Coming to Singapore does not only have the benefit of being able to go to school in an amazing country, but it is also a perfect place to visit the rest of South East Asia - and that is exactly what we did.
On the 20th of October, three friends of mine and I flew to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. After only three hours in the plain and ruffly half an hour in the taxi, we arrived at our accommodation in the middle of the Old Quarter of the city, the busiest part of the whole city. Immediately, we were experiencing what Vietnam was known for. Small streets, a lot of people, even more, scooters and motorbikes and a lot of noise. It was amazing. We spend the first evening just wandering around and trying some streetfood on very comfortable around 30cm high chairs, definitely a fun experience.
The next day was a little bit more structured, we did some sightseeing and tried some more Vietnamese food like Phô, a noodle soup with chicken, beef or other meat in it - very delicious. We saw some of the other parts of Hanoi, the town hall, the opera house and some very beautiful parks. Still, everything seemed very unstructured, loud and different for me, I still had to get used to the city a little. In the evening, Francesco and I went out for dinner and sat down at a big lake in the middle of the city, it was actually quiet-peaceful, although you heard all the vehicles in the background. We were sitting there for most likely three hours, just enjoying the city.
On Tuesday, we went towards the North of the city, we shopped at some markets and looked at some very beautiful temples. Later that day we went to the famous train street. It is a tight "street" in-between tall houses, however there are only train racks, no space for cars or scooter, sometimes even people to walk. In this street, there are a lot of cafes where you can watch the train passing through a few times a day. Many tourists visit this spot, I even heard some German voices here and there. We sat down in one of the little cafes until the train came. The train is around half a meter away from you, you have to press against the house wall to not be caught by it, however, it was definitely an interesting experience.
On Wednesday, we took the train in the morning to Ninh Binh. Ninh Binh is known for its stunning nature- mountains and hills covered in green, waterways passing through them. We visited another little temple, we climbed up the hill and went through a holy place in a dripstone cave. From up the hill, you had an amazing view over the other hills. After that, we took a little boat tour through the little rivers passing in between the hills. It was very peaceful and quite beautiful, we even drove through some very low hanging caves, sometimes even I as the smallest in the group was worried about my head.
The rest of the day, we spend hiking and walking through some more hills, the sunset in the hills was amazing.
And then in the evening, our real adventure started our first night train: 14 hours. Looking back it wasn't actually as bad, it is not that expensive and you can get through Vietnam easily, but it is definitely something to get used to, especially coming from a European or rather german background looking at the cleanness and comfort.
But, 14 hours later we made it to our second destination - Hoi An. Now our holiday really began. Hoi An is a beautiful little town on the east coast of Vietnam. A lot of beaches, a lot of tourists and a lot of big resorts, we prefered our little flat. In the first evening, Francesco and I decided to have a look at the beach, it was very calming walking along the beach. After a while, we decided to sit down in one of the many beach bars and had dinner.
Hoi An is famous for its old town, it is divided by a river and to the left and right you can find a lot of restaurants, shoppes, but also quite a few cultural and religious sites. We spend the whole day discovering hidden places and tourists spot. In the evening, the night market is a definite must-see. The whole old quarter is beautiful at night, there are little lampions everywhere, and the boats on the water carry those as well.
One more night train, this time 17 hours, and we were in our final destination - Ho Chi Minh City, I would guess the most modern city of Vietnam. You could definitely feel the western influence the south has had during the Vietnam war and afterwards, everything was much more western than Hanoi, which is in the far North of the country. You have American stores and restaurant, a lot of western cuisines, even a german restaurant and the structure and buildings in especially the new part resembled some western parts. The city is very beautiful, a good mixture of old and new, in some aspects you could feel like we were in the chaotic Hanoi again, but in others you could feel that this is the "rising star" in Vietnam, a lot of international universities and companies and a lot more focus on the wealthier part of Vietnam, which has mostly settled down in Ho Chi Minh.
Looking back at the trip, it was definitely tough especially with the night trains, but it was incredibly worth it. I discovered Vietnam from nearly all perspectives and it was one of the most memorable trips I have ever made.