J WAS HERE

family, home & travel

Autor: Julia

  • Frankfurt Morning Glory

    Julia

    This is one of the stunning views you get to see when staying at Frankfurt Marriott Hotel, a place which I will at times call my second home. Just started on a project in this town, my very first in my young career as a consultant, so I wonder if this place can become my…

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    The return to Hanoi

    Julia

    Sapa – Hanoi Before we say goodbye to this absolutely stunning part of Vietnam we dare to get on the bikes, again. Starting at 09:30 am, this third tour of ours lasts 2 hours. Again, we have the opportunity to gain even new sights of the country, and see it from a different perspective. On…

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    Hill riding in the frontier land

    Julia

    Sapa Considering we went to sleep at the top of a mountain, the night rest was very comforting. The absence of „industrial“ noise can be distracting, for us as Western Europeans, but especially for those Vietnamese metropolitans. There were no horns, no traffic noise, no people chatting, crying, arguing or else. In these moments you…

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    Frontier Land: A visit to Sapa and the highlands

    Julia

    Hanoi – Sapa Our transfer to Sapa came with the hotel reservation. There are other options to get to this quite remote place close to the Chinese border, all of which take longer. We wanted to make the most of it and enjoy the next days to the fullest, so we are quite lucky to…

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    The sound of traffic or „How to cross a Vietnamese street“

    Julia

    06:00 am, we are woken up by the sounds of traffic, the unavoidable horns, people bustling around, already busy with their businesses: preparing food to sell, transporting huge cupboards on tiny scooters, chit-chatting and more. Don’t mistakenly take it for chaos. You need to stop, take it in fully and just watch from a distance…

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    Arriving in Hanoi: About the Old Town, Pho and Hoan Kiem Lake

    Julia

    Hue – Hanoi The plane that takes us to Hanoi, the big metropolis of the North, arrives after only 55 minutes. Again, they are super-fast with the luggage. Vietnamese efficiency. After only ten minutes we are looking for a taxi, our luggage at hand. We approache a probably French guy who is waiting next to…

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    Hue, the Imperial City

    Julia

    Hue The highlight by night is the illuminated bridge across the Perfume River, connecting the Southern, contemporary part of the city with the Northern part where the remains of the Emperor’s city are situated. As we’re about to leave the city for Hanoi tonight we were lucky to have watched the bridge change colors yesterday…

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    Hue today – sights of a Vietnamese city

    Julia

    Hue We arrive in the old emperor’s city by train in the early afternoon and take a taxi to our hotel. The place is neat and cozy, the staff super-friendly and it costs us about USD 30 per night. An obligatory visit for me, we are going to the town’s market. It is huge and…

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    Vietnam’s beautiful cost line – a train trip

    Julia

    car 1, seats 35 & 36 on the train from Da Nang to Hue 11 o’clock, our shuttle to the train station in Da Nang arrives and takes us to Ga Da Nang – „ga“ probably comes from the French word „gare“ for train station. We need about half an hour to get there and…

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    Lazy beach life

    Julia

    Hoi An After a little bit of shopping (authentic Gucci toe socks to wear with flip flops) we checked out and called a taxi to get us to the beach resort we booked yesterday. The weather is perfect, the beach sandy and waves are perfect. Not many people dare to swim so we indulge in…