Beauty of Kyrgyzstan - Places we visited in Issyk-Kul Region

Beautiful nature in the land of Kyrgyzstan :)

Here we are!!! Let me share with you the wonderful nature in the land of Kyrgyzstan :)

Broken Heart - Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan

On our way from Karakol to Bokonbayevo Village, we passed through few places, mostly beautiful nature that were not to be missed!!! First, we stopped by to see a large cliff that looked like a heart broken into two, that was why it was called the "broken heart". 

Djety-Oguz or "Seven Bulls" Rock Formation in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan

Soon after, we stopped again to see the 35km length Djety-Oguz (in Kyrgyz language, it means "seven bulls" since the rock formation composed by tertiary (Paleogene) reddish deposits shaped just like it. There were many legends about the this rock formation, so with the 'broken heart' and they had become the symbols of the Issyk-Kul region and favorite images for photographs and paintings (As to say: "If you have not seen it yet, means you have not been to Issyk-Kul region").

Sea buckthorn tree - Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan

Not far from here, we saw many sea buckthorn trees on the side of the road. Our driver stopped by and cut one of the branch full of it and gave it for us to eat when we reached to our next accommodation. Remember the last post where Issyk-Kul Brand Shop was one of the must visit places in Karakol and sea buckthorn juice was one of the local product produced and sold over there? So this was how the fruits and the tree looked like. You could eat it raw and just plucked it directly from the tree.

The first waterfall - Barskoon Gorge, Kyrgyzstan

We drove to Barskoon Gorge and hiked up to see the cascading waterfalls named as "Tears of the Leopard," "White Beard," "Splashes of Champagne," and "The Bowl of Manas", named after the legends. So many legends to be found here in Kyrgyzstan. The above photo was the first waterfall we visited, which was also the nearest and easiest to reach.

"Tears of the Leopard Waterfall" - Barskoon Gorge, Kyrgyzstan

The "Tears of the Leopard" came from the story of the female leopard cried when she lost her three children while went hunting. The tears then became a waterfall with three ledges. This was the second waterfall we visited, said to be the most beautiful one among the three. Here, you could see the beautiful Tian Shan furs (spruce-like trees) and barberry trees (you could see the barberry fruits on the picture above :)).

One of the two Yuri Gagarin monuments at Barskoon Gorge, Kyrgyzstan

We saw one of the first astronaut's monuments in the area - Yuri Gagarin - as he often visited this place, spent some time here to recover from his mission to space.

Horses for rent - Barskoon Gorge, Kyrgyzstan

The view was really beautiful. The air was fresh. Nature was all you could see. You could pay and ride the horse if you wanted to. I chose to hike instead as I had been eating too much and needed to do some exercise :D

All these places were located near the Issyk-Kul Lake, one of the largest and deepest mountain lakes in the world that did not freeze even in the coldest winter, surrounded by the beautiful Tian Shan mountains. You could check the Kyrgyzstan map out and see how big the lake was and where were the places I mentioned located. And wherever we went, we could see the beautiful Tian Shan following us.

Royal Gate Yurt - Issyk-kul, Kyrgyzstan

The above photo was one of  the yurt camps that were available for rent (quite a new one), overlooking the lake and also the snow capped Tian Shan mountain range. We stopped there to have our lunch and I had a chance to see the view inside the yurt. Most yurt was equipped with personal bathroom (unlike some who had separate share bathrooms and toilets). You could see yourself how beautiful it was!!!

Skazka Canyon or the Fairy Tale Canyon - Kyrgyzstan 

And before we moved to our "private rent" yurt camp (since it was only us stayed in the area for the night), we headed to one last beautiful nature of Kyrgyzstan called the Skazka Canyon or known as "Fairy Tale Canyon". 

Skazka Canyon or the Fairy Tale Canyon - Kyrgyzstan

Skazka Canyon or the Fairy Tale Canyon - Kyrgyzstan

This was the place where you could see the limestone clusters, bulging sandstone and the colorful soil, one of the best destinations to visit in Kyrgyzstan. If you plan to visit Kyrgyzstan, this place is a must visit place!!! 

