Giarai (or Jarai) is an ethnic group based primarily in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Sharing a couple of photos of a traditional Giarai Tomb at the Musuem of Ethnology in Hanoi; pretty interesting design lol…
The floating village is one of the tourist attractions and cultural heritages in Halong Bay, Vietnam. People have been living in these floating houses for hundred of years with fishing as the main income activity.
The tourism boom in recent years should bring a bit of extra income for the villagers, but to be frank… what they get is only a very small chunk of the Halong travel business. Well, I guess a little is better than nothing.
Most of the junks and cruises would pass by at least one of the floating villages and would probably make a short stop at a fish farm where travellers can buy some extra seafood to supplement their meals on the junks, or perhaps just taking a peek into the basic living of the villagers.
Photos below were taken during my Vietnam trip in July 2008…
Quan Com Pho is a Vietnamese restaurant in Hanoi. Found this place via a travel guidebook during my Vietnam visit in July 2008, and the restaurant seemed pretty promising on some online reviews… thus giving it a try.
Their menu was quite different from what I had at other Hanoi restaurants; their food was kinda like a fusion of traditional Vietnamese cuisine with some new cooking ideas.
Sticky rice rolls with roast meat… quite a gem
Halong Bay (Vịnh Hạ Long - Bay of the Descending Dragons) is a UNESCO World Heritage site in Quang Ninh province of northern Vietnam, famous for its scenic landscape with thousands of limestone isles in various sizes and shapes.
Halong Bay has become an international travel hotspot in recent years; there must be more than 200-300 junks and cruises that depart daily from the port, with thousands of travellers visiting the destination each day.
The weather was perfect during my July 2008 visit. My guide told me that the clear blue sky are normally seen only for two-three weeks in one whole year… and my Hanoi friends later reaffirmed the statement. In fact one of them have been to Halong Bay for five times and didn’t manage to catch a clear weather like I did. Lucky me :)
Some photos from the seaport and first glimpse of Halong Bay…
Hue Food is a restaurant that sells Hue cuisine in Hanoi, Vietnam. The restaurant is located at 6, Ly Thuong Kiet Street; found this via a local newspaper’s food column during my Hanoi visit in July 2008.
Hue is a historic city in central Vietnam and was the imperial capital of Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945). Vietnamese food in general can be divided into three categories… the northern food, southern food and central food (which is often referred as Hue food).
One of the distinctive difference between Hue food and other Vietnamese food is the popularity of roundish vermicelli (bún) instead of the flat rice noodle (phở) in other Vietnamese region. Hue food also tends to be a bit spicier, but still mild in relative to Malaysian or Indian food.
There is a popular Hue dish called the bún bò Huế (Hue beef soup noodle), but I am not quite sure if the noodle soup I had at the restaurant was what I hope it was…
One of the most bizarre things that I’ve seen during my Hanoi visit in July 2008 was the complexity of the wires and cables which hang around at every corner of the streets; which actually looks kinda cool…
Bahnar Rong (Ba Na Rông) are communal houses of the Bahnar tribe from Central Highlands (Tây Nguyên) region of Vietnam.
The distinctive features of the traditional Bahnar Rong are the tall & steep roof and lifted platform which are built to adapt to the (often rainy) tropical weather; the houses are traditionally used for cultural, religion and gathering purposes for men.
These traditional Bahnar Rong are almost obsolete nowadays, as the people are replacing their communal houses with iron and cement instead.
The photos here were taken at the Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi where the Bahnar Rong, along with other traditional houses of various ethnic minorities, were built as an effort to preserve the fading Vietnamese culture and heritage.
Quan An Ngon (Quán Ăn Ngon) is a popular restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam, which offers a variety of traditional Vietnamese dishes and street food.
The place was quite cozy, and the food quite decent. Not really my favourite restaurant in Hanoi, but if you can only have one meal in the city… this is probably the place you want to be because of the great varieties.
Quan An Ngon is located at 18, Phan Boi Chau Street, Hanoi.
Fried spring rolls, traditional spring rolls and roast pork