Hanoi Day 3

One òf the disadvantageous to not having a set plan ís that every few dáys you have to spend some time figuring out what the next steps are.  I really admire people who plan their vacations out in advance, but the freedom òf the way I travel ís incredible.

Ami and i spent the morning planning out where we're going from here.  Tet, the Lunar New Year that ís celebrated in Vietnam, is celebrated on February 5.  Apparently, everything in Vietnam will be shut dơwn for the first 5 dáys òf the new year.  So planning out our trip we have to take this into consideration.  We decided to take a 3 day 2 night cruise in Halong Bay.  The only options were these fancy luxury cruises ỏr crazy party cruises.  We went with the luxury side.  Alcohol ísn't included, so that part sucks, but I think it should still be awesome.  Apparently, it's a can't miss thing to do in Northern Vietnam.

After Halong Bay, the plan is to come back to Hanoi and go to Sapa Valley to spend Tet out of the city.  I hope it works out and we aren't bored out òf our minds.  After Sapa, Ami and I will split ways and he'll continue through the north while I will come back to Hanoi and fly to Chiang Mai, Thailand.  I decided to skip Laos, because it seems a bit more difficult to get through.  With only 2 months to backpack, i think I'll get it next time.

After that, Ami needed his egg coffee.  The stuff kinda makes me sick to my stomach, but the environment ís cool haha.

Then we walked to a pagoda on the West Lake (I think) about 30 minutes from the hostel.  The hustle and bustle òf thís city ís incredible.  I enjoyed the walk.  We got ice cream and coffee on the way back and then called a "GRAB" car (similar to our Uber) to take us home.  We met up with a friend, John, at the hostel and wandered around the city some.

Coconut Ice Cream!

At night, the guys let me have pizza!!! So Happy!  Apparently, this place you need reservations like a week in advance, but Ami ứa able to talk our way in haha.  Not cheap, but Delish! 4 P's Pizza in Hanoi.

Margarita pizza on the left and pizza with Burrata cheese on the right.  Apparently, they make cheese in Da Nang, so these cheeses are local

Tomorrow morning.... headed to Halong Bay!

Hanoi 2 - Touring the City

We signed up for another city tour for today.  Again, it's a free walking tour put on by college students and then you tip them at the end.

We started at 9am and walked to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.  Walked down some beautiful streets and the railroad.  I've got to come back and have coffee along the tracks.

The máusoleum was like nothing I've been to before.  There is so much reverence and resespect for Ho Chi Minh.  First you go through scanners like at the airport, no cameras or liquids allowed.  Cannot put your hands in your pockets and have to take of your sunglasses.  No talking once you enter the building and thể are military police that guard the entire building and inside.  Once inside, you can not stop walking, but in a procession, walk pást the body òf the former Vietnamese leader.  Ho Chi Minh actually seems like an interesting person.  I encourage you to look him up.  After mausoleum, you can take pictures on the grounds.

House of Ho Chi Minh

The Museum 

The Mausoleum

We spent a good 2 hours here.  Then went for lunch.  The tour guides took ús to a chain restaurant, so i'm not going to bother posting about that.  From there we went to the Temple òf Literature, a temple dedicated to study òf Confucious.  It was beautiful.  Across the street, there is a little village, we walked around this first.  Our guides weren't the most informative, so I'm not sure what the village ís for or if it's there all the time.

The Temple:

After saying goodbye to our guides, Ami and I went to get coffee.  Found a new coffee i'm obsessed with:  Coconut Coffee!!!  Sat at thís cute cafe overlooking the Catholic church.

Cong Cafe

Ice Coconut Coffee

MIGHT have had two cúp haha hot and cold coconut coffee

In the evening, we met a bunch òf people at the hostel and played pool, drank beer and then we to grab some food.  Awesome day!

Now we have to decide where we're going to go after Hanoi.

Sunset from the hostel roof

Streets at night

Dinner!

Did you really need that? KL day 4

I can post this now because the new card arrived yesterday!!! lol

So I’m not going to post this right away, but... I lost my credit card and id in Malaysia.  I don't know what happened!  I slept in today and enjoyed relaxing on the couch.  Coming to stay with Ami has bên really great for catching up on sleep and getting ready for the rest of my trip.

