I was there for only 2 days which I feel is enough. The town is pretty boring. Except for seafood, there is nothing much to do there.

Unlike Hanoi, Halong bay is abundant of seafood. Naturally, all I had for 2 days are seafoods…

…and Ha Long beer. No kidding. They have their own brand and it is cheap.

Highlight of Halong Bay is of course the boat tour around the bay. I took up a package from a local agent who speaks fluent mandarin on the second day. It’s very hard to communicate in Vietnam because almost every Vietnamese know only one language and that is not English or Mandarin. So, I was glad to meet him and happily paid for the tour. However, I found out later from other tourist that what I have paid was more than the usual price. Lesson learned.

These are the boats that will ferry hordes of tourists to the bay

First stop is on an islet with 2 caves; Thien Cung Grotto and Dau Go Cave. Here are some views in the caves…

Look at the number of boats parked at the bay! No wonder the caves were so crowded.

Then I continued the journey on the boat for sight seeing…

They call this kissing rock

The boat stop again at one of the small floating seafood market.

You can buy all kind of seafood there including…

Cuttlefish

…and dog (just kidding!)

I also had my lunch on the boat.

Before ending the tour, the boat dropped me on a beach for some swim in the cold sea water.

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It is well known for the laid back setting which makes a perfect spot for couples to embrace each other by the lake side amidst the bustling traffics nearby.

Here are some sceneries around the lake…

When you visit the lake, you can’t miss a place call Old Quarter. This place is popular among tourists for cheap accommodations and shopping. It seems like a focal point in Hanoi because most activities center around there.

The place is filled with really affordable guesthouses and hotels. You can get a decent room with air-cond and hot shower at around USD12 a night. What I like most about the guest houses there is it comes with free WIFI access.

When it comes to shopping in Old Quarter, you are sure to be spoilt by choices. You can find all kind of stuffs at really cheap price. However, you are advised to check the quality before paying because I had my share of experience when I bought a backpack. I have to go back to the store to change the bag for 3 times!

Foods are abundant there. You can find all kinds of food there such as…

Thit Cho (dog meat)…

Unknown barbecue meat…

Pork kebab

Seafoods

Hawker foods

Really cute tiny “popiah”

Restaurant food

Road side baguette

BBQ Chicken fast food restaurant

Ice cream (That’s right, they are lining up for ice cream, not for 4D)

KFC (thank goodness!)

Favorite past time of Hanoian are…

Enjoying tea by the road side

Playing chess

Kick around a kind of ball made from feather

crossing road

and cheating money from unsuspecting tourist like me (warning: you have to pay to take this photo)

Ah! That’s life around Hoan Kiem lake…

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Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah

And this is the founding father of Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh AKA Uncle Ho

We owe our country’s independence to our founding father but we never honor our founding father like the Vietnamese do. Why I said that? Well… here is why.

These are Vietnamese lining up to visit Uncle Ho final resting place. The queue is ridiculously long. So long that it snakes across few roads. This is one of those rare occasion where you can see Vietnamese line up properly. It’s like little Timmy behaving nice and cute when visiting grandma. Notice there are more Vietnamese than foreign tourists here?

And these are Malaysians lining up for… petrol rebate!

I wonder, when was your last visit to our founding father mausoleum? Do you even know where is his mausoleum? Does he even have a mausoleum???

That is why!

You see, the Vietnamese build this gigantic structure just to keep his preserve body.

Yes, Uncle Ho is lying down in his full glory for your viewing pleasure. Other state leaders that I believe preserved that way are Lenin and Mao Zedong, which coincidentally are big time communist leaders. Maybe, this is a way of communist.

Honestly, I was tempted to snap some photos to share with you guys but my camera was “confiscated” even before I enter the mausoleum. All I can describe is like visiting Madame Tussauds with only one wax figure on display.

Actually, not only his body is preserved.

his work place…

his cars…

his home…

his desk, chair, furniture…

…and everything related to him is preserved!

If you still haven’t get tired of him, you can visit his museum! That’s right. He has his own museum.

Uncle Ho will welcome you when you step into his museum.

Then, you can see more of Uncle Ho…

If you still want to know more about Uncle Ho, read his Wiki entry. Boy, you must be obsessed at him.

Oh, while you are there, you can visit this one pillar pagoda. It’s very near the museum.

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They are thin!

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The metal cup contain a filter that holds the crush coffee bean. Hot water is pour in the metal cup.

The coffee will drip in to the cup below.

And it is ready to drink. Genius isn’t it?

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