Long Bien Bridge – Vietnam history witness

Formely known as the Paul Doumer Bridge, the Long Bien Bridge – one of Hanoi icon – is a historical witness for 12 decades and has become a symbol of courageous capital in wars. Visiting Hanoi, tourists will have chance to contemplate the beauty of this bridge.

History

Over a hundred years ago, in 1899, Long Bien Bridge was completed and became one of the longest bridges in Asia. Designed by Gustave Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame, the bridge sustained significant damage during the Vietnam war. It was named Paul Doumer, but the Hanoians still call it as Long Bien Bridge or Cai River Bridge.

Designed by Gustave Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame, 

the bridge sustained significant damage during the Vietnam war.

With the 3000 finest and skillful Vietnamese workers, under the guidance of French engineers, Long Bien Bridge was built certainly with 20 spans, 30m depth, and 13.5m height from the lowest water level. The detail made the unique of this bridge was the railway at the middle. 

More than 100 years with decades of war, Long Bien Bridge was bombed many times by air attacks by American army in 1967, 1972 due to its strategic placement in connecting Hanoi to the port city of Hai Phong; and many spans of the bridge were destroyed. The left spans still remaining today remind us of an unforgettable past. Nowadays, only half of the bridge retains its original shape, but a rebuilding project supported by the French government is currently in progress to restore the bridge to its original appearance. The bridge, hence, is not only a traffic construction, a nice architecture, but also a living historical relic.

Location

The location chosen to build Long Bien bridge was right at the place that French battleship opened fire to North Gate and Quan Chuong Gate. Long Bien Bridge is now located at Dong Xuan ward, and easily found on Yen Phu street (along with Tran Nhat Duat street). 

Starting from a busy local market of Hanoi Old Quarter, Long Bien Bridge is the way to get out the hustle city to explore serene villages on the other side of Song Hong. You can combine your visit to Long Bien Bridge with half day or full day tour to Bat Trang and Kieu Ki villages, two famous handicraft villages in Hanoi suburb. Here you explore another face of Hanoi when study the secret of handicrafts and even can try your hand with some items.

Long Bien Market

Travelers can also visit Long Bien market – a wholesale market famous for fruit, vegetable, and fresh food – which is located under the bridge and on Yen Phu street. This is the second-biggest wholesale market in Hanoi after Dong Xuan market. However, visitors who are not wholesalers can also buy fresh food, fruit, or veggie.

About nearly 2km along Yen Phu street is Thanh Nien street, where travelers can admire both West Lake and Truc Bach Lake. West Lake is the biggest lake in Hanoi with a peace and tranquility of the lakeside walk of 17km (about 10.6 miles), and numerous café, pagoda, and shopping areas nearby. 

What to do

Long Bien is one of the five bridges crossing the Red River, connecting the centre of Hanoi with some provinces. It is a unique bridge with the history of over 100 years, witnessing Vietnam historical times. Long Bien is also the only bridge in Hanoi where all the riders have to go on the left hand side, where tourist can take a walk and taste mouthwatering desserts offered by vendors, where Hanoians can buy fresh vegetable or fish for the dinner from the small afternoon market on the bridge opened by vendors and housewives living under the bridges.

A beautiful and ancient background for bride and groom wedding album

Due to many travelers, the best time to admire this majestic bridge is at the sunrise or sunset, when you can take lots of nice photos of alluvial patch. Therefore, it is a favorite place of youngsters and teenagers who want keep their memories of youth by photos. Long Bien Bridge is often chosen as a nice background for wedding albums, so if you visit this place, you can see many beautiful couples, brides and grooms in traditional costumes or glamorous wedding dresses. Travelers can also ride a bike or take a walk on the bridge, enjoying the scenes of daily life of Hanoians, and the peaceful moments at the present but not forgetting memorable past.

The best time to admire this majestic bridge is at the sunrise or sunset

How to get there

Long Bien Bridge is about 1km far from the Old Quarter of Hanoi, and over 2km from HoanKiem Lake. If you are at Hoan Kiem Lake, you can go straight Hang Ngang, Hang Dao, and Dong Xuan street.

You can rent a motorbike (5-10USD/day) and remember go on the left hand side of the bridge. If you want to discover both Old Quarter and Long Bien Bridge, you had better take a walk.

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Dong Xuan Market, a busy trade center in Hanoi, Vietnam

Known as a big and crowded trade center in Hanoi, Viet nam, Dong Xuan Market is an attractive attractions for many travelers all over the world. The market has lots of diversified goods with cheap price for each item: from foods like candy, wine, fresh or dried seafood to clothes, shoes, handbags, hats, etc.