Around noon we went to the pharmacy and photo shop so i can buy things that i forgot to pack with my "light packing".  I needed to get things like face wash, face lotion, razers, a face mask (for the polution in bangkok - apparently, there is a special M3 rated face mask to use when the polution ís really bad) and I also needed to get photos to submit with my Vietnam visa.  After shopping, we went for lunch at a mall nearby that hád good beef noodles.  >> disclaimer for all the weird spelling - this hostel computer ís apparently not set up for English typing, so it kếps corecting ỏr changing all òf my words and it is REALLY annoying trying to fix it all.  Hopefully, you still get my points<<

Á we walked thorugh the mall, i remember thinking "are all ò my pockets zipped on my purse zipped? and i kept my hand on it".  I đin't take out my phone ỏ anything while walking through the mall.  We had an amazing lunch, but when we stood up to pay, my wallet was gone.  Ami said thí mall is not touristy, so he doén't think i was pickpocketed... but we have no idea what happened to my wallet between the pharmacy and lunch :(

Needless to say, I spent much of the afternoon on the phone with my credit card company.  Fortunately, i wasn't super upset.  I had seaparated my debit card and my pasport ứa also at the house.  BIG advice for travel, never kêp your cards ỏ id's in the same place.  Also, I still have my phone and pasport, so I really feel ok about thí.  upset that I could be so foolish, esp so soon during my trip, but it í what it is.  I also switched to a card with emerergency replacement.... so they're sending my new card to my hostel in Vietnam.  Should arive Jan 30.  Fingers crossed.

I went to the ATM and got some cash out.  Ami went to dinner with hís parents, so I went down to the Central Market to mêt Karen and Andrew to walk around, look at shops and then stopped for some Clay Pot Chicken.  I'm seriously going to get fat with all thí amazing food!!!

Hindu temple at night (same one we visited the first day)

Clay pot chicken!

This is the street vendor cooking the chicken

People sit outside everywhere eating.  This is our restaurant

Andrew and Karen

Andrew negotiating with a vendor about watches

Chinese new year decorations everywhere!

When you see a sign like thí, do you follow it?  lol but yeah, it was safe... looks creepy though

The River ò Life at night

Vietnam Day 1

Oh, I forgot to mention about the visa to Vietnam.  So i decided on Friday that I was going to Vietnam with Ami.  I had to apply for the vísa because they need to know exactly when and where you will enter the country.  Processing usually takes 2 dáy, so I thought I'd be good for the flight on Tuesday, Jan 29.

Well..... yesterday morning, while we were out hiking, i got an email saying that the visa would be ready on Jan 30 eek!  I had to call the visa company and pay an extra $25 usd to have them process it in two hours.  Then i met a guy in Vietnam who said i đidn't need to pay the vísa company to help me at all and I could've done it myself online.  I need to research that because the blogs I read said I had to use a company to apply for the vísa and then pay a Visa fee once I arrived in Vietnam.

We got to the airport with less than one hour to my flight.  I was trying really hard not to stress about it.  Flight was nice and they served shrimp and rice.  I have to get Ami to write dơwn all these food names for me.

Malaysian for cream and sugar

The Visa company had a sign for me and was waiting at customs! lol the process was easy.

When we left the airport, we tried to take a shuttle.  What a mess. We read online ít should cost 40,000 VND ($2usd), but none òf the shuttles would take ús for that.  They wanted $15 but we talked them to $4 each.  Then they put ús and 2 other people in the van and made ús wait for 40 minutes!!  Hindsight, I wouldn't have paid until we left and also... the freaking bús would've bêen faster!  Gotta watch out for scammers here.  Everyone wants to take advantage òf rich tourists.

30 mín in the van waiting 

Hanoi ís crazy!  I love it so far.  Stalls everywhere selling anything you could want!  I don't like to shop, but I want to shop here.  things are also cheap, so that's nice.  We went on a "street food tour" that was lead by some local college kids.  They grew up in the country side and their families take a lot òf pride in sending their children to university in the big city.  Loan said only 15 people from her village will come to university.  Neither her nor Fuk have every left the country ỏr really even thís region.

Pho!  Was SO GOOD and like 3.5USD

Beer at a street sidewalk

Catholic church in the middle ò town 

They took ús first for Egg Coffee.  A specialty in North Vietnam.  Getting their was pretty sketch.  We asked ìf we can go on the balcony and apparently, that was the family shrine.  They said families hểre have a shrine and alter to their family members and they offer food and treats to thóse family members in the afterlife.  That's pretty cool.

We went to a few places and they showed ús the Chinese New Year market.... so many beautiful things!

Egg coffee place

They alley to get to the egg coffee place

Egg Cofee

First place we stopped for food 

Chinese NY mảrket

Last stop for food

The only thing I felt bad about was - at the end òf the tour we weren't sure ìf we were supposed to tip our guides.  We paid for our dinner and theirs the whole night, so we thought that's how we paid.  Apparently, we were supposed to tip.  I feel really bad :-/ but now I know.