Journey of Life

The passage of time is truly remarkable! We must say that we barely got to know Hanoi city because of the time constraint. Hopefully we can make a comeback in the future and explore other parts of Vietnam. Our outbound flight is scheduled at 3 pm. Before checking out, we spent some time having breakfast at the Diplomatic Lounge.  Nu'man also spent time at the pool. At noon, Vietnam Drive  picked us up in the afternoon and headed to Hanoi airport. Bye-bye Vietnam. Fresh-squeezed juices for breakfast Nice selections Takde orang pun... awal lagi ke? Lepak dulu laa... Buggy rides are provided 24 hours 4 stars for Vietnam Airlines

It took around two and half drive to the jetty before we embarked for Halong Bay trip. Once we boarded into Song Bien 19 , we knew that this would be an interesting island trip, as opposed to typical snorkeling and islands hoping activities. Halong Bay was the shot for the Kong movie in 2017 and the island itself was called Skull Island. We were given a sitting table with an Australian family of three. As I mentioned earlier, there won't be any snorkeling or swimming on this trip, as you can tell based on our attire. So, what are we going to do? Let the pictures do the talking... The food onboard was amazing. Halong Bay is known for its sparkling waters,  towering limestone islands and islets, caves, and traditional floating villages. Our boat stopped at one of the village before we transferred to small boat. What happened next simply amazed us of the nature beauties. You can opt for canoeing around the many of islets Stalactites formation that hang form the cave'...

We had an internal flight up to Hanoi this morning on Vietnam Airlines. At noontime, we arrived at the bustling city of Hanoi, Vietnam. Drive picked us up from Noi Bai International Airport. I used up my membership privilege to book a suite at the Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake. To our surprise, we had been upgraded to a premier suite that faced the lake...yeahhh!! We were given a welcoming drink as well as delectable sweet and savory treats at the Diplomat Lounge. We skipped our heavy lunch then. Yup... it was served all day long and we could hop in anytime as many times as we wanted to! Barely 2 days in the city, minus a day trip to Ha Long Bay, so we headed to Ba Dinh Square. That's when we know that Ho Chi Minh City is named after the Vietnamese revolutionary leader & president that died in 1969. A mausoleum has been erected as his resting place. Then we continued to walk to the One Pillar Pagoda, which is also known as the Perfume Temple, and the breeze stopped for pho...

If Cambodia has Angkor Wat and Indonesia has Borobudur Temple (both ticks are still off in our bucket list), Vietnam has its own decades-old Hindu temples in Quảng Nam province, located specifically in My Son Sanctuary. Built by the King of Champa between the 4th and 14th centuries, they are dedicated to the worship of the god Shiva. After an hour, we reached the sanctuary about 70 km southwest of Da Nang. The site is surrounded by mountain ranges and the temples are quite scattered. We just follow the signboard that dictates the temple's sequence along the trails. Many architectural buildings were bombed by the US Army during the Vietnam War. From the inside of the temple, we gaze upwards. The temples are made of a reddish brick. Decorative carvings have been cut directly into the bricks. One of the temples was converted into an exhibition room. Some of the relics found at the site Excavation and restoration work sponsored by German and Dutch Company...