Vietnam Trip - Day 2 at Ha Long Bay and Hanoi

Morning rainbow at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam :)

 

I woke up early at 5 am as I wanted to catch the sunrise. I went up to the highest floor but it was drizzling and cloudy. I thought I wanted to go back to catch some sleep, but then, the impermanent thing came. The cloud had started to change its color. It had become reddish and the sky turned to clearer view. Woahhhh..... and soon after that, I caught a glimpse of rainbow!!! Wasn't it amazing??? 

I never thought that I could catch a rainbow in Ha Long Bay. I had no expectation or whatsoever about what would come actually. So when it appeared, I could never stop feeling blessed and grateful for that moment. The rainbow kept changing too. From just a bit, it could slowly turn to longer curve. It changed as the cloud, wind, and sun were moving around. Our cruise kept moving around and changed its direction too. Those things were what made the situation beautiful. The beauty of nature and its surrounding :)

After it was no longer drizzling, Mr. Tam came up. He asked my friend, me and Indian group if they would like to join Tai Chi - the Chinese shadowboxing. He taught us the simple and basic one, as form of exercising in such early day. We agreed to it almost immediately and joined him. We followed the movement shown by him and ended it by series of back and shoulder massage while standing up. Hahaha... not bad, especially when the person did it wholeheartedly and with full of energy :D

Kayaking and boating at Luon Cave - Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

We had a simple and quick breakfast before heading to Luon Cave. We could choose between kayaking or taking a bamboo boat with many people in it. Aileen and I chose kayaking without hesitation. I just had it when I went to Sweden and I enjoyed it so much. This time, I would love to do it again, at different place. So there we were...

Live life to the fullest, always :)

Although it was only a short one (half an hour), but I enjoyed it so so much!!! I did not stir it well and often bumped into other boats, hahahaha... but I just loved doing it! And it gave me chance to learn and do better. So when I had another series of kayaking with my sister earlier this month in Australia, I had that confidence to lead the kayak for both of us :) Just loving it! :)

As you could see at the photos, we passed through under the cave, then we were free to roam around it until time was up. The water was calm and it was safe. The next time you go there, make sure you try it as well and enjoy the beauty of the cave underneath :)

We went back to our boat after that. Got ourselves ready for checking out the room, and heading to dining room to have our last meal on the cruise. We settled our bill on our way back to the port. We reached the port quite early at 10.30 am so we had to wait until the van came and picked us up. I felt a bit sad with the separation with our cruise mates. Although we spent only short time, we enjoyed our time together. Well, that was another thing about traveling. It just reminded me of the quote below. 

Life is like a journey on a train quote (Pic: Google.com)

Interesting, wasn't it? :)

We took around 3 hours to reach Hanoi, back to the Golden Rooster Hotel, felt like going back home. Hahaha.... We spent the rest of our day surrounding the Old Quarter in Hanoi, because that was the only time we had left to spend there. 

We were starving, so after putting our back into the room, we started our own food tour. We first walked to Banh Mi Hoi An. We wanted to eat banh mi - Vietnamese baguette with pate - at the shop other than Banh Mi 25, since we had already tried it before. Unfortunately when we reached there, the seller was running out of baguette. It would only be delivered in a while. So we decided to leave the shop and move on to another place. I looked at the Google map and decided to go to try the Banh Xeo - Vietnam savoury fried pancake at Bánh xèo, Nem cuốn. 

Must eat Banh Xeo in Hanoi!!!

Never underestimate the simplicity of the food. The shop, the owner, and food looked so simple, but let me tell you, the taste was unforgettable!!! You ate it with rice paper, vegetable, the pancake, and dipped it with the sauce and ate it with the chopped chili. It tasted heavenly!!! I would definitely go there again if I visited Hanoi again next time! And I would eat at least two portion for myself alone. Hahahahaha....

Must try local dessert in Hanoi :)

My stomach was warmth and happy. Next, we headed to Hoa Quả Dầm Hoa Béo to taste the local dessert. I chose something light and simple - Jackfruit caramen (jackfruit with pudding caramel), while Aileen chose Kem Soi (sticky rice with ice cream and coconut flakes). We sat at low stool and low table, commonly used by Vietnamese. I really loved and enjoyed my dessert :) Pour the crushed ice onto it and it just tasted so delicious :) 

After that we walked towards a convenience store that selling local snacks and coffee. Aileen wanted to buy some for her friends and colleagues. There, we browsed around and bought what we wanted (after asking around the local staff, which brands they found it good or usually chosen by them). 

Local snacks you might want to try or bring home :D

You could find these at van resting stops

On our way to Cafe Giang, we passed by the Banh Mi Hoi An shop again. This time, the customer was there buying. So we decided to give another chance to taste their banh mi. We ordered one, divided into two and had it there while resting our feet after walking for some time. The taste was okay, and we ticked one of our food list to try :)

Banh mi at Banh Mi Hoi An - Hanoi, Vietnam

Did Cafe Giang sound familiar? Hehehe.... Cafe Giang was where you could find the original taste of the egg coffee. I was not the fans of egg coffee, but trying only one would not be fair for me to judge whether I liked it or not. So I wanted to visit this one, and tried the egg coffee again. 

Egg coffee at Cafe Giang - Hanoi, Vietnam

We sat at lower level of the shop since Aileen's knee was in pain. We ordered one hot and one cold egg coffee again.  Aileen chose the hot one. It was so sweet (maybe too much condensed milk). But the egg yolk taste was not as strong as Cafe Dinh. For coffee flavor wise, I still preferred Cafe Dinh one, much  more strong and flavorful. Here the coffee taste was not that strong. Maybe the next time I go to Hanoi, I would visit Cafe Dinh and order ice coffee with milk instead of egg coffee since I liked the coffee but not the egg yolk taste hahahaha... :P We went back to our hotel by Grab and had some rest.

Yummy chicken noodle in Hanoi, Vietnam

At 8pm we went out for dinner. We visited one local stall selling chicken noodle. It was located not far from our hotel. Jacky recommended us that place. We were asked to sit inside the small alley instead of sitting outdoor because the outside space had been occupied with other customers. Both of us shared a bowl since the portion was quite big and we were not very hungry after series of eating in the afternoon. It was simple, yet delicious. I loved it :)

Hang Dao Street night market during full moon - Hanoi, Vietnam

It was Friday night, a night before the Full moon festival. In Hanoi, there was a night weekend market located at Hang Dao Street, opened every weekend from 8 to 10 pm. So right after dinner, we walked there. Here, they were selling clothes, accessories, artisanal or handmade crafts, wooden crafts, food, snacks, and so on. 

Miss this kind of lifestyle - like back to the good old time :)

We walked all the way until nearby the Hoan Kiem Lake, the prominent building behind me - Jacky called it MBS Marina Bay Sands of Hanoi (the photo above) :D There was tent and performance (mostly singing and dancing). The road was closed for any vehicles, purely only for walking path.

I loved the atmosphere, the ambience. I felt safe walking there despite the crowd surrounding me. Many families were there walking together (husband and wife with their children), some hand in hand, some carried their child on their shoulder, and so on. Even late at night, people were still traveling with their motorbike with their friend, family. I really missed this kind of lifestyle. As if I was traveling back to the past when mobile phone was not existing yet. So everyone would just want to go out and enjoy what the market had to offer :) If I had to go back to Hanoi again, I would make sure I would be there on weekend again, so that I could experience this all over again :)

We walked until we could not walk anymore. Hahaha... I bought some snacks, beer, and headed back to our hotel to rest. I enjoyed walking in Hanoi now, and really wish to go back there again, at least once, in my life :)