Less than RM1800! Hanoi 5D4N Itinerary Part II with Budget Breakdown

****Day 4****

4th day in Hanoi and we finally get to tour the city! First stop -- Tran Quoc Pagoda. We called for Grab to pick us up from hotel and it costs us about RM5 for a trip. It wasn't too far of a distance but traffic is really bad in Hanoi. If you have the energy, some attraction places are actually walk-able. 

Arrived at Tran Quoc Pagoda 

Tran Quoc Pagoda is the oldest Buddhist temple in Hanoi, dated back to the 6th century. It was originally located on banks of Red River and was relocated to an islet within West Lake in 1615 due to the river's encroachment. The main pagoda is made up of 11 levels and surrounded by an incense burning house and a museum housing historic relics. 

Entrance: Free

Opening hour: 7.30am-6pm

Attire: Suggest to wear conservatively

A huge tree near the incense building

Next stop: Ho Chi Minh Museum

Tourist photo right in front of the museum =)

After exploring the pagoda, we took another Grab ride to Ho Chi Minh Museum. It is located in the Ho Chi Minh complex where you can visit the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, One Pillar Pagoda, Ba Dinh Square and the War Memorial all together. The museum is an elaborate description of Ho Chi Minh's life with collections of artifacts, miniatures and various gifts gathered nationally or internationally. The museum was huge and you might need to spend a morning here to really explore the history. We did not manage to read all in details but glanced through quickly in 1-2 hours.

Entrance Fee: VND 10,000 (~RM2)

Opening hours: Everyday except Mon and Fri - 8 - 11.30am and 2 - 4.30pm

Next: One Pillar Pagoda

This pagoda attracted me the most from its name. XD The pagoda rising from one pillar in the centre of a lotus pond and it is said to represent a lotus flower growing up out of the water. It was built between 1028-1054 during the Ly Dynasty. The little temple is constructed based on a single stone pillar crafted into the shape of a lotus blossom. The shrine inside the pagoda is dedicated to the Vietnamese Buddhist deity Quan Am.  

Entrance Fee: FREE

Opening hour: Daily 8am-5pm

Next stop: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

This is the final resting place for Vietnamese Revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi. It is a large building located in the centre of the Ba Dinh Square. You can visit the mausoleum but we did not check it out as we were rushing to the market. And it was too tiring for grandma to walk around the HCM complex already. 

After a few photos, we decided to check out Dong Xuen market. Heard there a lots of things to buy!

Next Stop: Dong Xuan Market

Dong Xuen Market is the largest, four-storey Soviet-style, indoor market in Hanoi. Here you can find wholesale traders selling everything from clothes to food. Being a wholesale market, you need to bear in mind that it would be packed with people and you will be offered cheaper price when you buy in bulk. For us who are just checking things out, it is a little messy for us to shop. I would think it is much nicer to shop in Ben Thanh market in HCM. 

Crowded market - the clothing area. 

We managed to shop for some dried fruits and lotus seeds to bring home. Then we gave up jamming in the crowd and went out to check out interesting stuff.

Spotted a stall selling local dessert/snacks (looks like our Malaysia's kuih). I decided to buy 2 to try but totally can't understand what the lady tried to explain to me. I bought two which looks safer and I was trying to relate them to any of our kuih. Well, pretty much similar! Hoho.. But I guess the fillings wrongly. XD

Their bikes can sell everything! From desserts to flowers to pots. I was really amazed!

After getting kuih without understanding what we bought, we went to a fruit stall to check out if they have any local fruits. Amazingly, we bought a fruit that we are clueless but it costs RM12 for a piece. Wonder what is that? Continue reading this post and it will be shown towards the end!

After buying from the fruit stall, we were tired of having language barriers and our stomachs were growling. Lunch time! We took Grab to a restaurant that I found, which seems to be very popular among the tourists -- Quan An Ngon.

It is a restaurant with street-stall style within the garden courtyard and interior of an imposing French colonial villa. It serves authentic Vietnamese cuisines and we decided to order 5 dishes to try!

Spring Roll -  is a must!

Banh Xeo Tom Thit - Fried pancake with pork and shrimp

Fried Rice and Pork Chop with rice

Chao Tom - Grilled shrimp on sugarcane

The whole meal costs us around RM120 for 4 persons. And we ordered fruit juices each! I would say it is cheap and nice!

Was too bored waiting for the driver and mom decided to take a photo of me at the restaurant's front gate XD

Next Stop: Temple of Literature

After lunch, we proceeded to Temple of Literature (文庙), the temple of Confucius. This temple hosts the Vietnam's first national university -- Imperial Academy. The compound is huge and surrounded by greenery. It is definitely a nice place to study. When we reached there, there were lots of people taking graduation photos. It is a good experience for us to observe how they dress for graduation. 

