We reached Danang on our first day and we just relaxed....we started our trip from day 2....visiting dragon bridge in Danang ,vietnam was our priority....on weekends this dragon spits fire and water at 9.pm and one should not miss this when in Danang...
we actually planned our trip such that we would be in Danang on Saturday... ..
This was our day 2 itinerary..
đànẵng | son tra prapenisula| lin ungh pagoda |marble mountains |hoi an ancient town |danang dragon bridge fire show
It costed around INR 45,000/- person for our 9 days trip to vietnam which includes roundtrip airfare from vizag, accomodation,food,local travel and attractions..So how did we do our trip in budget?... We rented bikes in Vietnam which most of the people do ...and bought some groceries like eggs and bread..Most of the days our breakfast was eggs , bread and butter...one meal either lunch or dinner we use to have indian food in some fine dine restaurant and sometimes McDonald or KFC was our option...you can find many indian restaurants in Vietnam...other meal we used to have Vietnamese food ...street food is cheap and famous in Vietnam.. .
Ancient imperial city..also called as PURPLE FORBIDDEN CITY is UNESCO World Heritage site ...this is well preserved Vietnamese royal enclosure and it took one full day for us to explore ...and you need not take a guide for this..there will be video explanation inside...
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it's also important to learn and visualise the history and culture of a country....
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By the way ..we went to hue from Danang in a van tightly packed with people..because we were cheated by our travel agent...he said it's bus ticket but it actually is shared van...
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When you are in Vietnam beware of fraudsters...you will find many tourist offices with same name..it's difficult to find out which is original.... .
We like to experience local food...so after having a tiring day...we headed to taste delicacies of vietnam.. one such dish is hotpot...it's actually simmering pot of soup..with combination of fresh herbs..and some noodles kind of thing...I really enjoyed it...
Snake wine is Vietnamese famous alcohol and it's difficult to get authentic one..we had a chance to taste to authentic wine because of our Airbnb host...
as I said earlier...there are many perks of staying with locals...our host had collection of wines like sea weed, snake wine etc alk made by him...
END OF DAY 3
A glimplse of DAY 4 of our vietnam trip...We took a early morning train from hue to dong hoi..we had dragon fruit at station..guess the price ??? .
It's just 20 rs in our currency..where as in india it's 200 rs 😛...coming to our day..we reached dong hoi at around 9 A.M and from there rented a cab...we left our luggage at cloak room in railway sation...
our first stop was at paradise cave...Formed over 300-400 MILLION years ago...guess when this cave was found???
It was found by a local man in 2005 and then explored by British cave reasearch association...After seeing it's beauty it was named as PARADISE CAVE.....
It's one of the world's largest and magnificent caves...it's 31 km long with underground streams but only 1 km is open to visitors...
It wasn't easy for us to reach this cave..first two km was a buggy ride and then we climbed around 500 steps ...😨😰..but the Trek was beautiful though...
Vietnam is home to world's largest cave called Son Doong Cave..and requires 4 days to explore and you need to be physically very fit and know swimming to explore this cave...it's my husband's dream to explore this cave ...and you should be a brave heart too ☺️
It was my husband's idea to visit atlesat one cave in vietnam..vietnam has world's largest caves and few caves have entire ecosystem ...our next stop was at pongh nah cave...
We took a small boat ride into this cave and guess what..there is beach inside this cave..
by this time we were familiar with Vietnamese ways ...learnt a bit to communicate...and we started spending millions..
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don't panic ...1 indian rupee equals to 307 dongs ...so we used to spend around 3 million dons per day...and it felt strange initially to carry millions in pocket...you won't get this chance to spend millions every now and then...😜
We exchanged currency in airport and also in a local bank in Hanoi...we took US dollars from india... . .
Okay enough of currency thing...this day we visited Hanoi temple of literature..hoan kiem lake...hoa lo prison relic..and In the evening to water puppet show..Water puppet show is a must do in Vietnam.. which showcases their cultture..
Back in 2017 when I told my colleague that we are backpacking vietnam...he asked me..do u know which religion is mostly followed in Vietnam??? .
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He said it's CONFUCIANISM often called as folk religion or no religion which gives importance to family and social harmony......
Then it striked my mind that it's equally important to know about a countries' history and how it evolved over years...this is the reason we chose to visit temple of literature which is dedicated to Chinese philosopher CONFUCIUS...
Built in 1070 it hosts Vietnam's first national university and home to Vietnam's finest brains.
This was the most exciting part of our trip...because we were in North vietnam..
We reached cat ba island by bus from Hanoi.
As I alway say..there are some perks of staying with locals...this is local food provided by our host with fresh fish, mussels, some tofu,baked beans and potato...
