Hanoi Day 3 Part II

Hanoi Day 3 Part II

So yup, after the first uni in vietnam we went to the
Westlake

While waiting for me to submit my resume (Yes, I submitted my resume to NAC while in Hanoi cos I had to meet the deadline...but that's another story in itself), YJ read somewhere tt the view on this lake v nice. And got a lot of young couples go there and pak tor. Heh. So we all decided to go and check it out. Since Hang also kinda ran out of things for us to see. When we got there, there were 2 types of 'rides'. Either the Swan paddle boat thing, or a rubber dinghy, tt cld only take 3 pple max. So no choice la, had to split up. The swan looked a lot safer too! (I was quite bewildered why they were all quite gian to take the rides cos I wasn't too keen on the physical exertion. Not like we really needed the exercise... having had to walk so much the past few days!) However, the view was relatively scenic and peaceful. Took quite a few pics on the water. Steven even managed to squeeze the 4 of us together into 1 shot!!

Then there's me and YJ...



It's quite cute... cos u can only go a certain distance out from the shore. And if u go too far, there's a guy with a loud hailer who will scream at you and ask you to get back! (YJ and I kena screamed, altho we didn't know why. There were other boats which went even further out.. :/)

The Train to Sapa(aka Highlands)

So after that rather physically exhausting session cos u had to paddle...we went back to the hotel to rest for a bit and have dinner before taking the night train up to the highlands!! I really really loved Sapa. Cos the weather was so cold. And there was lotsa fog..which altho was bad for visibility, created a really nice atmosphere. The tribes were quite interesting too. But tts for another day. The train ride up there was a first for me. Never taken the rail anywhere before. And this was a night train. Not knowing what to expect, I thought at least we'd have an attached bathroom (duh). Of cos there was none. And even though I knew we'd have to squeeze 4 into a cabin, I didn't know the living quarters were gonna be that tight. Check out this pic taken from the door of our cabin. This was already quite luxurious I must say, cos there were other cabins with 6 beds. :S U can barely have 2 people standing at a time lor.


Then these 2 pics are of the space. All taken from the upper bunk (where I slept), the pic on the left shows some small area where u can store your bags. And the pic on the right shows the view of the small table when I look down from my bed.


So yup. It was quite an experience. Not entirely uncomfortable, but there were v strange moments. Like when I had to go pee. And there was no sitting facility. With the jerking of the train, it was the most difficult pee I'd ever taken. And took damn long also....until YJ (who so gentlemanly waited for me) wondered if I'd fallen down the hole or sthg. Heh.