When I was in Hanoi, I took a 3 days and 2 nights tour package to Ho Long Bay. This is a interesting trip only if you do not mind having long waiting time for almost everything.
Guess more co-ordination is needed to be done.
After hours of waiting, we finally onboarded the ship. We had the first night stay in a hotel in Cat Ba island.
The next morning, we continued with the sailing on the ship.
Lunch was served on the ship. Boat people also approached us trying to sell their items
The ship continued to sail slowly and we had a good view of the bay
Huế is a city in the central of Vietnam. It was the seat of the Nguyen Dynasty emperors and Vietnam’s national capital from 1802 to 1945.
A major attraction of Hue is the Imperial City (皇城). This is a walled enclosure within the citadel (京城) of the city of Huế, the former imperial capital of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty.
The Imperial City was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. This historical site is still undergoing restoration when I was there.
When you walk out of the visiting site, you will be encountered by locals trying to sell anything they have on hand.
The Thien Mu Pagoda (Heaven Fairy Lady Pagoda) is one of the most fascinating ancient pagoda in the Hue city. It is situated on Ha Khe hill, north bank of the Perfume River, in Huong Long village. I walked for about 5 kilometers (about an hour) from the city to reach there. After been there for about 30 minutes, I walked back to the hotel; I could have taken the boat ride back instead.
The Hue Royal Antiquities Museum is a World Heritage but I found there is no nothing much to see.
The market is on the right hand side of the the bridge when I walked from the main road. Besides vegetables and meat, the market also sells food, drinks, household items, clothing, shoes, etc. I bought a pair of Adidas shoe and some roasted Vietnamese cashew nuts through a hard bargaining process.
The city area where I stayed.
I stayed in the Amona Hotel. The check-out time is at noon but I was allowed to stay till the late afternoon for the bus come and pick me up to Da Nang, I gave the hotel a 5 Star rating in Agoda.
Mui Ne is about four hours by bus from Ho Chi Minh City. Most of the hotels and resorts are situated along the road and the long distance bus will drop the passengers in front of their respective hotels while travelling from one end to the other of the road. This place is worth a stay for 2 to 3 days to relax and enjoy yourself.
I did not get into the muddy stream as I did not want to wet my socks and shoe. I should wear slipper or sandal instead.
Behind the hotels is the long stretch of white and sandy beach. Some resorts have their own personal beach reserved for the hotel guests.
This is a very impressive fishing village.
There are not many attractions in Mui Ne but the two sand dunes are worth the visit. In the white sand dunes, you could imagine that you are in the desert but you will not have any fear of getting lost or dying of thirst. There is no camel but you could take the jeep or motorbike to get into the sand dunes. But I would recommend that you take a slow walk to have the feeling of walking in the desert. Despite the striking color, the red sand dunes are much more less impressive than the white sand dunes.
I stayed in the Sapphire Hotel. It is just along the walking street.
The night market
Simply local food I eat during the trip. Cheap and good.
I walked around freely and visited a few interesting places.
The traditional examination
An Aerial view of the city
While I was walking towards the main road to take the bus to my next destination on my last day in Guilin, I heard a loud sound of explosion behind me. I saw smoke went up higher than the five storey building. I walked back to see what has happened and found that it was a celebration of the opening of a new shop. Too many fire crackers were used.
From Seoul, I took the bus from the Dong Seoul Bus Terminal to Danyang for 19,800 won (S$24.73) and arrived at the Danyang Danuri Center. The bus trip is about 2 hours. Got a taxi for 4,000 won (S$5) to the Sono Moon Resort and stayed there for 3 days and 2 nights. You can also use the Korean T-card and take the local bus from the Danuri Center to the resort, it is about 4 bus stops. You can even walk from the Danyang Danuri Center and passed by the traditional market to reach the resort as it is just one straight road down, about 30 minutes of slow walk.
There is a water park inside the Sono Moon Resort but it was closed when I was there. There are also supermarket, bakery shop, restaurant and children play area at the basement of the resort. Worth staying for a few days.
The Mancheonha Skywalk is about 3 km from the Sono Moon Resort. Could take a slow morning walk.
The 30-metre high Manchenha Skywalk is free but you have to pay 3,000 won (S$3.75) for the bus to bring you up there. As the weather is not good, the other activities like the Alpine coaster and zipline were closed.
Took the local bus from the Danyang Danuri Center to Jacheon Station to take the train to Busan. The train ticket is 47,400 won (S$59.20) and the journey is about 2.5 hours.
The bento fast food was too good that I went to the same place 3 times.
