Hanoi, when September ends

A lot has happened since my last post.

I had a quick trip to Hanoi, Vietnam. It was awesome. It was Amy's plan, and we sort of just went with it. Just a short getaway cum bachelorette's trip for Sumir who's going to be married this coming Dec. Oh due to an unavoidable circumstance, I won't be able to make it to her wedding. Or Suz's. Yes they share the same wedding date. Truly best friends. It is so unfortunate that I can't go to both. Sorry buddies!

We took early morning flight to Hanoi. After 3-hour flight we arrived at the international airport. One of our first crisis was when we couldn't find the driver who was supposed to pick us up and bring us to the hotel. The fact that we can only contact our agent, Luan (Amy's couchsurfer buddy), through facebook was not really helpful either. Luckily though, we bumped into the driver at the other exit.

Apart from those working in tourism business (tour guides, hotel staffs), Vietnamese in Hanoi do not speak much English. However since Luan pretty much had everything arranged for us, the whole trip went quite well. That's the big advantage of travelling with agents. You get to not think. Just chill. Less adventurous, though. I've had my fair share of planning and travelling on my own as well as with travel agents. I couldn't decide on which one is better, it really depends on what you want from the trips.

Back to Hanoi, I'll just let the pictures do most of the talking.

Hanoi's architecture is unique, every bulding looks about the same especially in the Old Quarter.

The infamous Hanoi traffic. Seriously, you've got to have good tolerance to noise, and traffic in general, to live in the city. Every now and then you'll hear horns because they use it just to say, like, "Hey, I'm here on your left, try not to hit me." or "Hey, it's my turn to move." The good thing is since everyone does not seem to follow any of the road rules, they have to drive slowly and be considerate of other vehicles. Speaking from experience, do bear in mind that traffic lights were only applicable to cars, not motorcyclists.

 I don't fancy the city. So let's just head straight to Halong Bay, shall we. We took the cruise which stopped at Dau Go Cave. The stalactites and stalagmites were amazing. Subhanallah. But I hate the colourful lights. They make the whole thing looked fake. Like it was man-made. They even installed a small water fountain near to what's supposed to be Romeo & Juliet's-shaped stalactites. Too touristy already. I'm all into au naturale. 

Halong Bay, as expected, was breathtaking. Fell in love with Mother Nature yet again. Allah is Great.  

Not to forget, we finally get to have the famous Vietnam filter coffee. A must try! 

One of the best parts of our trip was the Cat Ba Island. We spent one night at the Cat Ba Beach Resort, which has just been opened in May so everything is new. Better yet, the resort has its own private beach.

At the end of our trip, Amy finally got her wish granted. She originally wanted to go to Hanoi after seeing a photo of Halong Bay with this beautiful classic tongkang in it. So there you go.