With our lovely guide - Ms Aisuluu at Skazka Canyon, Kyrgyzstan 

Formed as a result of thousands years of ice, water and wind erosion, this magnificent desert like landscape had transformed into an array of sculptures and formations, where red, yellow, orange and brown spires of rocks rise out of the earth and into the sky.

Talking with stone - Skazka Canyon, Kyrgyzstan

Skazka Canyon or the Fairy Tale Canyon - Kyrgyzstan

At this point of time, you could see all the photos I took, it was like I was the only visitors of this magnificent place and it seemed like those produced for the post cards, weren't they? We were very lucky and grateful indeed because there were not many visitors visiting this place when we were there. I mean, some area was small and meant to be climbed in a very small group of people. I could not imagined how it would be if a big group of people visiting this place at the same time.

You need to wear shoes with strong grip as to prevent slippery while climbing. It was not advisable for people who had weak knees. It was advisable to walk with your guide as well since the area was huge. You might get lost if you wander around alone because no signage available. And yes, we were lucky too for the great weather!!! :)

Statue of Sayakbay Karalaev - Kyrgyzstan

We passed by the above statue on our way to our camp. It was the statue of Sayakbay Karalaev - a Soviet and Kyrgyz famous storyteller and manaschi (a reciter of the epic Kyrgyz poem Manas). You could find his face in the 500 som note of Kyrgyz money too :)

Sunset view at Elistet Yurt camp, Kyrgyzstan 

We had a really great time exploring the Skazka Canyon and our driver drove as fast as he could so that we could catch a lovely sunset view from our yurt camp :)

View from our room - Elistet Yurt camp, Kyrgyzstan

We stayed at Elistet Yurt camp, a very beautiful camp where all of our yurts were overlooking to the lake (you could wake up with sunrise view in front of you). The room was very big for 2 of us (they gave us one double and one single bed inside). There was standing jacuzzi inside the big bathroom too where you could take a bath and listen to the radio at the same time.

Overlooking Issyk-Kul Lake - Elistet Yurt Camp, Kyrgyzstan 

Below, we could take the staircase down and visit the lake that were made looking just like a sea or the beach with sands. The mountain views at the side was equally marvelous. Apart from the usual green mountains, you could also see the colorful ranges of mountains :)

Dinner at Elistet Yurt camp, Kyrgyzstan 

They prepared our dinner freshly cooked there. As the appetizer, we were served beef cooked with cucumber, colorful paprika and tomato together with the local bread and butter. A big bowl of chicken soup was perfect for a cooling night (and also for its nutritious value). As main, we were served with white rice and another sautéed beef with vegetables.  

Full moon night at Elistet Yurt Camp, Kyrgyzstan. My favorite photo :)

It was a full moon night. There were cats and dog at the area. This cute and playful kitten entertained us during our stay there. He ran here and there surrounding us. They even wanted to come inside our rooms. Hahahaha... It reminded me of my roommate who ran here and there, trying to shoo the kitten away from entering :D Thank you Claudia for capturing the lovely photo above. Love it so much!! Also for the local beer treat ;P Cheers!!!!

To summarize, let me share this Youtube video "Welcome to Kyrgyzstan" where you can see the beauty of Kyrgyzstan with a lovely music and song :)

Another Memorable Journey From Sapa :D

Oh oo.... (Pic source: Google.com)

I felt like that day was really not my day, like lots of things were just wrong. It started as early as 2.30am when I woke up for my toilet break. The room was dark and I found out that there was not electricity inside our room. I used the torch apps from my mobile to go to toilet and back to my bed right after.

I finally woke up again at 6.30am and the electricity was still not there. I wanted to take bath and wash my hair but suddenly I was worrying that the heater might not there since the electricity was not available. I sent message to Jacky and informed him about my situation. He checked with the hotel and soon he got back to me, saying that the staff was trying to resolve the issue and I still could use the water heater since the hotel had the generator back-up. I thanked him for checking it out and immediately went to bathroom. And just nice when I finished bathing, the electricity returned, so I could blow my hair dry right after.