Perak: Manjung Trip - Where I Stay, What to See & What to Eat

Manjung, is a district in the southwestern part of the state of Perak, Malaysia. Bandar Seri Manjung is the district's principal urban center while there are smaller towns around it which includes Sitiawan, Lumut, Pantai Remis etc. As I have to attend a 3-days workshop in Hospital Seri Manjung, I have the chance to visit Manjung district, which is also famous with Pangkor Island. 

WHERE I STAY:

I booked Hotel Sfera to stay as it seems to be more decent from photos in Agoda.com. It isn't cheap though, it costs be around RM336 for 2 nights stay. This hotel is actually a shoplot hotel where you will see a lot of shops around. However, the interior of this gym is very nice and it has a link bridge to connect to opposite shoplots.

The lobby

I've got myself a twin room. Requested for a queen bed but I checked in late on the first day, hence I got these single beds for myself. A little disappointed. 

They have very beautiful swimming pool but it closed at 7pm. I don't have the chance to enjoy it. Great place to chill!

WHAT TO SEE:

1. Teluk Batik - a beach located in Lumut town. It is about 10 minutes drive from Bandar Seri Manjung. I would say that it is a great place to chill, especially over the weekend, when you need a short escape from stress. I went there for sunset but the beach was rather quiet on weekday. After walking around, I've decided to leave the beach before the sun sets due to safety issue as I was alone.

It was really relaxing to be here. Enjoying the sound of waves and sea breeze.

Selfie at the beach. I have people staring at me as I am the only awkward girl walking along the beach and keep taking photos. XD

There's a huge square with unique traditional designs.

Last selfie before leaving Teluk Batik

2) Tua Pek Gong Temple, Sitiawan (品仙祠大伯公和观音堂)
This is like a must-visit place if you were to visit Manjung/Sitiawan. It is located at Kampung Pasir Panjang, facing the sea. Using waze, you can get to this temple easily. However, the turnings that you need to go through when approaching the temple is a little funny. Trust your GPS, then you will reach the temple!

Huge tua pek gong statue! Wow!

Thailand 8D7N Trip: Day 2 at Krabi (Hot Spring, Emerald Pool, Blue Pool, Tiger Cave Temple, Elephant Trekking,The Hilltop)

Day 2: Day Tour (Hot Spring, Emerald Pool, Blue Pool, Tiger Cave Temple, Elephant Trekking) and Dinner at The Hilltop Restaurant

As mentioned in previous post (Thailand Trip Day 1 post), we booked day tours at the airport. The first day tour that we joined was Emerald Pool Tour (THB900 per person). The tour picked us up at our hotel at 8.30am, so we have plenty of time to enjoy our breakfast. Breakfast at ibis style hotel is quite good! I enjoyed my breakfast with pool view for 3 days. Awesome!

Buffet breakfast with my cuppa daily caffeine dose. Perfect start!

Scenic pool view during breakfast. Awesome isn't it. 

The van arrived at hotel lobby on time! So we started our journey to the first stop -- Hot Spring. So excited! Can't wait to try out natural hot spring at 38 degree celsius! The journey to hot spring from Ao Nang was about 1 hour.

Ta-daa!! We are at the hot spring waterfall already!

Group photo at the Hot Stream entrance.

This hot spring is located in the south of Krabi province in Klong Thom district, which is the nature's own hot-tub jacuzzis. The water here comes from thermal springs, originating deep underground in volcanic chambers. The running spring water is around 35 - 42 degree celsius. There are large man-made bathing pools available to accommodate increasing number of visitors. The mineral salts contained in the hot spring water are said to ease a number of ailments but those are unproven. (information obtained from yourkrabi)

Our tour guide suggested us to soak for only maximum 20 minutes as the heat may harm us, especially under El Nino hot weather. 

Wefie while walking to the hot spring waterfall. 5-10 minutes walk is required before arriving at the beautiful natural hot spring. Look! We are so well-equipped to fight with the sun! XD

There There.... We are at the hot spring waterfall. Good thing about this hot spring is that it doesn't contain sulphur, so it doesn't stink like rotten eggs. XD

Only soak my legs here. Weather is too hot! I sweated so much after 15 minutes of photo sessions in the water. 

After an hour of stay at Hot Spring, we got on the van and take another 15 minutes ride to Emerald Pool + Blue Pool. Emerald Pool ("Crystal Pool") is a large natural pool filled with pure spring water, where swimming is possible here. To reach the pool, we have to walk through trails through the Khao Nor Chu Chi forest (around 1.2km). If you want to visit the amazing Blue Pool, you will need to walk another 600m further upstream from the Emerald Pool. However, Blue Pool is surrounded by quicksand and it is hot, so no bathing is allowed. 

