They start to recognise you after a while. I did buy quite a bit of stuff there including 2 suits, 2 pairs of shoes, about 7 business shirts, 3 or so t shirts, about 8 pairs of boxers and a painting plus more. Hoi An was my big spending spree :) Everything seems so cheap! A tailored suit for less than 100 USD. Everything really seems like a donation for the item as you would never ever pay even double that in New Zealand. A tailored suit in NZ is about 1000 NZD! We rode a motor bike around so we got to see lots as well. After Hoi An we went back to Da Nang and then flew off to Ho Chi Minh City.
We got to Ho Chi Minh City and then we booked a bus ride to Mui Ne Beach. It's about 250 KMs away from HCMC. Little did we know that it takes not 4, not 5 but 6 hours to travel that distance.
Mui Ne Beach is great. Lots of stuff to do and not so crowded like everywhere else we went to in Vietnam. The sunsets are astonishing as you can see here. We went to the white sand dunes and I did some judo rolls down them :) We spent most of our time there relaxing on the beach and reading because it was so nice and quiet. After spending a week and a half in Vietnam we really needed a rest. It is a very busy and developing place. After Mui Ne we caught the same crazy bus ride back to HCMC. We went to the War Museum which had lots of really interesting items on the Vietnam War. We also went to the Cu Chi tunnels where some would say the Americans lost the war. Some of it was very biased but, that’s what you expect as it was a very brutal war. After cruising around HCMC for day or so we then flew home felling almost like we need a holiday.
Vietnam is such a busy place that I have trouble relaxing however I met some great people, had some great food and saw some amazing things. Also bought beer for 20 cents :) so all in all a great trip!
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