Exploring Halong Bay & Hanoi | Northern Vietnam

Continue from my previous post, here I am touchdown Vietnam. If you haven't, click link below. :)

Read : Exploring Nanning which Bordering Vietnam 

After cross Dongxing - Mongcai border the local guide pick us up by bus and we are on our way to Halong. Mongcai - Halong around 3 hours. 

Halong is the northern Vietnam city which famous with Halong Bay. Basically visitor come to Halong for Halong Bay, the Unesco World Heritage.

My first impression in Vietnam, slow pace city. Northern Vietnam is still under developing country, first feeling is when I take the bus is not a fancy and clean bus, feels like Indonesia in 2000-ish. Vietnam currency is Vietnam Dong, exchange rate is low and in tourist area they prefer to get RMB (China Yuan) or Indonesia Rupiah. Maybe that's why the exchange rate of Dong is getting lower cause even Vietnam citizen don't choose it.

If you are travelling to Vietnam, I suggest you not to change Dong in high amount cause some place is cheaper if you pay with RMB.

But also you need Dong for pay in traditional local market as they don't received other foreign currency.

Halong Bay is one of my bucket list in recent months and so glad I'm going to visit this beautiful place. A place where Kingkong & James Bond movie shoot, a place that American says once in lifetime a must visit one.

From our hotel in Halong City we drive around 30 minutes to Tuan Chao International Marina, this is the station to take cruise to Halong Bay. 

Inside there are toilet, supermarket, and local tenants of course with higher price. Anw weather in Vietnam so humid and hot above 35 degree Celsius when I'm there. So make sure to prepare your jacket, sunglasses, and hat to keep you from the sunburn.

You'll see many cruise in Tuan Chao Marina. My package is half day Halong Bay tour, there are also day tour which you can stay inside cruise. But after this trip I think half day is enough. 

The legends say during the old times when Vietnam newly formed, come enemies from the North and they attack through the sea. So Vietnamese pray and ask blessings for Vietnam. Suddenly come the dragon to look after Vietnam, the dragon scattered the fire and giant emeralds to against enemies. Finally enemies goes away and the rest of giant emeralds left, after thousand years the left emeralds which scattered by dragon become different shape of island. It is what we see now, there are many small island with different shape in Halong Bay. 

Halong it self in Chinese character is 下龍, Ha or 下 means down, Long or 龍 means dragon. The dragon which come down to this bay. 

Its why now it called Halong Bay 下龍灣.

Wait, i'm not ready yet!

This rock is called Fighting Cocks or Hon Ga Choi Island as it seems like a couple of chicken, local says. 

 

focus on the rock

Fighting cocks from another angle

The cruise will goes to another speed boat marina and we change to speedboat for a while and change to small wooden boat to get to Luon Cave & Lake 月亮湖. 

It was a private small island and feels like isolated from the world. Amazing peaceful trip. Love it. 

Pink butt monkey on the island

And this hole story as local information is long time ago lives a fisherman couple here, the husband is going outside to catch fish and the wife keep waiting but the husband not coming. Years by years the husband still not coming home and the wife become stone. 

Titop Island

The man behind me is Titop, Russian astronaut. This is Titop Island, one of the island in Halong Bay. There are volleyball court and beach for swimming, its famous as romantic island in Halong Bay. 

In French colonial period, Titop Island had its historical name as Cat Nang, meaning the beauty of a charming girl. According to a historical record in 1962, Cat Nang Island was changed to Ti Top Island to memorize event of Ho Chi Minh president & a Russian astronaut Gherman Titov visited to the island. 

The beach with Halong Bay island iconic view

After a hot sweating day we back to the cruise and have lunch. Seafood is ready on the table and the cruise was slowly drive to the middle of the island. I was to hungry and forget to take a picture for my lunch. But its good. 

After lunch, chilling in the deck of cruise is a must. I love the peaceful feeling to be on the deck, seeing the endless of turquoise Halong Bay and feel the air. I sit down and think it's time to have quality time with my self then I think I want to pray. Thank God to bring me here, unlocked Vietnam especially Halong Bay. 

I suddenly hear this : The God who made this beautiful amazing view that you adore so much, is the same God who made your life your future as beauty as it is. What you worry about? 

So long Halong Bay, definitely an amazing view. 

Head of to Hanoi 河內 around 3 hours from Halong. Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam located in northern Halong. 