My body had gotten better comparing with the night before. The fever had gone and I was strong and well to face another new day in Sapa. 

Handmade sling bag by Dinh - Sapa, Vietnam

We had our breakfast in the hotel and later on Dinh came bringing her handcraft souvenirs like bags, wallets, hanging decoration, and showed those to us, as per promised the day before. It was not all handmade though. She brought the machine made stuffs as well. I bought sling bag, wallet, and hanging decoration thing and bargained reasonable price from her (not too low as I thought of 4 young children that she had to feed back home).

The car that picked us up was coming late due to the marathon event that was going on in the area. We were brought to the Sun World Fansipan cable car station as we wanted to reach the Mount Fansipan. The mountain's height was 3147 meter's height, the highest mountain in the Indochinese Peninsula, hence called "The Rooftop of Indochina."

Sun World Fansipan Cable Car - Vietnam

Dinh did not follow us, so it was only two of us. She only handed us the online ticket to enter the cable car for return trip and waited us there at the station until we came back. When weather was good, the view from the cable car supposed to be beautiful. But as I said earlier, it seemed like it was not really my day. It rained a little on our way up and when we reached the temple on top, we were surrounded mostly by fogs. 

Sun World Fansipan Cable Car

One cable car could fit up to 35 people inside. Ours was quite full, mostly filled by Vietnamese visitors. They came as a big group and were talking loudly with each other, as if only them occupied the cable car. Aileen and I were just sitting down, trying to enjoy the scenery and hoping that they could lower down their voice or just stop talking, but to no avail :D So we endured lo until reached the station.

Kim Sơn Bảo Thắng Tự Buddhist Temple - Fansipan, Vietnam

Good thing that the rain did not last long. It stopped after a while. I went inside the Kim Sơn Bảo Thắng Tự temple and offered my prayer there before continuing our journey up. There were so many succulent plants around there, decorating the temple and area beautifully. 

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Fogs everywhere - not our day :D

From there, we could choose to go up either by staircases or by funicular. Aileen's ankles were not well, and I was not in my tip top condition as well, so we both chose taking funicular. The cable car ticket was included in our tour package, but not the funicular, so we had to pay on our own. Ticket for going up was VND99,000 and for return trip would be VND178,000 per pax.

How the view should like on a clear day (Expectation) Pic source: Google map

Hahahahaha... If you saw the photos I posted earlier (the reality), was really different from the expectation right? Nevertheless, I still felt grateful for being able to be there and enjoyed my stay as much as I could.

Our funicular ride to the peak of Mount Fansipan, Vietnam

We purchased the hot cinnamon apple drink once we reached the top. It was sweet, so we asked the seller to add hot water into it. I really loved it!!! We brought it and had it later at the summit.

Posed with Vietnam flag at the Mount Fansipan Summit :)

We took a rest there. Just nice a group of people came and one of them brought a guitar. They sang Vietnam songs which I did not understand. But I enjoyed the melody and the joy they brought for us. It made our trip special. Despite the foggy weather, we were given something extra, that made us happy :)

Made the trip enjoyable to the fullest :)

I thought they might be some famous Vietnamese singers, so I took photo with them. Hahahahaha.... But when I showed it to Jacky, he had no clue of who they were :D

Sapa view from the cable car - Fansipan, Vietnam

After some time we went down by funicular and the walked towards the cable car station. We took the cable car back and took more photos as the rain had stopped and weather had somehow become clearer.

Sapa rice terraces

And as we got nearer to the station, we could see the beautiful rice terraces from the above. Overall, we had a good time there and enjoyed as much as we could.

Chợ Sapa Market - Lao Cai, Vietnam

Dinh came to pick us and we went to Le Gecko Cafe for lunch. After that we went to the Chợ Sapa Market, located not very far from the restaurant. We walked there.

Inside the Chợ Sapa Market

We browsed around the market throughout the whole places. They were selling local produces there, such as: nuts, flower tea, herbal medicines, dried fruits, grains, spices, and so on.

