This year, we were priviledged to go abroad [Hanoi + Halong Bay] for our office trip, while the whole world is facing a bleak future! It was a 4day /3night trip which started on ? and ended on . We went via 'now everyone can fly' plane, but this time with seat #.. that's progress! no need to rush for seats.
This is the airport.... yup! nothing to shout about [as compared to Sien Reap]
Hanoi, is a bustling + quaint city. The architecture is a mixture of haphazzard + 'well-thought of' design. This combination somehow makes the place unique.
It turns out most of the buildings are built using 6m width grid coz land was very expensive in the heart of the city. Rental could range between $15,000-$20,000 USD on the ground floor of shoplots!
The many characters of Hanoi
This city is a bike city.... they're everywhere!
Ainon blending in...
The Hotel that we stayed in Hanoi had a very small frontage, maybe about 6m width! There was either 2 or 3 suites per floor.
The dining area [topmost floor] could maybe fit 3 tables!
This bridge was designed by the same guy that did Eiffel Tower.. imagine that!
Sightseeing the streets of Hanoi on trishaw... 1 person/trishaw! Talk about cheap labor!
At the silk factory, seeing first hand how silk is being produced.. from 'worm' to the beautiful soft fabric... simply amazing + intricate process! No wonder silk are expensive. Imagine how many had to be sacrifice...
Shopping afterwards... of course!
Tired bunch
The hotel that we stayed in Halong was definitely nicer than in Hanoi
These are the hagglers in front of our hotel. You cannot escape unless you buy a dozen pearls from them!
Taking the cruise boat to Halong Bay Caves
Look at those scrumptious food served on the Boat, lovely!
Our Ride... what luck, we got the whole entire boat to ourselves!
Our tour guide [middle] was friendly + helpful [the 2nd one actually, the 1st one fell sick/ gave up after the 1st day!]
All racing to the Cave.. Feels like Amazing Race!
Climbing to the Cave.... a bit tiring, but the climb is definitely worth it...
Even the Monks are going there!
The experience in the cave was breathtaking! No wonder the Vietnamese was lobbying very hard to make Halong Bay as one of the natural 7 wonders of the world!
More like millions of years to get it to look like this!. The tour guide said it took almost 100 years just to form 1 cm of stalagtite or stalagmite ..
This is Us in that awesome cave in Halong Bay
The Kissing Rock
To sum up the whole journey, we had a tra-la-la time + hope we'll be able to go again to interesting places next year... insyaallah
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