Gate Hoàn Kiếm Lake This is the most famous lake in the center of Hà Nội, whose name means “return the sword” (for more about the legend, follow this link). If you look at the map, there are plenty of lakes in this capital. That one however is famous, next to the center’s tiny streets.… Continue reading A Walk around Hoàn Kiếm Lake at Night
Category: Travel
Cầu Giấy District
Yesterday evening we left the Long Biên district to visit my sister-in-law in Cầu Giấy district. That’s crossing the whole city from East to West. We did not think about the rush hour and ended in traffic jams all the way, around 1h15min by taxi. Hopefully the way back was faster, around 40min only. Coming… Continue reading Cầu Giấy District
I’m on a boat!!!!
Hải Phòng is the biggest port in the North of Vietnam. My brother-in-law has a few connections with the maritime university there. He brought me to the port in order to visit a training ship. This one was given by Korea to the Vietnam Maritime University. 20 min Car Drive Here are a few videos… Continue reading I’m on a boat!!!!
Freedom!
So many things happened on our first day out that I could just find time now to give an update. On Friday April 9 at 2PM local time in Hanoi we were allowed to leave the hotel. Hence they really count 14 days by the hour. Better to take it seriously, because in Singapore a… Continue reading Freedom!
Last Post from the Inside
Yes, we’re eager to get out this Friday. As a parting gift I’ll salute the courtesy of The Ann hotel in Hanoi. There was a slight mistake in our breakfast order and we received a complimentary tray with a bottle of red wine, fruits and chocolate. You won’t see the latter. I did take the… Continue reading Last Post from the Inside
How did We (Almost) Make it?
Here is a summary of what helped us most stay sane for 14 days strictly spent inside (Yes, for those who do not know, in Switzerland lockdowns always allowed people from the same family to go out and have a walk in the countryside anytime. Hopp Schwiiz!). One of the most common biases is to… Continue reading How did We (Almost) Make it?
Are we Turning into Cats?
Spending time behind the windows, looking outside at the street, nearby buildings and passersby. Plenty of time to sleep or take a nap. Getting food without even having to cook or shop for groceries. Wait… a real cat would truly hesitate whether to stay inside, or have a walk outside. That’s the feline dilemma. But… Continue reading Are we Turning into Cats?
End of Quarantine in Hanoi? Not So Fast!
So we are close to the end of our quarantine, we’ll get out this Friday, April 9. We are really eager to breathe fresh air outside. Just a saying, we expect the atmosphere to be both hot and humid. This is what we signed up for! in Hà Nội, there is a second “soft quarantine”… Continue reading End of Quarantine in Hanoi? Not So Fast!
Halfway There!
Today is our seventh day in quarantine. We got a nice message and gift from the hotel, two pouches of snacks which the kids almost devoured… they stopped just because we would not let them eat all of them. Within the next few days I’ll try and take pictures of the food delivery process to… Continue reading Halfway There!
Landing in Vietnam
We landed at Noi Bai airport, Hanoi, on Friday March 26, 2021, 11h30. All passengers had to wait and be called one by one for processing the papers before going through the usual passport checks. Interesting twist: this is the last time (for now) we saw our passports. To ensure that arriving passengers respect the… Continue reading Landing in Vietnam