Wet market at the building behind - Chợ Sapa market, Vietnam

At the building behind, there were food stalls selling cooked food. Behind that, they were selling meat, vegetables, snacks, drinks, and so on.

Chợ Sapa Market - Vietnam

We had a chance for last minute shopping before going back to Hanoi. You could purchase the macadamia nut and cashew nut (still with its shell) there as gifts back home. Their herbal tea was special too. You could try before buying them. At some shop, the seller gave sample for people to try. They were also selling fake brand trekking clothes. Local handicrafts and souvenirs could also be found.

Passing by Sapa town

Dinh sent us back to our hotel at 2pm. On the way there, we passed by the beautiful Sapa lake (which was beautiful at night time too - as they put lighting decorations), and view of Sapa town. I did not know that Sapa town could be quite big. Many hotels, shops, and restaurants there. I felt like I only browsed less than 50% of it (due to limited time and not a very healthy body). But it was fine lah.

Passing by the beautiful Sapa Lake

We had a final packing and took some rest at the hotel lobby before continuing our journey back to Hanoi. The van came at 3.30pm, much later than expected. We were the first passengers he picked, and the driver lost ways while picking up the rest of the passengers. Perhaps he was new and was not familiar with hotels and places in the area. It took more than half an hour until we left Sapa town.

Beautiful Sapa rice terrace on our way back to Hanoi

The rice terrace view was beautiful. But too bad we could not stop and take good photos. So I could only took photos from inside the van, and many wires could be shown, some resulted in blurry pictures. Hehehe.. better than nothing. We had three break stops before reaching Hanoi. The driver sent us the last, that too, to the wrong hotel.

Hahahaha... what a day, really!!! I think we reached hotel around 10.40pm. I was very tired and hungry too. Jacky was in the hotel waiting for us. The hotel staffs who knew our condition, welcomed us back with friendly smile. We checked in and put our luggage and went out for supper with Jacky.

Vietnamese chicken noodle - Hanoi, Vietnam

I wanted to eat something soupy and he brought us to the stall above by Grab. It was not very far from where we stayed but it was quite late already (around 11pm) and he knew we both were tired and hungry from our journey, that was why we took Grab there.

Aileen and I had chicken noodle soup while Jacky had the dried one (he said dried one nicer). While eating, Jacky asked us how our trip was. He asked all kind of feedback from both of us so that he could improve what not and take note what had already good.

After finished, we walked back to our hotel. Before saying goodbye, he handed each of us souvenir from Hanoi (now hung on my house's wall). He also passed a bottle of water for each of us and gave me herbal candy when he knew my throat was unwell.

I was very lucky being able to know him not only as our tour guide and emergency contact, but we had also become friend now. At any time, I could message him asking something about Vietnam and he always replied it as soon as he could. He was reliable, helpful, and friendly. Based on our feedback, he made the follow up the day after with the company that he engaged with, to ensure he could offer better service for the next following customers.

That was why I would not hesitant to give his contact to anyone who had interest to visit Hanoi, and if you too wanted to use his travel service, please do not hesitate to contact him here or you could message me for his contact number too :)

Thank you Jacky for your service, help, guide, hospitality, and friendship that you offered for both of us. Stay in touch and wish you all the best for your travel business :)

Local souvenirs - Hanoi Airport

We flew back home the day after and was provided with transfer service from our hotel to the Hanoi Airport. You could have last minute shopping inside the airport too, as there were so many shops selling souvenirs, as well as snacks and Vietnam liquor. You could pay both in Vietnamese Dong and USD.

Guess what I bought??? Hahahahha....

Vietnam Trip - Hanoi in September 2022

Hanoi, Vietnam

I went to some parts of Vietnam before, but I had not been into Hanoi (the capital and second largest city in Vietnam), Sapa Village and Ha Long Bay before. I had heard a lot about it from my close friends. One had been there before and shared with me how lovely the places were and why it was worth visiting. Another had not been there, but really wanted to go.

