Live to fly

This wasn't a well planned trip. Technically I had 4 days and 3 nights to tour the city of Hanoi as well as Ha Long Bay. But the flight timings weren't great. Arrived at my hostel on 5th May at about 1730 and I had to leave the place on the 8th May at 1000. And I intended to go on a 2-day one night trip to Ha Long Bay. So that means I barely have a few hours to tour the "museums" which are only opened in the morning.

The hostel (Little Hanoi Hostel) staff were all incredibly friendly. The man kept beckoning me to "sit down and have some tea and coffee" while I wait for him to do the necessary admin work. The problem was that I drink neither tea nor coffee - I tended to avoid caffeinated drinks - so I didn't know how to refuse him. But all in all, he's a nice guy, apart from the fact that I think I was ripped off for the Ha Long Bay tour (the market rate I heard is USD40 but I was charged USD70)

The hostel bed was also pretty comfortable, with all the necessary amenities, and the room was even air-conditioned. Sounds great for a hot and humid place like Hanoi? Not if every backpacker in the room (probably myself included) smells! Also, the toilet was badly choked during the first day. I entered the toilet to be greeted with an almost overflowing pile of excrement. To make things worse, my bed was just right beside the toilet.

On the bright side, I bumped into a couple of Singaporeans who were on a southeast asian backpacking trip. That night, we spent a short while together drinking, clubbing and watching the FA cup finals. I myself did a bit of bar hopping on my own since there was nothing much else to do at night apart from the generic Night Market. And I conclude that the nightlife in Hanoi is nothing compared to that in Siem Reap and Ho Chi Minh City.

Having only a few hours on the last day to tour Hanoi also meant that I could only pick and choose what places to go. Everyone recommended going to the Mausoleum to see Ho Chi Minh's body, and that should take up the whole morning and then it would be time for me to leave. I managed to visit the Mausoleum, the Ho Chi Minh Palace just right beside it, and walked to the Temple of Literature (supposedly the oldest university in Vietnam, with the scholars names inscribed on huge giant stone turtles), took a cab to Saint Joseph's Cathedral, and tried the "best beef pho" in Hanoi as recommended by Tiger Airways. All in the short time span of 2 hours. This probably shouldn't be something to be proud of, but I am strangely impressed at how many places I can cram in such a short period of time. Not that I was really missing out on a lot by rushing. I didn't think I needed to slow down at the Palace to hear from the tour guide which chair he sat on while having dinner and which bed he was lying on when he passed away.

The best experience in Hanoi, I guess, was the water puppet show. The music was quite fascinating, and the drama unfolded by the water puppets were amusing and a visual feast.

In a nutshell, Hanoi < Ho Chi Minh < Cambodia.

Ha Long Bay, on the other hand, was interesting. Interesting in a sense that I met up with several backpackers who made me even more tempted to just take a year off to roam around the planet. Everyone was talking about where they were going next, be it China, or India, or Australia, or Thailand. I would be flying to Singapore, possibly even straight to office the moment I touched down. But it was a good break to be away.

It was also interesting because I spent my birthday in Ha Long Bay. No one on the boat knew that it was my birthday and there was a nice surreal solitude feeling, to simply sit at the front of the junk, looking out into the sea and just relaxing the mind. It was nonetheless incredibly heartening to see the dozens of birthday greetings on Facebook, Whatsapp and SMSes upon reaching Hanoi.

The caves in Ha Long Bay were interesting because they looked like props from some Disneyland rollercoaster ride. The stalactites and stalagmites were beautiful on their own, but they had to add multi-colored lights to make it look even nicer.... and man-made. The view of the ocean with all the rocks from the outside is pretty awesome though.

Finally it was interesting because we got to swim in the sea! We got to jump from the top of the junk to the ocean, and the first attempt was mildly terrifying. We also got to kayak into the gulf. The Englishman I kayaked with was a nice chap, but unfortunately he had no directional sense when it comes to rowing. Initially it was great - because I took the front seat. After which we both decided we should take our cameras down to snap some pictures, and then he wanted to try rowing in front. That's when it became annoying because the kayak couldn't get to the direction that we wanted to, not to mention we were the only ones left in the sea; everyone else had returned back to the junk. It's all part of the experience I guess.

Next stop, Bangkok!

