“Live with no excuses and travel with no regrets” ~ Oscar Wilde
Welcome to my travel blog! In this article, I will be talking about my 5 months of travel experience around South East Asia and Europe.
Let's start with my favorite place...
Vietnam
Hanoi
Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam located on the banks of the Red River. In contrast to numerous national capitals of the world, Hanoi isn't the biggest, however the second biggest city by population. Hanoi is situated around 1,760 km north of Ho Chi Minh City, which is the biggest city in Vietnam. The primary thing you will notice is the traffic, horns, lots of scooters and consistent progression of visitors.
As the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi is accounted to be the world's quickest developing city somewhere in the range of 2008 and 2025. The rural area, which earlier assumed an imperative job in the city's economy, has been significantly modernized. Hanoi is likewise one of the nation's principal places of culture and amusement.
Old Quarter
The humming heart of Hanoi for over 1,000 years, the Old Quarter is arranged at the north finish of Hoan Kiem Lake is yet a center of regular day-to-day existence for local people.
There are so many reasons to fall in love with Hanoi Old Quarter. This hidden gem is in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, called Hanoi Train Street, between Le Duan and Kham Thien streets. Train Street is one of the most visited attractions in Hanoi and a popular photography place for tourists. The Hanoi authorities decided to close this street on October 12, 2019, due to safety reasons. Despite being closed, we still managed to take pictures in this special place.
After exploring Hanoi Train Street, we enjoyed another unique experience of the Hanoi city tour, hop on hop off bus which is 4 4-hour valid ticket. Hanoi city tour bus has 15 stops through more than 20 famous attractions allowing travelers to experience the city in their own way.
Though we couldn’t complete the 15 stops, we managed to hop off to admire the oldest Buddhist temple in Hanoi, Trấn Quốc Pagoda, which was built in the 6th century. An interesting fact about this temple is that the monks have inhabited the Trấn Quốc Pagoda for quite a long time, showing the methods for Buddhism to the general population. Before the guests begin showing up, the monks supplicate at the different places of worship spread around the grounds. After a long day of sightseeing, we decided to head back to our hotel to get some rest, for our early morning journey to Halong Bay!
Halong Bay
Halong Bay is one of the most relaxing and magical places to visit in Vietnam. It is best known for its emerald water and thousands of limestone islands. There are so many reasons to book a cruise in Halong Bay. We booked our cruise through the Peony Cruise, and If you want to book a visit to this magnificent place, I highly recommend the Peony Cruise as we were very satisfied with their hospitality and services. Halong Bay is a relatively easy four-hour drive from Hanoi.
For 2 days and 1 night on the cruise, our overall cost for 2 adults was $376 USD. While the expense may appear to be high, it included great quality meals and amenities on board, such as a spa, as well as entry to Halong Bay.
It was literally being in paradise, surrounded by hundreds of limestone islands in different shapes and sizes. Regardless of the weather, you will find yourself admiring such scenic landscapes. From sunrise to sunset, the mood of the landscape captured an epic view to bringing out the hues of the sky and water. Travelling isn't always relaxing especially working remotely. However, during this time we decided to leave our laptops in our bags to simply de-stress and unwind. We also noticed some areas of our tour were more environmentally conscious.
We closed our evening watching the sunset and watching the sky change colors was just picturesque. Being able to watch the bright yellow sunset behind the island was more magnificent than I had expected. It was as though everything felt so still, and I couldn't help but feel at peace and joyful just by watching this magnificent sunset among hundreds of limestone islands. Take life day by day and be thankful for the little things. Try not to get trapped in what you can't control.
Concentrate on the positive...
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