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Vietnam Review |
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HANOI
Reviewed by
Evan Wappel - Edmonton, Ab
Wild Rose Travel Client |
Click image to enlarge | At the airport, I cashed in some of my US dollars and received a huge wad of money, $7.6 million dong! I felt like a millionare for a moment. I took a shuttle bus into the city and on the way I saw lots of people riding bikes and tending the rice fieIds wearing the classic Vietnamese sun-hats. I checked into a hotel that was priced at $15USD per night and it was very comfortable. (AC, western bathroom, cable TV, mini-bar, towels, etc) Vietnam definitely has it's own identity in the world. The art and architecture is awesome. I ate dinner at a renowned restaurant called "Little Hanoi" and the food was excellent. I also had a couple of nice cold beers, which always taste good after a day of travel. I walked to Hoan Kiem Lake, which is a busy location in Hanoi. It is a beautiful lake in the middle of the city, with a pagoda located on a small island, connected by a great red bridge. I purchased a Lonely Planet guide for Thailand from a street salesman, and later I discovered that the book was a copy! Somebody had actually taken the time to photocopy each page and reconstruct the binding to form a new book that looks exactly the same. (I can tell because the color maps are all photocopied in black and white!) Of course, the book is wrapped in clear plastic when you buy it, giving the impression that it is brand new. |
Click image to enlarge | NHA TRANG
I went diving with a great group called "Octopus Diving Club" located on the beach in Nha Trang, near the War Memorial. I completed my PADI advanced open water with the Octopus Group. My instructor was Yuriko Ryo. Yuriko has done over 300 dives in Nha Trang and she is fluent in both Japanese and English. The conditions in Nha Trang were great. I learned that Nha Trang was the only location in Vietnam where foreigners are allowed to dive. The government of Vietnam has a military base on the big island directly east of Nha Trang. It is common for government officials to approach the dive boats and ask for the proper paperwork from the dive co-ordinators. I thought this was quite strange when it happened to me, but the diving continued, so I didn't ask any questions. The water was very warm and the color was great. The visibility was not the greatest, but during April/May it is supposed to be very clear. I did some cave diving with one of the instructors. The food on the boat was very amazing. There was a Vietnamese lady on board, cooking a huge meal all morning in a tiny little kitchen, with limited resources. The meal was served on the upper deck of the boat, on some comfortable bamboo mats, and everybody had their own bowl and chopsticks. The food tasted so good. It was served ?buffet' style, in the middle of a circle of divers. I felt like a shark going in for a feeding frenzy. |
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