This is my first time traveling out of my home country, Singapore, all on my own. And it is also my first time traveling out of the Asia-Pacific region. This trip ignited the travel bug in me for the very first time. I was fresh out of college, eager to start my first job and wasn't even intending to go on a small graduation trip, much less to another continent. But I wisely decided that a graduation trip is now or never. And since my friends have been pestering to get me to go to New York, I decided to go ahead and join them. Frankfurt would initially just be the place of transit, but I somehow decided to stay there for 3 days to tour the city.

It was an early morning flight at Changi Airport, and I reached Germany at about 7 am German Time. At that point in time, I hardly did any homework. The only German words I knew were "Wurst", "Bier", "Flaghufen" and "Toilette" - essentially "sausage", "beer", "airport" and "toilet", the only things I thought were essential to survive in Germany. Subsequently, while in Germany, I learnt the phrase "Danke Sehr", which is German for thank you, and that's about it.

When I heard the captain announcing "welcome to Frankfurt, Germany", the feeling was a mix of apprehension and excitement. What if no one could speak English? What if I was robbed the moment I leave the plane? What if I couldn't even manage to get out of the airport? What if I took the wrong train and ended up in Slovakia?

Thankfully, I chanced upon a few New Zealanders who looked as lost as me - at least they had one another. I went to ask them if they are going to Frankfurt am Main, and if they know where to go from here. They said they didn't know but they were walking toward the train station. I followed them, and boarded a train after asking a stranger if it goes to Frankfurt city. Once in the train, I asked a passenger if he could tell me when to alight, and he graciously agreed. Once I alighted, that was the start of my Europe experience.

Breathing the cold air (yes it's summer but still relatively colder than Singapore), stepping on the cobbled tiles off Haufbahnhoff, looking at the architecture, surrounded by people speaking a language you totally don't understand. The feeling is so surreal, so magical, no words could explain. My sense of direction was pathetic though, and it was by a stroke of luck that I managed to find my hostel so easily.

I have to mention that Germans are one of the nicest bunch of people I've met. From the lady who obviously was in a rush to work, but still bothered to give me a little help in how to board the "Bahns" (i.e. German subway), to this other lady who grabbed me before I was about to cross the road and was looking at the wrong direction of traffic, to this man who sensed that I was lost while searching for museums, and giving me advice on which ones are open and worth going, I get the feeling that they are friendly, helpful and a nice bunch to live with. Their hospitality was much appreciated.

The first time traveling alone meant that I got a little paranoid at times too. While in the subway station for the first time, there was a drunk who kept yelling at me and even walked towards me. I managed to evade him, but soon after I was so afraid that I would bump into him on my way to the hostel, I briefly started imagining me walking alone in the dark at 9 pm with him holding a knife and stuff. To my pleasant surprise, it was still bright at 9 pm (it's summer after all) and it's still crowded in the stations. It was then I realized that my paranoia was unfounded.

Traveling alone also meant that I got lost occasionally, even in an easy-to-navigate city like Frankfurt. It took me a while to figure out how to get around in the bahns, but after a couple of hours I became quite an expert in that. And moments of being lost actually were exciting, more than frightening.

The best thing about traveling alone, however, is that I could rush through places that I wasn't really into (museums.), while I take my own time doing things that I like. I could sit down, have a beer in a bar and watch World Cup; I could go into a cinema and watch a movie in English; I could walk for 90 minutes in the neighbourhood and eventually reach Alt-Sachsenhausen to try its apple cider.

Frankfurt isn't exactly a touristy place, but it has its fair share of attractions that are nonetheless European in flavor. From the grand cathedral Dom, to beautiful Romerberg, to Goethe Haus, a house of a famous Frankfurter preserved in its 17th century style... these are definitely European, hence, to me they are exotic.

.

I also had opportunities to try those German food that I've always heard about: Sauerkraut, Curry Wurst, Apple Cider, Cheese etc.

Curry sausages were my favourite. I also liked all kinds of wurst.. The non-alcoholic warm apple cider I tried was fantastic. The sauerkraut is ok, but the cheese is definitely an acquired taste - I hated it.

While in Frankfurt, it actually rained for almost half of the time I was outdoors. But it didn't dampen the enjoyment I had. When I took a cab back to the Airport on my way to Boston I was disappointed that it had to end although I secretly made a mental note to visit Europe again someday.