General information
Name: Dong Xuan market (ĐồngXuân market)
Address: Dong Xuanstreet, HoanKiem, Hanoi.
Opening time: 8:00 A.M to 6:00 P.M
Most traded items: Clothing, househoud goods.

Location

About 1km far from HoanKiem Lake, Dong Xuan Market is located inside the Old Quarter, on the right side of Dong Xuan Street. In the West of the market is Dong Xuan St, Hang Khoai St is in the North, Cau Dong St is in the South, and Dong Xuan Alley is in the East.

As located inside the Old Quarter, visitors can also discover places and sightseeing near Dong Xuan market. When Dong Xuan is the biggest wholesale market in Hanoi, the Old Quarter can be considered as the biggest retail market in Vietnam. If you love shopping clothes, come to Hang Dao street, in the South of Dong Xuan market, and about 500m far from the market; or you can go to Hang Ma and Luong Van Can street to buy toys for your children.

Hang Dao St

In the North of Dong Xuan market is Long Bien Bridge – a historical bridge in Hanoi, where you can take lots of photos about Hanoians’ life on Red River coast at the sunrise or sunset. In the South of the market, travelers can discover history of Hanoi and Vietnam during walking along HoanKiem Lake, visiting Ngoc Son Pagoda, and Ly Thai To statue. About nearly 2 km far from Dong Xuan market, in the South-West, you can visit St Joseph’s Cathedral – known as little Notre Dame, which is located on NhaThostreet next toNha Chung and Au Trieu street.

Long Bien Bridge

History

Among lots of market at the capital (from Mo market, Hom market, to South Gate market, Ngoc Ha market), Dong Xuan market is the biggest. Dong Xuan.market was built in 1889, when the last vestiges of the To Lich river and Taichi Lake (Thai Cuc Lake)weredisappeared completely; the French re-constructed the city and moved all the vendors and shops to a vacant land of Dong Xuan ward, forming Dong Xuan Market. In the very first year of opening, the market was operated outdoor or behind the covering roofs.

The French re-constructed the city and moved all the vendors and shops to a vacant land of

Dong Xuan ward, forming Dong Xuan Market (Photo: Panoramio)

In 1980, new French government re-constructed Dong Xuan Market with five arch doors, and five rooms of 54m length and 19m height. The front door was French design with metal roof and five triangle parts sculpted like a honeycomb.

Around the 90s, Dong Xuan Market was again re-built; the two blocks aside were demolished, and the other three rows left were built up to 3 floors. The two side doors were also taken away, but they still kept the outer columns. Later, in 1994, the market was destroyed in a fire that resulted in the death of five people and the loss of an estimated USD4.5 million in stock.

Nowadays, Dong Xuan Market has been rebuilt with larger scale consists of 3 spacious floors, but still keep some of the architecture of the old market façade.

Dong Xuan night market

Shopping

Located near Long Bien station and the Red River, Dong Xuan Market is a convenient location for trading products from different places. Commodities sold from Dong Xuan market are abundant and belonging to different styles of models. Hundreds of stalls, with thousands of workers, trade extremely fresh produce, dried foods, household goods, appliances and more.That's why it is suitable to every taste and customer. There are even some items in Dong xuan which is so hard for customers to find at other markets.

Hundreds of stalls trade extremely fresh produce, dried foods,

household goods, appliances and more

Low-price commodity is a strong point of Dong Xuan market. As a wholesale market, it provides products for retail shops in Hanoi and nearby provinces. Therefore the price of products at Dong Xuan market is the original cost which is lower than other markets and local shops. With large space, it's not difficult for customer to go sightseeing and shopping at Dong Xuan market because the market is sectioned. Each section has its own item. For example, shoes and sandal are sold at first floor; clothing is sold at second floor.However, customers can hardly buy anything from this market because just wholesale buyers are able to buy products. Although there is some retail shops on the second floor, you must know the art of "bargain" and you had better avoid buying retail goods in the morning because the shop keeper may feel uneasy with a retail buyer. Anyway, if you have chance to come there, you may want to enjoy just going sight-seeing.

Dong Xuan market – Hanoi cuisine paradise.

You might have your curiosity and appetite titillated as you try to choose from a wide selection of exotic Hanoi dishes: fried frog or fish meat pastes, rice and duck meat soup, fried rice, tietcanh (duck blood uncooked, only if you have a brave heart and strong stomach), snail noodle, rice vermicelli and beef cooked in the south Vietnamese style and even just beefsteak and bread. Here you can find real Hanoi food, as favored by true-blue Hanoians. The dishes might cost a little more than elsewhere, but you have to taste it to believe it, they are truly delicious, such as a steamy hot dish of pho cuon (beef wrapped in long wispy strips of rice vermicelli, served with aromatic herbs and spicy sweet-sour fish sauce).

