Vietnam_Part Two

Needless to say, both of us got really charred shoulders and SUPER DUPER muscles aches from the Sapa trek so much so that I forgo the dress I brought along (with every initial intention to pose pretty for the seas and sand dunes in it) Also, going up or down a couple of stairs were enough to make us groan like old ladies (we practically slimmed down overnight thankz to the trek) 

Checked into The Cliff Resort & Residences after a four hours drive from Cam Ranh International Airport - our car drove past beach resorts just next to each other and we were like "omg we should have chosen this for our accommodation instead!!" (everything looked so pretty from the outside you know) until the driver turned left and The Cliff came into view I GOT DUMBFOUNDED this place was definitively more high-end than the other pretty beach resorts we were just gushing over a while ago, it got to be the superlative resort in that area and I questioned myself "do we really need to stay in such a darn good place"

^ Forgive me, I folded my shorts coz it was too loose lol bitch much ?????

Obviously, our sand dunes photos damn phail and the terrain was so painful to walk on with fine sands prickling at your ankles from just the smallest picking up of winds (we could have taken the ATV but we did not) but it was nice choosing souvenirs at stores prolly a twenty minutes walk from The Cliff (yes, we chose to walk even tho we had every excuse not to coz MUSCLE ACHES) And then, Sis probably would have enjoyed the walk along the coastline and the walk into the sunset ... with her bf hahaha

OUR LAST STOP - It was alr 2pm by the time we arrived at Saigon via Vietnam Bus Tickets (five hours drive from Mui Ne to Saigon) Strong bkk vibez in Saigon - we had the nicest vietnamese food at Den Long (10/10 would recommend this place) the food actually tasted as flavorful as it looks in the pictures (: And the shopping scene there had been much more existential than I thought it would be - not as cheap as bkk, but the styles they carry were more varied and unique and less wholesale! And there's a PMQ equivalent here in Saigon called The Cafe Apartments - the kind of hipster place you would defo want to check out for the food and shopping ~ More shopping at Icon68 which hadn't really been intended for, but it was too early to be back at our dorm and yet we needed some place to wait out the storm SO WHY NOT

[x] shrimp and pork spring rolls
[x] potato pork cakes
[x] grilled chicken sauteed w/ 5 different seasonings
[x] seafood fried rice
[x] vietnamese coffee w/ condensed milk (cold)

Our last day of the trip had been a short one - mostly doing touristy things like shopping for souvenirs at Ben Thanh Market (be prepared for prices to be jacked up tenfold SIAO ONE JUST BARGAIN), taking pics in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral, and writing postcards from a McD nearby before mailing them out at Saigon Central Post Office (omg it's a beauty and for someone who loves sending postcards to friends from overseas, this place ranks damn high on my to-go list) But apparently, their efficiency is very much in question for none of my friends have received their postcards after like three weeks ever since I mailed them out ????? Anw I had been keeping a lookout for nice postcards to write on since day one (not those run of the mill kinds you know), but omg you wouldn't be able to find any anywhere except at the Central Post Office and the small indie shops in its vicinity, so now you know where to go for really nice postcards! (But alas for my friends, I still wrote on those run of the mill postcards)

MUST GO IN MY OPINION - 
☺ Sapa Trekking
☺ Den Long Restaurant
☺ The Cafe Apartments
☺ Saigon Central Post Office

VIETNAM  AUG 2017 - VLOGGED!

xx

Vietnam_Part One

22 AUG - 26 AUG 2017 / 

Finally, another trip with Sis after two years (ever since our Bali trip) and this time, we covered Hanoi and Sapa in northern Vietnam before taking a domestic flight down south to Mui Ne and Saigon (personal preference to use Saigon instead of Ho Chi Minh City Idk why) and I think Im more inclined to travel to regional countries in recent years, as opposed to my fascination with far flung destinations in the past - like I just wanna do more honest travelling and see a place for what it really is and not get too caught up in ticking off dream destinations after dream destinations.

One day I'll walk your soil

One day I'll finally know my soul

One day I'll come to you

To say hello Vietnam

To say xin chào Vietnam

We two landed at Noi Bai International Airport, Hanoi but have no intention to really explore the capital of Vietnam since we would be taking an overnight bus to Sapa from Hanoi Old Quarter. Without a place to deposit our luggage, we basically just hang around their Design Center for a bit (great if you are into crafts culture like ceramics, baskets etc) and took up space at this Japanese-Western fusion cafe before heading for our bus pick-up point and had the best pho in Hanoi there! Anw the Dong currency confused me so much at first but a very kind lady whom I bought mineral water from tried to enlighten me on the correct usage of notes, otherwise I would have paid six dollars for a sixty cents mineral water - so many zeros omg

^ Sapa Express - we took the Luxury 32 Soft Beds bus which set us back 13USD per pax (reasonable price considering it's a prolly five and a half hours journey from Hanoi to Sapa) The private cars we booked on two occasions cost at least 170USD per trip, so it would have been nicer if there were alternatives like these buses! I mean, I could have slept comfortably anywhere so of course I would have preferred a cheaper option BUT TIME CONSTRAINTS YO (we had only five days and alot of time had alr been spent travelling on the road)

It was 330am by the time we got off the bus, and luckily for us the drop-off point was actually walking distance from most Sapa hotels (prolly a seven mins walk) and unluckily for us there was not much street lights in our path and stray dogs seemed to be right behind our tracks, it totally made for the perfect horror scene. But the night sky was so clear I saw this wide expanse of stars like I have never seen them before - faint twinkles but still beautiful I didn't even bother to take a picture with my phone (knowing full well that the photo turn-out would not do those stars justice) so yes, everything's just different up in the mountains (:

^ Breakfast with a view at Sapa Lodge Hotel

We signed up for this six hours trek (from 9am to 3pm) the next day which cost 17USD per pax and though we two were all smiles and sunshine in the pictures below, it was plain agony trying to catch up with our group (consisting mainly of ang-mohs and a few Koreans) THEY WERE SO FAST AND WE WERE SO SLOW hahaha and you never know what kind of terrain would welcome you in the next moment - it could be a levelled surface, or muddy soil steps which either led to a descent down the valleys or an ascent up again (which at times were really slippery and steep), or stone steps in the middle of rushing waters, and navigating around tree roots and Idk which animal dung - the journey was really arduous what with almost non-stop walking and climbing and slipping but it proved to be one of the most memorable part of the trip. And we two couldn't have done it without the hill tribes locals literally giving us a helping hand!

Anw by the last hour it was starting to pour real heavy and all and at one point of time during the last stretch of the trek we two thought we lost our group (or the other way round depending on whose pov) WE WERE ALR SO FREAKIN TIRED LIKE WHY DID IT HAVE TO RAIN and then I got so stoned upon reaching our hotel (power outage until 4pm due to the rain) I was shivering on the chair, unable and refusing to do anything else and thinking to myself I trekked my way to a fever on my second day of the trip and feeling weak and wtf until I came to my senses a good two hours later and stepped into the toilet for a hot shower (which was the best thing to do to stop the shivering) Did I mention my pants split wide open at the back and I didn't even know when it happened ????? And worse, I don't even know who saw ?????

So yes, I left my pants and my Bata shoes behind (and resorted to my fugly slippers for the rest of the trip) but I still think I do love trekking / hiking trips like this coz the payoff (ie. beautiful sceneries) is always the sweetest when real effort has been put in. It's always about the journey, they say. In fact, Im gonna climb Mt. Fansipan (the highest mountain in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia; the "Roof of IndoChina") one day (: Will write about Mui Ne and Saigon in the next post!

xx