If you come to Vietnam you will realize Vietnamese looks like Chinese. Yes, that's right. 

In China dynasty era, Vietnam is one of China. Then they want to independent from China so they fight to get the independence. Uni Soviet support Vietnam as they still don't have any money or weapon, in the other side China still have weapon stock while China don't have any war. Mao Ze Dong 毛澤東 think if this weapon is about to expired use inside China will be pollution in his own country. So, they used it all to Vietnam, poor Vietnam. 

After that Vietnam still want to be independence country, than Vietnam win the war with South Han army 南漢軍隊. In that time Vietnam still use Mandarin as their language. Vietnam declare independence in September 2nd, 1945. But after that France come to colonize Vietnam, war end at 1954. But in South Vietnam, America is still colonizing. Starting 1961 Vietnam against America and in 1975 North & South Vietnam merge as one and become Socialist Republic of Vietnam 越南社會主義共和國. 

As I mention before, Vietnam still use Mandarin as their language but Ho Chi Minh think if they want to be independent they need to have their own language so they have Vietnam language but they don't know how to write down only by speaking, kinda dialect. 

Due they have contact with France so they adopt French writing, as you can see now in Vietnam language writing have symbol in the word like French. 

And 60% of their using vocabulary come from Mandarin. Mostly Vietnamese can speak Mandarin a little bit at least. 

Ho Chi Minh 胡志明 is the father of Vietnam, they called him Uncle Hu. Sadly Uncle Hu passed away at 1969 right in Vietnam independence day and he haven't see North & South Vietnam come into one. 

Why he called Uncle Hu? Cause he didn't get married in his lifetime. He focus on how to raise Vietnam into independence country, so in Vietnamese heart they all have Uncle Hu. 

Uncle Hu preserved body is place in Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and embalmed 3 times every year in Russia. It is said that it was the good preserved body compare with others, but sadly we can't see it. 

Please be noted if you come to this presidential area, wear polite outfit to enter, if no they will not allow you to enter this area. And do not step the yellow line. 

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Ho Chi Minh office and resident behind me. 1F as lobby to receive guest, 2F as office area, 3F as resident area.

Remain things from the war is show at Military Museum. In here also you can purchase a balm that no one know the ingredients except military people, as said the balm is magic balm for soldier in war era to kill pain and rheumatic. 

Step a way from historical things, we head out to West Lake. Yes, it called West Lake in Hanoi. Then I ask locals is it the West Lake like in China one? 

She said the story. Once upon a time Chang 'E 嫦娥 (the lady in mooncake symbol) looking in the mirror, unfortunately the mirror fall down to the earth and become 2 piece. The big piece is the West Lake in China and small piece is this Vietnam West Lake. 

鎮國寺 Chua Tran Quoc is the oldest Buddhist pagoda in Vietnam, a memoriam place for Vietnam hero. I also met some monk here. Anyway there are local tenants selling some souvenir with affordable price in West Lake parking area. 

Nearby you can visit 36 Old Street 36古街. It is an old town with 36 street total and there are 3 wheels bicycle to rent. Anyway, be careful when walking in Vietnam, the traffic is crazy and motorcycle is everywhere. I'm getting crazy to cross the road. 

1 of 36 street

From Hanoi we are going back to Nanning. But this time we cross Friendship Border. This Border is quiet comfortable compare with Dongxing-Mongcai one, as this border is mainly cross for container not visitor. 

So I enter Vietnam from west and leaving from east. See picture below if you don't know what I'm talking about HAHAHAHA

That iconic Friendship Border 友誼關 One of the biggest border in China

Anyway kindly reminder, don't get wrong. Hanoi is city near Halong, which is if you take flight to Halong Bay will arrived at Halong airport. And Ho Chi Minh is in South Vietnam, before it named Saigon. Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh is far away :)

Exploring South China Which Border with Vietnam | Nanning & Beihai, Guangxi 南寧北海，廣西

As y'all know I will never reject any chance to explore new place, and this is the time I will explore Southern China, Guang Xi 廣西. Yeay! Unlocked for Guang Xi. 

Guang Xi is one of the autonomous region in Mainland China, it's called 廣西壯族自治區 or shortened to 桂 (gui) which bordering Vietnam. Flight from Jakarta to Nan Ning which is capital of Guang Xi is around 4 to 5 hours and you'll arrived at Nanning Wuxu Int'l Airport 南寧吳圩國際機場. Make sure you have done your visa or any document before arrived as China immigration is very strict with foreigner. 