Visiting Dong Xuan Market, travelers should not miss Dong Xuan Alley – a food paradise. Some delicious cuisines reviewed by travelers are:

	Roasted pork rice noodle (Bún chả): Sophisticated from fresh material to process techniques of roasted pork meatballs rolled with blumea leaves, eating with sweet and sour fish sauce made with homemade dracontomelum. Price: 25.000 VND – 35.000 VND (1 – 2 USD).
	Shizuka sweet porridge (chè xuka): To taste this special-name sweet porridge, you have to go deep inside Dong Xuan Alley (if you drive car or motorbike, park before going inside). This soup is the combination of coconut milk, dried coconut, dried banana, and jellies with sweet and fresh tastes. This porridge is called Shizuka because the owner loves Shizuka in the famous Doraemon manga. Besides Shizuka sweet soup, Dong Xuan Market Alley is also famous for other delicious sweet soup such as sweet green bean soup, grapefruit soup, and jellies. Price: around 1USD.
	Meatballs rice noodle with bamboo shoot: This stall has 20-year experience of making this cuisine. The quality of 1 big bowl is so so, but its location and price have attracted lots of visitors. You can also order for fried bread-sticks and extremely spicy chili sauce to eat with noodle. Price for 1 delicious bowl is 15.000 – 20.000VND (0.7 – 1 USD)
	Snail-crab rice noodle: The stall selling this cuisine which is right at the beginning of Dong Xuan Alley is a longtime and stand-out stall in this “food paradise” lane. The stall use big snail instead of small snail in other stalls. The snails are clean carefully so visitors do not have to worry about its cleanness. This shop does not use vinegar but tamarind juice as one of the ingredients. The opening time is in from morning until early afternoon.
	Night market rib porridge: Rib porridge at Dong Xuan market is only sold from late afternoon at around 5:00 – 6:00 PM until mid night, and it is more and more crowded at night. This porridge is made from bone juice and eaten with crunchy rib cartilages. You can also order fried bread-sticks and salted shredded pork to eat with porridge. This stall is located on Dong Xuan pavement, opposite Dong Xuan market.

How to get there

From HoanKiem Lake, take Hang Dao Street. Along the way, it changes name to Hang NgangSteet and then Hang Duong Street. Eventually it becomes Dong Xuan Street. You will see Dong Xuan Market on the right side of the road. The distance is about over 1 kilometer.

If you come here at the weekend (Fri, Sat, Sun), you can enjoy walking along the night market from Hang Dao to Dong Xuanstreet and buying stuffs. Night market starts from 7:00 PM until late night.

In the morning or afternoon, you can catch the electric bus from HoanKiemlake to Dong Xuan market.

Electric bus in Hanoi

Shopping tips

- If you want to buy items at wholesale price, you’d better gather all the orders from your friends, family members, or travel-mates to be able to buy and have a better price.

- If the items you want to buy are not for retail sale, you can find them in other stalls nearby with wholesale prices. There are some retail stores at the second floor, but you have to bargain and avoid buying in the morning.

- Visitor should go around the market to learn the price before purchase, and avoid bargaining many times.

- At the weekends or in the holidays, you should use public transports.

- Be careful with your properties. 

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Decoding Japan by questions

Which time to travel to Japand; why is everything in Japan so adorable, etc. Those are some questions that travelers often wonder about this beautiful country.

What is the most ideal time to travel to Japan?

Japan has a lot of festivals, and they are taken place in all four seasons; Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. However, the best time to travel to this country is in the early of April, when cherry blossoms bloom everywhere and you're like entering into a wonderland. Besides, this is the time that companies are working hard, and students are busy to go to school, so most of the attractions are not too crowded.

The worst times to travel to Japan are at the big and long national festival, when expenses are increasing and the roads and attractions are full of people. There are 3 times you should avoid, they are: New Year Eve, golden weeks, and Obon festival. In addtion, you should also avoid coming to Japan in the rainy season.

Are obese people discriminated in Japan?

The answer is YES. Japan is one of the countries with low rates of obesity in the world. Most Japanese are slim. However, fat people are not discriminated too much.

Is Japan large?

Japan has an area of 377.944 kilometers square, rated at the 62th in the world above Germany, Finland, Italy, etc. Japan has 6.852 islands, and four large islands which are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku.