It was in the middle of August and I had already some plans made for the month of September to travel to other countries. Nevertheless, Sapa was famous for its beautiful and pristine rice terraces, cool and fresh mountain air, plus the living place of many ethnic minorities, such as: Hmong (52%), Dao (25%), Tay (5%), and so on. And one of the best time to visit Sapa was in September (before the farmers harvested their paddy fields, so the fields were in yellowish color).

I was looking at my timetables and there was a small gap in between of my planned trips but I did not have accompany as my friend who was interested to go there, was unable to take leave from office. But fortunately, in few days time, I managed to find another friend, who could make time and also take leave from her office. I had to convince her to take six days trip there instead of five days though, since she had also another long-trip planned in the next following month.

Yeah, if you asked me, how many days would be enough to visit Hanoi and the area, I would say 7 days would be ideal. With 6 days planned, I could visit places I wanted to go, but there was one place I missed visiting - Ninh Binh - and that was why seven days would be perfect. Some people could complete all the places within 6 days but they would not stay a night on a cruise in Ha Long Bay, instead, they could only visit on a day trip, but they would miss lots of thing (in my opinion, since I loved a relaxing trip instead of the hurried one).

So, I got accompany, I got 6 days to spare in between of my two trips, then, what was next? I asked my friend a local travel agent contact that she knew from her previous trip. She gave me the contact and I messaged Jacky through Whats App right away asking him for the quotation based on places I wanted to visit. He sent me few itineraries to choose and I forwarded it to my friend. 

I was quite occupied with so many things regarding my other trips. Therefore, I wanted to take this trip easy, with lesser planning, lesser research, and left all the hotels and van transfers booking into the hand of this local agent. I left the choice of the recommended hotel in their hands too, because I believed that they also wanted to give us the best with the budget offered and wanted to make their customers happy with their services. 

So I replied him within few days and confirmed to take their services in the next one month. He trusted me so much just like friends did, that he did not even collect deposit until we reached there (even when there was a local bank account available for transfer). However, in case I had to cancel my trip due to any unexpected circumstances, I had to still follow their procedures to pay for the cancellation fee as mentioned in the itinerary (to be fair, right?)

Thank Buddha that both of us were blessed with good health and could proceed with our trip there accordingly :)

Noi Bai Hanoi International Airport

There were many airlines available from Singapore to Hanoi, especially for direct flight. There were SQ, Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways, Scoot, etc. I picked up Scoot since it offered free 10 kg hand carry luggage at the budget rate, and the flight time was perfect for our itinerary too. We flew at 10 am and reached there at around 12.30pm. 

Our guide, owner, cum friend, Jacky, had personally picked us up from the Noi Bai International Airport. He was our food and city guide of the day since we were introduced by my close friend, who had also introduced him to many of her friends who were travelling to Vietnam. He had other group who also came from Singapore that day, but because of this connection, he took his time to accompany me and my friend instead of bringing the other group around.

Upon arrival, I was surprised and happy when seeing many Vietnamese not wearing masks. I thought, wearing mask was still a requirement for Vietnamese there. Many were still wearing for their own health protection instead of a must-do-thing or requirement by the government. So, I was loosen my guard up too while travelling there - only wore it when I was surrounded by the heavy crowd or indoor.

Golden Rooster Hotel, Hanoi - Vietnam

We were dropped first to our hotel, Golden Rooster Hotel, located in the heart of Hanoi Old Quarter. It was designed modernly. We stayed there for total of 3 nights and overall, we really had a good and comfortable stay in the room, and even made friend with most of the staffs there. They were all polite, friendly, professional. We checked in, kept our luggage inside the room, and refreshed ourselves for a while before we started our food tour. It was just nice, time for lunch and we both were hungry!

Our first meal in Hanoi - Banh Mi and Hanoi Beer at Banh Mi 25

We started our food tour by having banh mi (Vietnamese baguette with pate) at Banh Mi 25. The owner had extended their shop to 30 Hang Ca Street to meet the seating demand from its Hanoians and travelers customers who fond of seating longer and enjoying the old Hanoi quarter ambience (check out the above photo and you can see what I mean by that). Since both of us would try few different food during our tour, we decided to order only 1 portion of each food and shared it into half. 

