Ninh Binh

Ninh Bin is in the north of Vietnam, southeast of Hanoi. The region is very nice with its mountains and their limestone formations. It's possible to visit caves and go on a boat trip through he rocky mountains. We went to different places during 1 day by motorbike which is an easy and good way to see a lot of the landscape.
The weather here in the north is very different to this one we had before. Here it's very foggy, rainy and quite cold!! Well, after more than a month of sun and heat, it's ok to have a change.

Tam Coc: On the boat trip we went through caves and surrounding moutains, along the river are a lot of rice fields (as everywhere here in Vietnam, it's full of them).

A temple which is half built inside a cave and also in the middle of rice fields.

After climbing up to one of the mountains we had great view of the landscape; the river with the boats were we where before and the mountains in the middle of the rice fields. It's nice to see the mountains covered with fog, but if it's clear, the view must even be better.

Also Fredi had fun during the trip, only one dangerous moment he had to go through... To go up to the mountain, he had to pass through the mouth of the dragon who controls the entrance to the temple. Good for Fredi that the dragon just had finished his lunch, so he wasn't hungry anymore and he let Fredi go his way.

Hue

After Hoi An we went by bus to Hue, which was the capital of Vietnam till 1945. The city is surrounded by a wall, the citadel, and within the citadel is the kings palace. This place is also a UNESCO world heritage.

By dragon boat we went on a boat trip to see some tombs of the kings of acient Vietnam.

The tombs are are big with temples, gardens and artificial lakes inside. Also statutes of elephants, horses and Mongols can be found inside. The last photo is from the Thien Mu Pagoda which was the most important one before the war.

The entrance gate to the kings palace in the citadel.

Fredi makes new relationships, in one of the temples he met the turtle, the symbol of longevity.

Hoi An

After Nha Trang we went by sleeping bus to Hoi An, an old traiding town which is now a UNESCO world heritage. The place is full of tourist and shops where you can find everything you need. The disadvantage is, that it is a small place but nice place, but compared with other towns quite expensive. Anyway, we spent there 2 days before going to Hue, where we are at the moment.

Sleeping bus

The old town in Hoi An with some nice wooden houses and the famous Japanese bridge. There are also some nice temples, one for example with a big dragon fountain.

On a day trip we went to My Son, the most important remains of the acient Cham empire. However there isn't a lot to see, the place was heavily bombed during the Vietnam war... Anyway, Fredi enjoyed it and got a new friend, a bull.

Fruit market

Nha Trang

We already left Nha Trang a few days ago, but we were busy and hat some internet problems, so here you see some photos from this place and what we did there.


That's Nha Trang; a long and nice beach, some islands, a river and the Cham towers (temple ruins).


On a day trip we went by boat first to an aquiarum, the fishes inside were not so spectacular, but from outside the building is very nice and interesting. Also a small fishing port close to it looks nice.


On this boat trip we had a big meal on the boat, many different dishes, and afterwards we enjoyed the "floating bar". How the name says, the bar is in sea and we could have some drinks. It was quite a windy day, so instead of being around the bar, we drifted away and had to swim back for the next drink.


In the guesthouse, where we stayed, we were invited for dinner. The whole family celebrated their names anniversary and the guest could join them. We had some great food and a lot of beer...
I always thought English people, maybe German and Czech as well, drink a lot and fast. But nooooo, Vietnamese drink and drink and drink, no stop during 2 hours and the empty bottels they throw below the table. Afterwards they take a motorbike to drive home.... (luckyly we had our room on the 1st floor and so a short way.)


Here in Vietnam are some really nice markets, non touristy, real life and a lot of food to buy. Here an example from the fish part of the market.

Fredi goes swimming

A long time passed without any notice from Fredi. We're sorry about that, but the good news are that Fredi is fine and he enjoys the holidays as much as we do it. Today he went swimming!
Well, not in the Mekong where I'd like to see him, but initially in the sea. He had fun in the big Pacific Ocean on a lovely beach in Nha Trang. Have a look:


First Fredi wasn't sure if he wanted to go closer to the sea or just stay on the beach...


He approached step by step...


A small wave reached him and he realized that the water wasn't very cold...


So he wanted to have more, entered in the water, swam around and had fun.


But oh my god.... When he wanted to go out, a big wave captured him and dragged him unter water. Poor Fredi, what a pity...


Finally he reached the beach and a save place and the only thing he wanted to do, was relaxing and enjoying the beach!

Dalat

Dalat is located on a altitude of about 1500 meters above sea level which makes it a confortable place to relax as the temperature is as hot as in Saigon for example. However during day time it is still hot, as soon as the sun goes down, it does the same with temperature and a jumper is recommanded. Founded by the French, Dalat has as main attraction an artifical lake which disappeared temporarily because they are repairing it, so instead of water we could only see the brown earth...
More interesting than the town are the possibilities around with beautiful landscape and many tour offers. We went on a day trip to see some places where people work on traditional things, for example a silk farm, coffee and tea platation, flowers in greenhouses, rice wine production, etc. We also saw a quite big waterfall, which luckily had enough water, the rivers we saw before were very dry, and a temple. Temples are everywhere, but what we recognized here in Vietnam compared with the countries before is, that here are many churches and the most of them have a modern architecture.
By the way, regarding modern architecuture: In Dalat is a house which is called "crazy house", it's a hotel and at the same time a tourist attraction. The style is maybe a bit crazy, but it's very nice. The people here compare it with Gaudi (they know Barcelona for sth more than just the football team!), the rooms of the hotel are all different and steps and passages in the building have something similar with Gaudi.
Despite the location and attractions, we left Dalat after 1,5 day, the tour wasn't the best one we've done and it's quite an expensive place. So next time we'll tell you more about the beach in Nha Trang.

Photos:
1. Mountain landscape near Dalat
2. Elephant waterfall
3. Happy Buddha
4. Silk farm
5. - 7. Crazy House with Fredi who enjoyed the visit as much as we