Is Kyoto the capital city of Japan?

Kyoto used to be capital city of Japan from year 794 to 1868; after that, the new government moved capital to Tokyo. To many Japanese people, Kyoto is their "official capital city". Nowadays, Kyoto is one of the historical city, and is a famous destinations for travelers from all over the world. There are over 240 temples and tombs in this city. Many people praise this ancient capital as the most beautiful city in the world.

Japan is not only a modern country but also retains many traditional value

Does Japan has poisonous snakes?

Snakes appear in Japanese history as often as Geisha, Samurai, and Ninja. Poisonous snakes are found in the major islands of Japan; Okinawa has the most. Therefore, Japanese government has erected lots of warning signs of poisonous snake throughout the country.

If you are hiking or jogging in Japan, you will be encouraged to wear long pants, socks and shoes carefully. Each year, thousands of people are hospitalized after being bit by snakes, but the number of people dead because of poisonous snakes are very low, less than 1%.

What is Kappa monster?

Kappa is a monster living in rivers, streams, and is a legendary monster in Japanese folk culture. Kappa's height is as tall as a child and have many similarities with lizards. They are very good swimmers. On their head has a hole to contain water, and if the water in the hole are filled, they are still powerful. 

Kappa - the scary monster in Japanese culture.

This species love eating cucumber; therefore, in the Edo period, parents often engraved their children's name on cucumbers, and throw them into the river with the believe that they will protect their children from the attack Kappa.

Kappa is an imaginary character, and it is not true, but in many periods, the Japanese still believe it existence. At some rivers, they still put warning signs of this species Kappa. 

Why is Japan called Japan? 

In Japanese, Japan is read as Nippon. In the last century, Portugal was one of the first countries to trade with Japan. They are also the first to try spell the name Japan (Nippon) into Latin for easy call. 

Initially, they translate Nippon into Jippon. Then the French pronounce as Japon and finally, in English, it is pronounced as Japan. Therefore, today, Japan is called Japany in English. 

Why is everything in Japan so cute?

According to many tourists traveling to Japan, this country has many adorable things, cute products; simply because the Japanese like that. Since people like cute things, products produced by many Japanese companies should also follow this trend if they want a great sale.

In Japan, everything is decorated the cutest.

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Thailand flower garlands and coloured lanterns Festival

Coming to Thailand in November this year, you will have the opportunity to admire one of the world's most beautiful scenes voted by Lonely Planet; when the sky and water will be lit by thousands of coloured lanterns at Loy Krathong Festival.

The outstanding beauty of Thai girls in traditional costume with the glowing lanterns is the easy to see in any travel magazines and posters when November is coming, and it is a sign of Loy Krathong  festival.

Beautiful Thai girls in traditional costumes dropping flower garlands and lanterns.

In Thai, Loy means "drop" and Krathong means "flower garlands" decorated in lotus-shaped with banana leaves, flowers, candles and incense. Loy Krathong takes place on the night of the full moon of the 12th month according to the Thai calendar (about November in normal calendar). This year, Loy Krathong will take place on 6th of November, but in many places, the formal rituals of the festival takes place from 5 - 7/11. 

The purpose of the Loy Krathong festival is a tribute to the water goddess who gives people plenty of water, and excuse people from the actions muddied water. Dropping the coloured lanterns is also a way to repel bad luck in the past and pray for blessings in the future. Many people believe that if the candle is still lighting until "krathong" out of sight, then their wishes will come true. Besides the ritual of dropping  flower garlands and coloured lanterns, many other interesting activities will be also taking place during the Loy Krathong festival such as making Krathong lanterns contest, Noppamas beauty competition, folk games, art and fireworks performance...

Thousands of lanterns are releasing into the sky at Loy Krathong festival in Thailand

If you go to northern Thailand, you can admire spectacular Loy Krathong festival in Chiang Mai, and enjoy the atmosphere of releasing millions of lanterns into the sky, so called Yee Peng festival. You can also visit Tak province, where thousands of candles lighted in flower garlands and coloured lanterns along Ping river. Then you can see closely the flower garlands and lanterns made ​​of 100 thousands banana trunks in Samut Songkram province. Festival specially recalled the heyday of the Kingdom of Thailand's ancient capital in Ayutthaya or Sukhothai province, with a series of activities such as beauty queens parade, fireworks, artistic traditions, and reapearing the floating market and local markets activities, etc. 

