Vietnam has a long and interesting history , sometimes forgotten, as the country often is connected with cruel and bloody wars.
First the long french occupation, later the tragic ”Vietnamwar”. The small country, nearly one third of the surface of Sweden, is now slowly recovering from the wars.
The vietnamese are welcoming tourism and has a lot of interesting things to offer. The people are, mostly, very friendly and it is rather easy to travel around.
My base was Hanoi for discovering the northern part of the country.
I made some very nice and interesting excursions from here.
The capital Hanoi, is a busy and interesting old city with nice temples and green parks. In the center of the city you can find several parks with small lakes. On an island in the lake Hoan Kiem lies the beautiful Noc Son-temple, The temple of the Jade-mountains, from the Tran Dynasti (1225-1400). The temple is located in the Than Long centra, once the capital of Vietnam.
A cruise in the Halong Bay, with its more than 3000 sugar loaf- shaped islands, on the UN World Heritage-list, is an experience you never forget.
A visit at the island of Cat Ba and its national park with rare mammals and the ”waterlandscape” close to Cue, reachable only with boats, are also well worth to visit. There is an island in the ”waterlandscape” with more than 100 different pagodas. The most famous is the ”Perfume Pagoda” dated to the 13th century.
I only stayed little more than one week in Vietnam, on my way to the Yunnan-province in China but I am sure that I will come back one day.
The Long Bien bridge.
Hanoi
Hanoi
Small restaurant.
Hanoi
Waterlandscape.
Cue
Halong Bay
Children chewing sugar
canes.
Viet Hai
Hanoi
Boats at Cat Ba
Ngoc Son temple.
Hanoi
Flower lady.
Hanoi