We couldn't eat mussels though...but I just tasted one...
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Many say..HLAONG BAY is must in Vietnam...but we chose CAT BA island...
why we chose cat ba island over halong bay ???
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People visit halong bay to witness beautiful limestone cliffs and emerald waters...but it is expensive and touristy...here are our reasons to chose cat ba over halong bay..
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* Lan ha bay is similar to halong bay which is near to cat ba island and has almost 400 limestone cliffs
*Calm and serene emerald waters
*It is less touristy and more authentic
*Hell lot of activities to do
*We did kayaking, visited floating villages, saw pearl cultivation process and did trekking in cat ba national park...
*Most importantly ..it's cheap...
*Has beautiful small beaches...
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We booked 1N 2D tour from Hanoi...we took a combined bus ticket which includes bus ticket to haiphong and boat on cat ba island and again bus to cat ba village..this is the cheapest and best option...
We had junk boat for ourselves and had 3 hr cruise to lan ha bay...this we booked after reaching cat ba island...
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For this 2 days trip it costed 5000/- Rs per person including everything...(accomodation,food, trekking,kayaking, transportation) ...it's best deal....
Couples who travel together stay together... traveling helps in knowing and understanding each other better...try to treasure each and every moment be it good or bad... traveling helps you explore and experience something new...
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We trekked to highest point in cat ba national park...we hired a local guide...the trial was not so easy and we saw dead baby snake 🐍 enroute...😨..the guide was soo cool about it ..he said it's nothing...I thought it was a bad decision to Trek..
But when we reached summit we felt awful....the views were breathtaking and we could see all hills below us...
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Would you go for trekking in a foreign country ???
How could the United States lose a war to a poor, agrarian nation like North Vietnam?
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"Everything depends on the Americans. If they want to make war for 20 years then we shall make war for 20 years. If they want to make peace, we shall make peace and invite them to tea afterwards.”... these were HO Chi Minh's words..often called as "uncle Ho"...he was a key figure in winning the war and Saigon was renamed as Ho Chi Minh in his honour..
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Do you know for how many years Vietnam war last????
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War Remenants museum is a must do in Ho chi Minh to know about horrifying facts of vietnam war....we did this in the morning half...
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We spent evening in Bui vien street ..here you can find posh bars to simple street bars siting on the foot path..it comes alive at night and people gather here ..just sit..drink and watch.....the noise and people drive you crazy here...and everything is dead cheap here...
We chose this place to end our Day 8 in Vietnam after visiting war remenants museum...it's just perfect...
this is in district 1 and luckily our Airbnb stay was just a blocks away...and there is plethora of delicacies to taste...I tasted pho here...😋
Can u live inside a tunnel??? Cu Chi tunnels.. Vietnam's brilliant idea to attack enemies...they used to live inside these tunnels along with families...the opening is soo small...u can see the man with green shirt in the picture entering the tunnel.....
Viet Cong dug tens of thousands of miles of these tunnels..they even used to lay traps and do surprise attacks on enemies...
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Some tunnels are open to visitors and our guide took us into the tunnel..it was soo dark and horrifying...we returned after going half the way...we are still surprised how they lived in these tunnels...you can also see the booby traps...
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We felt something interesting about these slippers made from recycled tyres...they used to deceive enemies with reverse footprints using the slippers...like if they are going forward the footprints will be in reverse direction...It's not how much resources u have but how wisely and brilliantly u use them matters..
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This trip we booked from shin tours ...these are the best tour operators and be careful there will be many tourist offices named as shin..you have to find the original one 😂it's a day tour of cu chi tunnels and Mekong delta...which is around Rs 3000/- person..for group tour..
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Do u like eating worms??? people here like a worm that grows on coconut trees and they eat it dipping in fish sauce...😂😬🤐...I would never do that...
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Mekong river starts in the Himalayas and passes through China, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia before reaching Vietnam...the water is soo muddy and this delta is important fishing region...
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we reached My Toh in 🏇 horse cart and spent our secon half of the day cruising in Mekong delta...we stopped over to try some exotic tropical fruits 🍍🍉and enjoyed a live musical performance...🎷🎸🎺
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we then visited to coconut farm.. coconut chocolates are famous in Vietnam and comes in many flavours...swipe left to see making of these chocolates...we bought some chocolates and face pack made from tender coconut..😝
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The best part...lunch of Vietnamese cusine...fresh fried fish from Mekong delta,hot pot, rice and Vietnamese spring rolls called as Goi Cuon...the wrap is very thin and made from rice batter ..
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And the most exciting part...which I forgot to mention in my earlier post...we learnt and tried shooting AK 47 🔫 in cu chi tunnels tour...