Going on a colourful boat and dropping beautiful lanterns is one of the interesting activities during the festival

When coming to the "city of angels" Bangkok, you will be able to take beautiful pictures to record shining moments of poetic Chao Phraya River, where the flower garlands and lanterns activities of capital citizens are taking place. Many places in the city hangs red lanterns showing the the spirit of the people celebrating the festival. You can choose how to enjoy the flower garlands and coulured lanterns festival on a cruise along the glowing river, or enjoy the family dinner with delicious cuisines of Golden Temple country, or drop lantern with your wishes along the Chao Phraya River and in some few hotel pools along the river.

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6 things to know when travelling to Mongolia

(Gotravelings.com) The trusted drivers and special style tents have helped da harsh country as Mongolia attract lots of tourist from all over the world.

These are some suggestions for your trip to this beautiful steppe country.

1. Trust your drivers.

Even when you do not have maps, GPS, or any other detector equipment, you still can trust Mongolian drivers. With their skills, they will drive you to the exact place you want to go. Let your worry be vanished and enjoy the magnificent scenery here. However, if you find out that the driver is speeding up, do not hesitate to remind him to slow down.

The old Russian bus on the way to conquer Mongolia steppe

2. Time zones in Mongolia

Mongolia's time zone is UCT/GMT +8. You can compare to your country time zone to adjust your living mode. However, if you are in emergency, you can emphasize with the local people in order not to affect your expected plan.

3. Meet up and play with local children

The innocence of Mongolian children

Mongolian children are extremely friendly and cute with pink cheeks taking up most of their face. However, if you want to take picture with them, you'd better ask their parents for allowance first.

4. Taking bath

Dried shampoo is very popular in Mongolia. If you are not familiar with it, bring your favorite shampoo. In some luxurious tents, they may have solar shower. Nevertheless, you should get used to the fact of the lack of comb and mirror during your journey at this country, which is the reason for your messy hair.

5. Camping on the steppe

A tent on the steppe

There are a lot of famous destinations in this country, but do not forget to experience a night in the tent. The sound of rain dripping on your tent in a silent night will give you the unforgettable emotions. This is also an opportunity for you to explore the lives of the nomads in small huts among the vast steppe.

6. Gifts / Souvenirs

After a long trip is time for shopping whatever you like. It sounds strange to buy wool scarf in a country with harsh climate as Mongolia; however, there is nothing in the world better and smoothier than Mongolia sheep wool.

- Anna Pham -

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Where to go when you are lack of money

(Gotravelings.com) If you want to discover the world but your budget is limited, you can choose these cheap destination below to satisfy your travel passion.

Thailand

No one doubts the great service and scenery of this Southeast Asian country. It's like that winter does not exist when you come to Thailand. Thailand has countless fascinating tours for those who love to explore: from pilgrimage tour of temples or beach tour at attractive shores, to shopping for those shopaholics.

And the most amazing thing in this paradise is that it has a price on the ground. Looking for the dorm and affordable rental housing on the tourist route as Khao San, Bangkok, you can easily rent a house for 20 euro/month (if you want to live next to the coast, the price increases to 100 euro/month, but it is still an extremely pleasing prices). Thai Food costs around 150 euro/month. Paradise of low cost life is still exist, and it is Thailand! 

Laos

Although tourism is the neighbor country - Thailand - is quite developed, in Laos, everything is still tentative. Therefore, the price for service here is pretty cheap and the landscape is almost untouched, and haven't been destroyed by human hands. Tourists can visit the Buddha Park in Vientiane, Plain of Jars in Xiangkhuang. The ideal time to visit is the dry season from November to March, when the heat is not too blinding and not have the constant rainfall.

Vietnam

On the list of the cheap-to-travel countries on travelling sites and magazines, Vietnam is also listed. Therefore, there is no reason why we can not backpack and explore this beautiful country. Vietnam is full of beautiful natural terrain, stretching from the North to the South as the sea, lakes, rivers, mountains, bays, islands, etc, which attract tourists during the dry season from November to March every year.

The ideal destinations which are cheap but majestic are: Moc Chau, Sapa, Ha Giang, Ninh Binh, Hoi An, Danang, and the West provinces.

Cambodia

Phnom Penh, you can live with only 250 euros/month and eat a meal in a restaurant for less than 2 euros! You do not want to live luxury? A fast-food meal is even much cheaper in the area of ​​the historical Angkor Wat, and it will help you save quite a sum more in your budgets. 

Souvenirs can be purchased for 1 USD - 2 USD. One night at the lodge costs about $15 but can stay up to 3-4 people. 

Belize

Also located in Central America, Belize is not known by many tourists, but it is one of the most beautiful countries in the region.

