Two months in Thailand went to fast – as usual. The morning after my birthday party it was time to take a TukTuk to the airport in Chiang Mai
Tuk-Tuk to the airport
At NOK-Air they have Angels and Butterflies!!
At Thai Lion Air they have Chinese tourists. Hmm – but they are cheaper to fly still I should look into Nok next time!
The plane waiting for us to board. Have a look at the smoke in the back!
A lot of space in that one!
Looks quite ok
The nice staff of Thai Lion Air put me in the 1st row – 3 seats for me and more legroom. They changed the lights to blue for the flight
Chiang Mai on a normal day in the beginning of February. Can you see the smoke?
Hanoi – Vietnam
There was a time the fires in the North started at the end of March or April. But this time is long gone. If the Thais would not set fields and forest on fire in January I could stay a bit longer and avoid Tết in Vietnam. But this year (again) I arrived a few days before. Most of the shops are closed and everybody is on the move to see the family. After all, Tết or the Vietnamese New Year is the most important celebration in Vietnam. The plane got into Hanoi International in the evening. You never know how long you need at immigration so I usually have a hotel for the first night in Hanoi. On this trip I needed to change money as well so had to wait for the next morning anyhow to get the best rates for my trip.
The airport bus to downtown Hanoi. Free WiFi and only 1,15€ at the time of travelling
The Golden Wings Hotel in Hanoi. Should read the description better next time. Comes without private bathroom. Well no problem for one night but the bathroom was way to small to even take a picture of it. If you stay here take any room but this one.
2 Beds, Tv, Ac a table and chair – everything super clean and the bed – a dream!!
Comes with a shared bathroom – that is super small – so the toothbrush packaging makes a lot of sense :-)
Local beer check – € 0,40 and up. Good!
The import beer starts at € 0,70 up to 2,11€ for 500 ml. Super cheap compared to Thailand!
Watering the flowers in the morning. You see – you do not see! Traffic that is. Almost none in Hanoi!
On the way to the money changers – OMG!
This is my favourite place if you ever in need of a money changer in Hanoi
And just a few more steps you can get the best French Croissants I ever had in the city.
With the local bus to the bus station and from there to Ninh Binh. 70.000 Dong – about 2,60€
At the place of my friends outside of Ninh Binh
They just got the house and build the new part between the two old houses. The green roof that is. Lots of work waiting to clean the construction side and start the garden in front of the house and at the orange spot on the upper left corner
There is a small mountain behind the house
Lots of construction along the streets
You can imagine how it looks with blue sky!
The older part of the area – there was a time when building your house next to the road was not that important
This time of the year: Rice planting season
You can see all the footprints
Lots of work
Work work work…
And more work – people in the northern part of Vietnam decorate their house with peach blossoms (hoa đào). We gave this one a nice pot and lots of that red earth from behind the house.
Dinner at the house
The Tet fire! You would not believe it – the government speaker was blaring Happy New Year from ABBA!!!
You go to the house of relatives and relatives come to your house – basic 101 Tet holiday season. And food – a lot of food! And moonshine – even more moonshine!
A very happy Viet!
And his father is happy as well
Lots of vegetarian options for me. What a nice afternoon. And beer – they had beer as well. This evening I went to bed early.
Old and young come together for a few days
They eat and drink and talk a lot too
The old guys trad stories from the good old times
The only thing that I understand is when I have to drink another moonshine with them – basically every few minutes.
My mother got me an Eurorail ticket when I was 15, and together with two friends, we adventured into France. This was the beginning of a new addiction. I do like to take pictures, so one thing leads to another. On this site, I want to share some of my pictures and some of my trips with you! Now I am on the road for more than 8 months every year. Visiting old friends and making new friends while exploring this big blue ball.