We stack at immigration office for more than 1 hour just because 1 of our member is not show and cancel in the morning so the total actual show person and document list is different and become chaos. Ohmy! 

Nanning city is a modern China city as Nanning is the host for Asean Expo. It's also the reason how Nanning raise their economy from before called as motorcycle city 摩托車城市 cause people in Nanning all have motorcycle but not car. If you have car you are the rich one then. But Nanning nowadays is totally different, mostly the citizens all have car and develop become modern city. 

Nanning is a big door for South China export import route. And also after Asean Expo held at Nanning every year, you can feel the Asean atmosphere here. You'll see Asean country flag show in the road. 

Based on local information you can find Asean goods in Nanning with same price in your local country price. Because Nanning is tax free for Asean goods. 

Another name for Nanning is Green City 綠城 cause Nanning have more than thousand kind of plant. So you'll found in Chinese traditional medicine is come from Nanning, as it's rich for their herbal plant. Also we can feel the fresh air here and greening is everywhere.

Anyway in traditional Nanning days, each family like to put coffin inside house. They said it's a lucky symbol 棺材 升官又發財 and old people which feel not good will sleep one night inside the coffin and feel better. Well....

I visit a national park called 青秀山 Qing Xiu Shan Scenic Area located in 邕江江畔 Yong Jiang Riverside. Its a huge hill area for refreshing with amazing fresh air and good heritage scenery. There are 18 point to visit and 1 day is not enough for all the point. So I take battery car and visit the famous 2 point, temple for Buddhist with huge Buddha inside and 龍象塔 pagoda. 

Main entrance 

First stop is the temple. If you are Buddhist and want to pray is welcome here. Also there is huge sleeping Buddha made by jade but prohibited to take picture anyway. 

And if you are not Buddhist like me, I believe you also can enjoy the view and heritage old temple like this. I love the feel. 

Nanning city view 

Next stop is 龍象塔 pagoda. Known as the tallest and oldest pagoda in Nanning and you can see Nanning city view from the top of pagoda. But it was under construction when we get there. It's okay cause the scenery here is so amazing. 

And here is the lake with lot of fish, you also can purchase fish food to feed them

Ah, I just love this view feels like living in imperial world

From Nanning we move to Bei Hai 北海, its around 3 hours by bus. Bei Hai is the China southwest coast, famous for local pearl industry. Beihai citizen mostly is fishery they have beautiful beach and sea, also they are floating people 水上人家. They spend their life in boat in whole life, only 2 condition to let them come to the land, baby delivery & died.

So before, Beihai is a wasteland and government develop real estate to drive the economy. But so many apartment is ready no one want to come to Beihai, the real estate price is getting lower and lower. Even 1 of seafood restaurant is advertise their product by writing : For any seafood purchase, FREE house.

But nowadays Beihai is a modern city with rich seafood and pearl industry. Beihai famous for its black pearl. Their symbol of the city is 南珠魂 South Pearl Soul.

I also explore the Silver Beach 北海銀灘 the famous travel attraction point. Again I take battery car, they will run through the garden and see the beach before stop in last terminal which is the calm beach view.

Sadly when we arrive is raining.

We're heading to Beihai Old Street and I'm so happy

Highly recommend to visit Beihai Old Street 北海老街. Its so one stop shopping. There are souvenir, seafood, snack, clothes, hat, accessories, and many more with affordable price. 

The famous 蝦餅 for RMB 5 and it's so delicious

can't resist, gillssss ini enak banget cuman RMB 20 aja semuanya

And see what I found, the old church inside old street. Thanks God to bring me here. :) 

Then above is the picture where I stay in Beihai, Garden Hotel. Surprisingly very comfortable and wake up in the morning and get the 紅棗枸杞 Angco Red bean drink for my period. 

Well, the reason we stay at Beihai is because we are on our way to Dong Xing, the border between China and Vietnam. We are on our way to Vietnam, yeayyyy!!!!!! 

From Bei Hai to Dong Xing is around 3 hours by bus. 

So where I stand is Dong Xing 東興 and 5 minutes from here already Mongcai 芒街 which is northern Vietnam. 