Belize has everything, from a beautiful long coastline, tropical climate and rich flora and fauna. The official language in Belize is English which is quite convenient for tourists; and for those who love diving, Belize is truly a paradise. 

The cost of living in Belize is the same as in Costa Rica with cheap food can be bought at the markets or from peddlers.

Prague, Czech Republic

Perhaps Europe is the most expensive destination in the world if you travel here. However, if you still want to explore Europe, Prague is the most perfect suggestion for you. Price for one night stay at the lodge can range from 10USD to 15 USD, price for beer is even cheaper than that of mineral water. In addition, there are also many other entertaining activities which are also inexpensive, the most simple activity is wandering around the whole city to sightseeing the peace and beauty of this place.

Nepal

With the beautiful, unspoiled, peaceful natural sceneries, along with long culture tradition, Nepal attract a lot of tourists to visit every year. According to Lonely Planet magazine, visitors only cost about 5 - 7 USdollars a night to stay in local guesthouses. The local food is delicious and cheap with very good quality of service. All of those will make visitors satisfied. Cost of visa to travel to Nepal is about 25 USdollars.

Bolivia

Like the above places, accommodation costs in Bolivia are relatively low, especially cheap but delicious food. But the greatest thing of Bolivia is the natural wildlife beauty, from Lake Titicaca to the Salar de Uyuni salt plains. In addition, Bolivia has many ancient and historical cities such as La Paz. Tickets to the Museum of La Paz is only 58 cents.

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Basic things you should know for the first time traveling to Europe

(Gotravelings.com) Instead of desiring to travel to all places or eat every foods, you have to calm down and plan carefully your journey to have the very first perfect backpacking trip to this old continent.

You want to eat pasta in Rome, stand on Eiffel Tower, come across the red street in Amsterdam, or join in the party in Munich .... It is just when you have the whole year traveling in Europe, or else, you only can choose places based on your capability.

1. Right choices

Europe is a continent which has rich culture and history, and countries here connect with each other strongly. You cannot go to all the countries in a journey (except you do not care about money and time). If you try to go as many as possible, your time spending for train, bus, plane will make your trip shorter.

 

Europe nations are small in square, but rich in cultural and historical places. Photo: Google Images

So what is the secret? You might choose the best 5 places must go. It can be drinking beer in Hofbrauhaus, Munic, Germany; or eating tapas in Barcelona; or visiting Tate Modern in London. Bookmarking all the important places that you have chosen, then spread the trip around those places. When you can define which countries or cities you want to go in the allowed time, the next step is find the way to get there.

10 days are normally suitable for backpackers' wallet. Traveling alone in Europe is easier than in any other continent, because most of European can speak English. You can book a hostel room or transportation ticket online. You should find (or hunt) cheap flight tickets for months before your trip start, sometimes even year before. You should remember that using inter-city or inter-country buses will be cheaper than that of train or plane. You had better find and compare the prices before buying.

You should not miss the symbolic places like the Colosseum arena in Rome (Italy), Eiffel Tower in Paris (France), Charles bridge in Prague (Czech Republic), etc. Those are really amazing places. Many posts in a lot of forums engage travelers to discover new places, but you don't have to follow all of it, especially in your first trip to Europe.

You also don't have to follow everything written in the guide book. There are many restaurant you want to try but are not written in the book, but you can be more opened by experiencing new things. If you read about the Louvre museum (Paris, France) is the place you must go, but you are accidentally lost in the Blek Le Rat world (the famous graffity artist) with a lot of his works on the walls, you can spend times to discover both of them.

2. Travel by season

July to September is the high traveling season in Europe when you have to share spaces with millions of other travelers. Hotel, hostel, dormitory are mostly full or high price; train, bus, and plane are also harder to book. 

Therefore, you can think about Autumn or Spring time, and if you are not afraid of the cold, you can go in winter. You will find everything easier and more peaceful like it is only for you.

Winter in Austria is cold, peaceful, and not very crowded will be an ideal place for your traveling. Photo: autocarhire.com

One thing you should take notice is to travel to Europe at the right time, participating into some festival in this old continent like Oktoberfest (beer festival in Germany), Biennale (modern art exhibition in Italy), La Tomatina (tomato festival in Spain), Tomorrowland (electric music in Belgium), Exit (summer music in Serbia), etc, you will definitely have the unforgettable memories. There also one thing you should consider is the fee and expenses, and you should book all the services 3 months or more before.

