A Journey to the Land of Ascending Dragon

 

Country of Lights

A third world country with mesmerizing scenic beauty, sparkling rivers to sandy beaches with lush green tall mountains to the beautiful water caves. Vietnam is a country that must be added on your bucket list.

I got a chance to visit this beautiful S-shaped nation during the Diwali vacations with my family. The 6-day trip was an eye opening and wonderful experience.

 

DAY 1

Our trip started with an overnight flight and so on day 1 we were heavily jet lagged. Also, I had just lost 1 and half hours of my life. (Vietnam being ahead on the world clock).

But after a refreshing bath and a hearty breakfast later we were all set to face the day ahead.

The first place we landed on was Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) lying in the Saigon region (Southern Part), it is the industrial hub of Vietnam.

Just 2 hours away from it lies Cu-Chi tunnels. These tunnels are a historical significance for Vietnam. During the Vietnam war back in 1970s with the USA these tunnels became an important component for guerrilla warfare for the people. Seeing the tiny tunnels and the cleaver traps one gets goosebumps.

Suddenly one is teleported back in time and can feel the same adrenaline those warriors felt at that time.

It is interesting to know that they used their short height as an advantage over tall American soldiers by crouching and living like rats but fighting back as lions.

It is certainly an unmissable place if you visit Vietnam.

 

Day 2

Our next day was dedicated to explore HCMC, see all its tourist spots.

So, we took part in a street food tour.

The best part was that we all got to ride behind a Scooty.

The startling difference I found between Vietnam and India was that Vietnam had a lot of two wheelers especially Scooties.

Being a bit low on economy scale owning a car in Vietnam is considered rich.

So, mostly the streets are filled with a herd of scooters and colorful helmets. Seen from a height it looks as if an army of ants is swarming by.

Riding behind the scooter is fun indeed. It was fun racing about the quaint streets of HCMC. They were designed to inculcate French architecture as France had ruled over Vietnam.

We even saw the central post office and learned that post office is the reference point to measure distances.

The post office even had the face of a Greek God and using my newly acquired knowledge from Percy Jackson series I was able to identify it as Hermes, the Messenger God.

 

Being on a street food tour, we got a chance to savour many delicacies starting from noodle soup to banana rice cake to local ice-cream, avocado shakes to spicy Pansail (which just tasted as South Indian Dosa) to finally the sweet dishes of Vietnam. Nevertheless, we left the tour with a full stomach and happy heart.

 

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to the HCMC as our next flight to Da Nang was ready to take off.

 

Day 3

Another day when our trip began very early in the morning as we had to travel 2 and a half hours away to Bana Hills.

Bana Hills have the iconic golden hand bridge of Vietnam and seeing it, is a must for your visit in Vietnam.

But destiny had something else planned for us.

The heavy mist and rain made it impossible to see even a meter ahead of us.

Luckily, Bana Hills had other activities in store.

That is the Resort Sun World. Waiting for the rain to subside, we spent time in the indoor amusement park. Coming out with happy smiles, we were glad to learn that the rain had stopped.

After lunch, we went to walk on the Golden Bridge and click pictures of this magical landmark.

Then we came down the hill and raced to our next destination in Hooyan region, the basket boat ride. Basket boats are boats shaped like a cut coconut and are made of bamboo. It was awesome to cruise down the peaceful backwaters. The wild spin they gave us midway was just awesome.

 

Out of the boat, we were back in the car and headed to our final destination; The Lantern village.

At this point; I would like to point out,  that it  was Diwali that day and the trip was planned specifically to put this sparkly event on Diwali.

 

This village had so many beautifully lit lanterns. The boat trip down the glowing river was awesome. We even tried dragon ice balls. Crunching them turns you into a 'smoke dragon'. By this time our feet were aching from all the adventures but the feeling of contentment was a balm to all the aches.

 

 

Day 4

The next day we explored a bit of Da Nang, saw the statue of Lady Buddha.

Then we went to a 3D art museum and what can I tell; me and my brother went crazy. I hired my dad and my brother took my mom to click our photographs and let us just say that I had a month full of awesome profile pictures.

 

After this, we had to say goodbye to Da Nang and looked towards Hanoi, our last destination.

 

Day 5

Again, we were up early in the morning to start off on a group tour to the Ninh Binh region.

There we climbed on the very top of Mua hill and yes, it was a solid cardio workout in the freezing air.

After lunch, we cycled around to the temple where in the pond, big colourful fishes swam and then we went to Tam Coc caves. The Natural Heritage site, where King Kong Movie was shot.

These caves are natural water caves and it was the best boat journey I had in Vietnam.

It was beautiful to see the stalagmites and stalactite up close.

King Kong Movie's shooting

Witnessing the surreal beauty with my eyes, I could not stop wondering how awesome its for the people of this nation to respect and preserve their natural beauty.

 

At dusk we visited another glowing village in Ninh Binh which made me realise that people of this country have Diwali every day.

 

Day 6

Our final day in Vietnam was dedicated to explore its capital city Hanoi. It was busier than the other two cities but still a lot less rushed than Delhi. 

We saw the street murals and the train street.

Then we did some shopping and finally it was time to head back to the airport and back to home.

As we rose from the ground I looked and saw the gleaming country for the last time. I recall the story of The King of Vietnam, who saw a dragon ascending from Hanoi and hence he made it the capital city.

Ascending from this country, now, I too felt a certain power and glory course through me.

This trip surely stirred the dragon in me.

Mua Hills

                                                                                                                                                                               P.S.: This is my 50th blog post. A journey of 4 years. Thank you for always supporting me and I hope to write more and more for you all.