It was such a hot afternoon and I was craving for something cold. It was when I was Jacky what Vietnam beer he would recommend, hahahaha......, and he recommended me the Hanoi Beer that I was holding, and Saigon Beer. I tried only one first though as I wanted to save more space in my stomach for more delicious Vietnam food :)

Second stop, Bún Chả Đắc Kim, to taste the Bun Cha (Vietnamese noodles with grilled pork). Apparently, Vietnam was famous for copycat. Other than the famous branded goods, it was also famous at copycat-ing the famous local street food brands. The copycat shop (decorated also in red and yellow banner) was opened very near from the original one, resulting many visitors had mistakenly gone into the copy cat shop instead of the original one.

Take note on how the original Bún Chả Đắc Kim looks like!!! :)

Luckily we had Jacky with us, so we were able to avoid such a big mistake. Because it turned up that I loved this Bun Cha very much!!! I was even willing to fly there once again just to taste this "Obama noodle". Hahaha... But, why Obama??? You can read the story here.

In the photo, you could see the noodle portion. It was for only 1 pax. We both shared it together. Vietnamese ate a lot of rice and noodles, according to Jacky. They could even eat triple share of it. If I was very hungry, maybe I could finish the whole portion for my self, but not more than that. And yet, most Vietnamese were mostly slim built, not chubby like me ^^"

Train Street in Hanoi

We walked a little bit after these 2 meals. Jacky brought us to visit the train street in Hanoi. I think I saw the clip somewhere online before without knowing where the place was. So I was surprised and very happy when finding this place out, really did not expect to see it there in Hanoi :)

St Joseph's Cathedral, Hanoi

We visited the St Joseph's Cathedral or also called Nhà Thờ Lớn Hà Nội. This church was built resembling the Notre Dame de Paris. It was the oldest church in Hanoi but was not opened when we were there. It opened usually for Sunday mass at 6pm. 

Next, we went to Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su to taste the must eat food in Hanoi - beef noodle soup or Pho. We ordered one bowl well done beef noodle soup to share.

Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su - Hanoi, Vietnam

The ingredients inside the bowl looked so simple. It contained sliced beef, noodles, spring onion, sliced onion, coriander, and clear broth. At the side, they provided fish sauce, slice garlic soaked in vinegar and chili sauce. Usually when eating Pho in Ho Chi Minh, the restaurant would provide additional various vegetables for us to eat together with the beef noodle. But here, they did not provide any. It was simply as it was. Sometimes, simplicity is the best, don't you agree? The next time I go, I will try the half done beef and soak the fried dough into the soup :P

We continued walking to let the stomach digesting the food inside the stomach. Jacky brought us to view the Hoan Kiem Lake, which was known as the lake of the returned sword. There was a legend behind the name which you can read it here. 

Ngoc Son Temple or the Temple of the Jade Mountain - Hanoi, Vietnam

I was curious with what was inside the Ngoc Son Temple (the Temple of the Jade mountain), which was located in the Jade islet of the Hoan Kiem Lake. So we went inside there for a short visit. The temple was built, dedicated to Confucian and Taoist philosophers and also the national hero, Trần Hưng Đạo. It was slightly different from the usual Chinese or Buddhist temple. There was also a huge specimen of Hu Guom tortoise being displayed inside. You had to pay a small fee to enter the temple. It was not included in the tour, but Jacky had kindly treated both of us for the entry. Cảm ơn bạn hiền ;)

Cafe Dinh - where 

And now, it was time for the famous Hanoi specialty coffee - "egg coffee". Jacky brought us to Cafe Dinh, named after the road where it was located (Dinh Tien Hoang Street) - near the Hoan Kiem Lake, instead of Bich Cafe (named after the daughter of Mr Giang who was the founder of the famous Giang Cafe), to try this specialty coffee.

The cafe was located at second floor and a little bit hard to find since the signboard was put above the other shophouses' names. So make sure you turn "your location" in the Google map on to locate this place. This cafe was opened in 1990s. It looked old but many local and tourists loved visiting. 