3. Know how to protect yourself.

The first time in Europe, you have to take care of yourself from being cheated. Sometimes, the offer for cheap price or some winged words might attract you. In this case, being wise and cold-head will help you to stand up from the attracted words from sexy girls in Amsterdam, or street vendors in Paris. The feelings of a backpacker this time have to be strong. If you don't feel safe, you'd better to quickly go away to another place.

If you still have times after traveling to main cities, you can think about Budapest, Krakow, or Lisbon. These cities will surely bring to you a lot of surprises.

Learning some basic sentences of local language, you can at least know how to greet and ask "do you know English" in local language. 

Pack your baggage lightly, you don't need 3 jeans in the summer or big coat in the Autumn in Europe. The 1 liter shampoo bottle can be replaced by the small convenient packs or a soap. Remember, you are backpacker.

But you need to have at least one decent clothes such as a t-shirt, long trouser, or shoes when you plan to hear opera in England theater or eating dinner in a restaurant in Berlin.

4. Spend money at the right places

Although you are backpacker, sometimes you still have to pay a big amount of money to experience the special characteristics like going on the gondola boat in Venice, enjoy the afternoon tea in London, drink German beer and eat smoked pork, etc.

Bring as much money as possible, especially small money, visa card, traveler check (type of check for traveler which can be changed into money). Visa card will allow you to buy flight ticket back home, and you don't need to put it with cash. Cash should be put in different places. Europe is beautiful and the people are friendly, but there are bad and good people everywhere, so you should take care of your safeness first.

You should have visa card (or master card) and cash to guarantee the expenses for your trip. 

Photo: us.123rf.com.

You go a thousand kilometers to go to different cities with lots of new things, so don't waste your time drinking beer or wine in a bar, hotel, or hostel. Step outside where a lot of amazing things are waiting for you.

Working hard and saving money for your own journey, sometimes, you can be mean to yourself when you are at home, but generous when traveling.

The final things is to enjoy every single moment on your trip.

- Hoai Nam -

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6 cheapest places to travel

(Gotravelings.com) Let's discover some most attractive as well as cheapest places in the world.

1. Cambodia

You should bring a long a lot of 1 USD and 2 USD because everything here is very cheap and the price is around 1 - 2 USD. A tuk tuk ticket, one meal, drink, massage, souvenir all can be bought at USD 1 - USD 2. One night at hostel is around USD 15 per room for 3 - 4 people. If you go to the South, the cost even cheaper because you only need to catch the 8 hour bus to go to Siem Riep, in which there is the famous Angkor.

2. Nepal

According to Lonely Planet survey, budget for one day in Nepal is just around USD 5 - USD 7 if you stay in the inn / hostel, and eat local food. Even if you join in a trek tour to the most beautiful area of Nepal, or climb up to the Everest Base Camp, the cost for one day is only USD 8 - USD 10 (including all the fee for tour guide, meals, accommodation, food, etc). The biggest fee you might spend is flight ticket from this area to another area.

3. Thailand

Thailand is now improving their tourism after the storm and the political issue in 2011. Therefore, this gold temples country is welcoming tourists with a lot of promotions.

In average, cost for one day in Thailand is USD 40, a little bit more than the other countries mentioned about; but Thailand has a lot of cities that you might want to visit. Street foods are cheap and delicious, and you have many choices for accommodation. Therefore, 40 dollars per day is still a suitable expenses.

In Phuket, price for a room for one night is around USD 10. If you can pay USD100, you can stay in one of the most luxurious hotel which might cost a thousand dollars in other countries. In the South of Thailand, if you go to Chiang Mai, the cost may be much lower.

4. Columbia

With the price for a room in hostel is USD10, a lot of attractions to visit, and the variety in culture, Columbia is a great country to come. In big cities such as Bogota and Cartagena, you can survive with the low cost (if you know how to avoid the tourism traps). You should learn a but Spanish because local people here are nearly do not speak English.

5. Prague, The Czech Republic.

Europe is always considered an expensive place to travel. However, if you want to find a place which is not too expensive but still can visit ancient works, palaces, and churchs, Prague - The Czech Republic's capital is the right place to go. The cost to stay in hostel is around USD 10 to USD 15 per night, and beer here is even cheaper than mineral water. Prague has a lot of activities that you can join in without any fee. And if you just wandering around Prague, you can see how beautiful and magnificent it is.

6. Bolivia

Just like the other places above, the cost for accommodation and food in Bolivia is quite low, especially you can find delicious food but very cheap. The most wonderful thing in Bolivia is the wild natural scenes, from the Titicaca lake to the Salar de Uyuni salt field. Besides, Bolivia has a lot of ancient and historical cities such as La Paz. Ticket to get inside the La Paz museum is only 58 cent.