Picture describe better. As we see in map above, so my journey start from Nanning then we move to Beihai in order closer to Vietnam border. From Beihai we cross Dongxing border which is connect to Mongcai in walking distance. Black line in Mongcai is Vietnam China border. 

For this cross country border make sure your visa and passport is ready. It's very crowded between the this 2 border and you need to go by walking, no any battery car inside. So make sure you can bring your belongings and be careful. 

And I'll share about my Vietnam journey in next post, stay tuned!

Cuckoo, Burung Perumpamaan Manusia Berdosa

Selamat hari Jumat Agung dan selamat Paskah gengs buat yang merayakan. Hari ini abis Jumat Agung pada berburu kemana hayooo apa kebanyakan skip kebaktian karena mumpung libur panjang lagi pada pengen liburan? Duh, aku juga sering begitu.

Tapi suatu kala ada yang bilang gini : Kalau emang itu harinya Tuhan ya ke gereja dulu didahulukan baru liburan, karena yang kasih ijin kita liburan juga Tuhan. 

Seketika itu aku jleb karena kalo Sabtu kerja pulang malem capeeeee Minggu ku bisa bolong - bolong gerejanya tapi kan gak semestinya aku begitu ya kan. Maafkan ya Tuhan. Emang manusia tuh terlahir udah berdosa ya, aku jadi inget ada sekali pas hari Minggu kebaktian tema-nya tentang manusia yang berdosa.

Waktu itu speakernya pakai perumpamaan Cuckoo Bird atau Burung Kukuk. Dan aku interest banget sama cerita yang dia share sampai pulang ke rumah masih googling tentang Cuckoo.

Kalian pernah dengar nama Cuckoo gak? Kalau aku sendiri jujur belum pernah, ini pertama kalinya aku dengar.

Kenapa namanya Cuckoo? Tau kan jam yang suka ngeluarin suara burung kuk ko kuk ko kuk ko kuk ko itu? Nah itu suara burung Cuckoo.

Nah ini penampakan Cuckoo. Sourge : google

Cuckoo seumur hidupnya gak pernah bikin sarang buat persiapan dia bertelur. Jadi Cuckoo Mom akan bertelur di sarang burung lain, istilahnya tanpa ijin numpang bertelur disana. Kenapa bisa gitu? Setelah aku googling jadi Cuckoo itu kebalikan dari Merpati, dia gak setia sama pasangannya, so ketika Cuckoo Mom hamil, dia sendirian dan gak ada pertanggung jawaban or pasangannya yang nemenin. 

Jadi ketika dia bertelur dia gak mau ambil pusing juga sama anaknya. 

Setelah telurnya di titipin di sarang burung lain, Cuckoo Mom gak datang berkunjung ke sarang itu lagi. Jadi nanti yang akan mengerami telur Cuckoo adalah ibu asuhnya bersama telur lain yang which is telur si ibu asuh. 

Nih telur si Cuckoo beda sendiri

Setelah dierami oleh ibu asuh sampai dia menetas apa yang akan dilakukan tuh mirip banget sama manusia yang udah terlahir berdosa.

Jadi ketika si Baby Cuckoo menetas dan lahir dia akan menggunakan segala cara menyingkirkan telur kandung si ibu asuh. Sehingga nanti sisa dia aja yang ada di sarang itu yang akan dikasih makan sama  ibu asuh, dia udah gak usah rebutan lagi makanan sama saudara tiri. 

Ini Baby Cuckoo yang lagi berusaha menyingkirkan telur lain

Gils gak? Belum buka mata masih selaputan aja dia udah bisa begitu. Gak ada yang ngajarin juga dia udah tau harus nyingkirin saudara tiri biar dia aja yang di dapet makanan dari ibu asuh. 

Kalau kalian interest bisa liat di youtube videonya aku juga nonton itu dan berasa amaze baru tau ada pengetahuan kayak gini. Coba buka link ini deh kalau yang kemarin aku nonton, click here. 

Gitu aja, cuman pengen share tentang si Cuckoo yang sebagai perumpamaan manusia berdosa kayak kita ini. Sekarang ku penasaran gimana burung bikin sarang ya? Jadi pengen searching lagi. Apa selanjutnya kita bahas ke-kepo-an gimana burung bikin sarang? HAHAHAHA

Sampai jumpa di Oh-Gitu selanjutnya :)