At the entrance to the trail to emerald pool

We reached Emerald Pool first and decided to walk further to Blue Pool. Emerald pool is full of people and we couldn't really find a good photo spot. XD

Rest for a while before we proceed. Loving this shot - love the nature, I'm surrounded by trees.

And this is the amazing blue pool! =)

So beautiful! I was stunned at the beauty of blue pool.

Emerald Pool with lots of people swimming in there. They said april is low season.... So I can't imagine how pack it can be during peak season.

They gave us 90 minutes to explore Emerald Pool and Blue Pool so it was a bit rush as a lot of walking needed. After that, we gathered at a restaurant near the entrance for buffet lunch. It was really relaxing. After that, we proceed with the tour to Tiger Cave Temple.

Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Seua) is a famous meditation centre. The temple was founded in the late 1970s, by Abbot Luang Por Chamnean Srilasatheto who came here to meditate in a cave. Legend has it that a tiger entered the cave but did not harm him, thus the temple was created on this magical spot. The main boulevard is lined with monkeys (keep food and drink out of sight) and ends at a large statue of Guan Im. There is a 1260 stair climb leads to the famous mountain-top shrine, for a view that will take your breath away. (Information from yourkrabi)

There are no tiger at Tiger Cave Temple. So don't worry XD

Cambodia: Short Getaway to Siam Reap Part 5 (Bayon Temple and Ta Prohm)

Day 2 in Siam Reap

The Smiley Temple -- Bayon Temple and Ta Phrom

After visiting Angkor Wat, we were all exhausted and requested for a break. Tour guide brought us to a restaurant nearby Angkor Wat for breakfast. Breakfast in Siam Reap is simple, they either have porridge, noodles or baguette. I ordered a bowl of maggie with soup, served with chicken. The soup is rather salty and in addition to the saltiness of maggie, this is a very very salty bowl of noodle. 

Ta-daa! The bowl of noodle. It looks simple and the taste is rather unique. 

If it were to be less salty, it would be a tasty bowl of noodle. XD How to describe the taste? I can't find a way to describe it. Just like how we can't describe the taste of durian. 

After breakfast, we proceed to Bayon Temple, another must-visit temple in Angkor area. 

The Bayon is located in the centre of the city of Angkor Thom, roughly 1500 meters from the south gate. Prasat Bayon was built in late 12th century to early 13th century, by the King Jayavarman VII, dedicated to Buddhist. The Bayon was built nearly 100 years after Angkor Wat. The basic structure and earliest part of the temple are not known. Since it was located at the centre of the royal city, it seems possible that the Bayon would have originally been a temple-mountain conforming to the symbolism of a microcosm of Mount Meru. The middle part of the temple was extended during the second phase of building. The Bayon of today belong to the third and last phase of the art style. 

The architectural scale and composition of the Bayon exude grandness in every aspects. Its elements juxtapose each other to create balance and harmony. Over 2000 large aces carved on the 54 towers give this temple its majestic character. The faces with slightly curving lips, eyes placed in shadow by the lowered lids utter not a word and yet force you to guess much, wrote P Jennerat de Beerski in the 1920s. It is generally accepted that four faces on each of the tower are images of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and that they signify the omnipresence of the king. The characteristics of this faces - a broad forehead, downcast eyes, wild nostrils, thick lips that curl upwards slightly at the ends-combine to reflect the famous "Smile of Angkor" ~~~~ information from tourismcambodia.

Bayon Temple is my favourite temple out of all temples I've visited during my stay in Siam Reap. I like its uniqueness that there are so many smiley faces. All the faces are exactly the same and it really amazed me. According to the tour guide, the people carved the stone on the ground and then move the pieces one by one to the temple area and stacked them up to be towers like what we see today.
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

Let the photos tell the story of the short tour at The Bayon. =)

You may find Bayon nothing much different from Angkor Wat in this photo.

But if you zoom in, you can see the difference.

Zoomed in! See the smiley faces? 

How to not do a jump shot in front of such beautiful temple?!

And the historical frames

This is one of the favourite photo. 

Visited Bayon at 12pm and hence the sky is perfect for photoshoot. Clear, blue sky!! I've sacrificed my skin for these. 

Me and the smiley face carving. 

And this was captured by my tour guide!

He asked me to look to my right and smile. I have no idea what he wants to take at first until he showed me the photo. I didn't know there's a face behind me. Such a surprise! Thank you! Love this photo so much!!!

Under the hot sun but still want to take a bit more tourist photos. =)