In this list, you can replace Cambodia by Myanmar - the embodiment of South East Asia 20 years ago. This is the time that travel to Myanmar is the cheapest. One meal is around USD1.5 to USD 2, and the fee for a room for 2 people is around USD 15 to USD 20 per night. Bus ticket between every places are approximately USD 8 - USD 12.

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10 stuffs that you might forget to bring along with your trip

(Gotravelings.com) These small stuffs are usually be forgotten, and without it, you might get in troubles.

1. Bathroom stuffs.

Toothbrushes are always prepared in almost all hotels. Photo: Flickr.

Try to list all bathroom stuffs such as: toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving creams, mothwash, etc. If you don't see them in hotel room, you should ask the receptionist. Or in the long flight, guests are also provided a package of toothbrush and toothpaste. If you don't have mouthwash, you can use carbonated drinks or alcohol drinks instead.

2. Glasses and eye supported stuffs.

Forgetting glasses or eye supported stuffs are often happened to travelers. However, they are not easy to be replaced new like toothbrushes or toothpastes, and you might get into trouble when lack of them.

If coming to Asia, in the big cities like Beijing, it is not too difficult to find new suitable glasses. You can also book before you come, and request for urgent buy, but you might have to pay higher price. To avoid this issue, you'd better wear glasses, or eye contacted lens before you go.

3. Charging stuffs.

Nowadays, on your list of traveling stuff always have charging stuffs for your mobile-phone, computer, digital camera, etc. Before you are panic when finding that you forget to bring, you can borrow your traveling partners (if going with you).

The best solution is to borrow from the hotel reception. This issue is not too difficult to solve because electric shops are now everywhere, even in the airport also have free charging place. If you are type of person who always forget charging stuffs in almost all of your trips, you have to prepare a small bags for all the battery charges, and put it into the baggage as soon as possible.

4. The adapters.

Adapter is a necessary stuff when traveling. Photo: Flickr.

The professional international travelers always bring the adapter as a necessary stuff for almost all their trips. However, many people are easy to forget this small but important stuff before they packing.

It will be very hard for you when lack of it. Luckily, you can easily buy the adapters at the airport, or borrow from the hotel. If not, you can also use your flash driver to plug into the television to charge your phone battery. Do not forget to turn on the TV when charging :D.

5. Umbrella or rain coat.

To save your money not to buy a new cheap raincoat or umbrella, you can ask people around you to lend you a big plastic bag. Then make a hole at the bottom of the plastic bag and put it through your head. The smaller plastic bag can also be used as a plastic hat to cover you from the rain. It is not a really fashionable raincoat, but at least it is very useful in the light rainy day.

6. Cosmetics, cleansing tone, and perfume.

For lots of women, without cosmetics on their face is "disaster". After a long flight, you might realized that you have already forgotten your make-up stuffs at home, and it is very difficult to find the same ones.

You can try the new products at the cosmetics stores, ask the sellers to use the trial products, and do not forget to thank them before getting out of the shop. However, you have to take notice about the ingredients of the products if you are easy to get allergies. If you forget the cleansing tone, you can use milk soap to clean with fragrance water or olive oil to remove the cosmetics out of your face. If you don't have perfume, you can easily ask to try perfume at the fragrance shops. They always have the small bottle to give customer to try their products.

7. Cash

Todays, forgetting cash issue is not too difficult to solve when ATM machines are everywhere. If you travel abroad, ATM is always a best way to withdraw cash. However, do not abuse it too much because you will be charge extra money for withdrawing. Therefore, you'd better prepare before.

8. Prescription drugs / medicines.

If you travel while you have to sickness have to treat daily by doctor prescription, and you forget it at home, what should you do? You have to quickly contact to your doctor to get the prescription again, then go to the trusted pharmacy to buy. In another way, if you have travel insurance, you can call them for help if cannot contact to your doctor.

Bring necessary medicine when traveling. Source: Internet

9. Underwear.

Seemed to be the necessary stuff, underwear is often forgotten at home; and this is the no-replaced stuff. Therefore, you can go to fashion shops or underwear stores to buy new ones. You don't have to buy the expensive one, but washing the new underwear by soap and dry it into your hotel room. If you have dryer, you can use it to fasten the time.

Going to the underwear shops is the fastest way for you when forgetting them at home. Photo: ppunlimited.

10. Headphone

You only realize to forget this necessary thing when you want to listen to music, or watching movie on the plane. If you are on this situation, don't forget to ask the attendant to lend you a free headphone. Many airline don't provide free headphone when being offered, but they might sell it at the cheap price.

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