Lý Thái Tổ (974-1028) was the founder and first emperor of Vietnam’s Lý Dynasty (1009-1225). After ascending the throne, he moved the capital to Đại La (which he renamed as Thăng Long) in 1010, which in the end becomes present day Hà Nội.
The statue below is located at Indira Gandhi Park, nearby Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi to commemorate the Vietnamese emperor…
Didn’t know that Pepsi is selling purified water until seeing it in Hanoi a week ago… the name of the brand is Aquafina; and it’s probably one of the two best selling bottled water brands in Hanoi. Must be the healthiest drink from Pepsi lol…
Aquafina is currently distributed in only a few countries… the USA, Canada, India, Pakistan, Turkey and Vietnam. In case you are wondering… it taste like water, yada.
USD1 = 16,500 Vietnamese Dong… which literally makes me a millionaire when I was in Hanoi lol. It’s actually quite a pain though, for foreigners who are slow in counting…
Vietnamese Dong (đồng), if not mistaken, is the second least value currency behind Zimbabwean dollars. The face value of Dongs started rising since late 80s because of inflation; in 1985 the largest banknote was 500, but now 500,000.
Despite the high inflation rate, the economic growth of Vietnam is quite decent over the time span… most Vietnamese are probably living better now as compared to a decade or two ago.
First ever visit to Hanoi, Vietnam, in July 2008. Only one word to describe my first impression on Hanoi… CHAOTIC.
Took a cab from Noi Bai Airport to my hotel in Hoan Kiem District… the traffic was quite disorganised by modern standard; rules were almost non-existent, as if whoever had the loudest horns ruled the streets.
Plenty of cars, plenty of motorbikes and plenty of bicycles. Hanoi was definitely a happening city in traffic sense… a bit too chaotic for me to begin with, but I think I got used to it at the end of the trip.
Sharing a few photos taken during the taxi ride; pictures might speak a thousand words, but these pics couldn’t really reflect the noise and buzz of Hanoi…
Arrived at Kuala Lumpur around 2pm on Wednesday (July 23) after a six-day vacation in Vietnam. Took the below picture last Friday, my first day of the trip, when the plane was approaching Hanoi City…
The cloudy-mountainous view mesmerised me… I think I might have fallen in love with Vietnam before even setting foot on the Vietnamese soil. The ‘honeymoon’ didn’t last long though, when serenity turned into chaos as I started exploring the ground.
Plenty of stories and photos to share; check out the updates here.
Going on holiday in Hanoi and Halong Bay, Vietnam… leaving on July 18 and coming back a week later. Will bring along my laptop, but don’t think I’ll have the time to update this blog during that period.
Have been doing some researches on Hanoi and Halong Bay for the past few days… plenty of things to see, do, eat and experience. The only thing that I probably won’t want to try is riding a bike in Hanoi lol…
Update - Back from Vietnam; check out my Vietnam travelogue for stories and pics.
Some random photos from my Taiwan visit in April/May 2008…
Some local foods in Jiufen, a small town in Taiwan which I visited in late April 2008…