Egg coffee from Cafe Dinh, Hanoi - Vietnam

Both of us ordered one hot and one cold egg coffee to taste the difference between both types. We could see bottles of coffee being filtered. We could also see how the egg coffee was being made. The history said that the egg coffee was first created back in 1946, during French war (or first Indo China war). There was a pressure of milk shortage. So, Nguyen Giang, who was at that time bartending at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel, whisked in the egg yolk to substitute the milk for the coffee.

I heard about egg coffee just before I planned for my trip to Hanoi. There was a Vietnamese restaurant who was selling it here in Singapore. However, I did not try it as I wanted to taste the original egg coffee directly from Hanoi, where it came from. Other ingredients included sweetened condensed milk, butter, and maybe cheese. 

I finally tasted it for the first time. Before having it, Jacky asked us to stir the coffee wholeheartedly, to ensure that the whisked egg yolk mixing well together with the filtered coffee. Perhaps I did not mix it well enough. I felt that the egg yolk taste was very strong, and at the same time, the filtered coffee was very strong too. Just too bad, I felt both separately, not as a mixed drink. Lol!!! So, it was not my favorite but at least I tried :)

We were all full from all the food that we had (two bowls of shared noodles, one baguette, half bottle of beer, and one glass of egg coffee were all consumed within 2.5 hours). I think our stomach had to rest. It was time for us to go back to our hotel. 

I loved staying in Hanoi Old Quarter because the distance was all reachable on foot. The traffic situation was very challenging though. Human, cars, motorcycles, bikes were sharing the two-way street. There were traffic lights in some areas, however, many ignored its existence. Jacky was very calm walking on the street, as if he owned the road. Hahaha... But funnily, no car or motorcycle blast its horn on him despite walking very slow, and sometimes blocking their way. The car and motorcycle just slowed down and let us walk on the road.

There was a time when I felt like giving up to cross that busy road. Cars and motorcycles were crossing from many directions and I felt I was sweating, thinking when would I be able to stop them to cross that road. Hahahaha.... It was not the road for elderly who walked very slow. I could not imagine myself bringing my parents to walk around Hanoi on foot, might as well bringing them to other parts of Vietnam :D But after some time, I got used to with the traffic. And until now, I often miss crossing those busy roads. Can you believe it???

Chả Cá Thăng Long - Hanoi, Vietnam

We had our free time after the food tour was over. Both of us took a rest inside our room. Before 7pm, we went out to have a dinner not far from where we stayed, called Chả Cá Thăng Long. The restaurant sold fried fish (you could mix it with pork intestines if you liked), a popular dine in place for locals and these days, foreigners like me. The fish was stir fried together with lots of spring onion and dills. After that, you could mix the noodle with the fried fish and veg, raw spring onion, coriander, peanuts, chilli, and dollops of fish sauce. Wow!!! I loved it!!! If I go back to Hanoi, I would have this again too!!! :)

Full Moon or Lantern Festival Street Night Market - Hanoi, Vietnam

Since we were full, it was time for a walk. We decided to walk to the street night market where Vietnamese celebrating the upcoming Full Moon or Lantern Festival (as a result of Chinese culture influence - the intertwined history with China from the past). There, they sold various lanterns (with music and lights) and things related to the festival (although the items sold would mostly attract children - see picture above). 

Train Street in Hanoi, Vietnam

After that we walked back to the train street. The train passed by at around 8.45pm and 9.13pm Hanoi time. We sat and ordered another Hanoi Beer at Hao Hao Cafe while waiting for the train to pass by. It was a cooling night and it was good to just relax at their second floor. We saw two trains passing by then walked back to our hotel to rest.

As I did some research just now, I found out that the train street was no longer opened for public starting September 18th, 2022. You could read the article here. Woahhh.... I thought it was fake news so I checked with Jacky about it, and he confirmed that it was no longer opened for tourists anymore as it was dangerous with the still operating railways and trains. Lucky Aileen and I had our chance to enjoy it when we were there :)

So, that would finalize my post for our first day in Hanoi. Hope it could help you in case you have any plan to visit the capital one day :) Will continue with second day soon :)