Weekend in Hanoi

I already have been to Hanoi last year, but it was only for one day for business, and I didn't really see anything of the city.
This time, it was a pure pleasure trip. I booked flight to Hanoi with Vietnam Airlines. This is relatively convenient, since there is free luggage and you normally get a seat at the emergency exit as a westerner. Flight back I booked on JetStar, which is a low cost carrier in the AsiaPacific region, based in Australia. They do as well domestic flights in Vietnam. Point is, like all other low cost carriers, that you have to pay for everything extra, like luggage, drinks... They have some sort of business class, which is 3USD (in words three) extra, which I took. Really nice!

I went with a friend from HCMC who had a guest from Switzerland. We arrived rather late on friday evening and only took a little walk through the old quarter, where our hotel was located. Actually worth a recommandation. 50 USD per night, breakfast included. Clean and spacious rooms, and excellent staff.

 Hanoi is not the most night active city, so most of the bars were already closed, when we were walking around. And many lights of the sightseeing locations have already been switched off.

Next day, we made a little sightseeing tour through the old quarter of Hanoi:

I really like the city. It is much more relaxed than Ho Chi Minh City. Traffic is as well very chaotic, but however it still feels not as "pushy". People are as well a bit more friendly and seem to enjoy life a bit more. Temperaturewise, I was really nice. Still quite warm, around 25-28 degrees centigrade, but it was possible to breath again. Furthermore, Hanoi doesn't feel like a big city, but more like a big village. With nice restaurants, cafes and bars (of which most close at 23:00h).  

Saturday evening is the night market in the old quarter. We took a little through that marekt. However, it is quite exhausting, since it's totally crowded.

We stayed for another drink (or two), and headed back to the hotel.

Sunday, we didn't have too much time, since I had to leave again early afternoon. So we tried to visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, but it was totally crowded and no chance to enter without booking.

So we went back to the city and took another walk through the old town and to the opera house.

This was definitely not my last trip to Hanoi. Really a lovely city, with a bit more character than Ho Chi Minh City. And weatherwise a bit more comfortable for me. Really enjoyed those 2 days here.

Sightseeing in HCMC

This weekend 2 friends made their last stop of their Vietnam vacation here in HCMC. We went for a typical sightseeing tour to the main attractions.

Just find some impressions below:

Notre Dame

Cenral Post office in new colour!

Uncle Ho inside the post office

Old map of Saigon

Ben Thanh Market outside

Ben Thanh Market inside

Opera house

Bitexco

High Tech

Motorbike driving in HCMC Part 1

As promised, I managed to cut my first video.
Of course it's not a masterpiece, but at least it gives a little impression of driving in HCMC when there is basically no traffic!

Enjoy:

Happy New Year!!

At the moment, Vietnam is celebrating Lunar New Year! This year it's the year of the Goat. So everything is nicely decorated, flower markets are basically everywhere and everybody seems to lose their minds...

Since it is custom to give presents for Tet, I was visiting a lot of customers during the last 2 weeks. You normally bring a typical gift basket with some snacks, wine and other foodstuff. Once we visited as well a little candle factory. A very manual work:

Before Tet, traffic is getting worse and worse here in HCMC. In certain districts, traffic is so dense, that even walking is basically not possible anymore...

At the moment all streets are more or less empty. Most of the people went to their families in their hometowns. Meaning, most of the people living here, someday moved to HCMC for work, similar to China.

Point now is, that for the days during Tet, most of the shops and restaurants and business are officially closed. So, you should be prepared and fill up your fridge in advance with food.
But it's a good time to calm down a bit, clean up the desk and take some rest. Still have to figure out the GoPro video software and edit my first video. Might take another few days :)!

Daily routine

Well, like everywhere, somehow the daily routine gets you in the end. I somehow managed to organise most of the important things and know where to get the stuff I want and need. Know I have a good shop for getting camera equipment with decent prices, clothes I get mainly from the Russian Market, as everything else either doesn't have european sizes or is simply a rip off. Or I go to my tailor, who recently made me 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants again. Shirts were 23USD each and pants 25USD each. Quality again was really good.
 I have established a rather good relationship with a watch dealer, and I found a hairdresser who understands at least want I want. For food I have now 3 regular places to go: Metro for especially drinks, Annam Gourmet for European food (but ridiculously expensive), and Big C around the corner of my home for Vietnamese food. Today I looked for the nearest Gas Station, which is around 2 km away, check!
Then there is a rather big shop, where you can buy electronics and white goods for decent prices: Ngyuen Kim. However you should always bring some time with you, as the payment process is a bit complicated. You always have to go to a sales clerk, and tell him/her: I want that! Then you get a receipt with which you have to go to the cash desk. The person at the cash desk takes the receipt and puts it under a pile of other receipts. First in first out principle. Then you wait in a queue until your receipt is due. Then you pay and get a bigger receipt. With this receipt you go to the ground floor and wait for your item to be handed over at the "handing over desk". Then you're done. Normally it takes only 20-30 minutes until you finally have your product in hand.
My favourite fast food place: Gotcha Burgers! Better quality than in any Burger King or McD, and even cheaper! Love the place!
Now I found an excellent rooftop bar with an amazing view over Ho Chi Minh City.

But what is much more important is that I finally know some people better and better and start to build up some friendships. This is something I was missing since I started here. So my weekends are even fuller now, but I do enjoy it more and more.
However, I do look forward to Tet (Lunar New Year). Office will be closed, which means, that I will have some days off. The last weeks were a bit stressful since before Tet everybody is going crazy here, and we have a lot more work to do. And the coming days will not be better.