5 to 22 May
We didn't quite expect the countryside of Vietnam to be so beautiful. On the other hand, we also didn't expect to fear for our lives when crossing roads in Vietnam. :P The big cities are filled with motorbikes and scooters, which seem to be prepared to run us over any second. We did master the skills of crossing roads eventually. As soon as we left the big cities for countryside, we were rewarded with fresh air, peace, quietness and - the best part - a range of beautiful landscapes.
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) - first exposure to motorbikes, I feel like a deer in headlight!
After paying a premium to sort out our visas online (we ran into yet another major holiday in Vietnam). The government seems to close the immigration department and embassy for a few days to discourage Western visitors during the celebration of 40 years of ending the Vietnam War to come to Vietnam.
We only stayed 2 days in HCMC and I was happy to leave after that - the amount of scooters was giving me a bad headache! We pretty much did all the sightseeing in one day and used the second day to plan the rest of our stay:
- visited the war museum; it was sad but also interesting to see Vietnam's side of the story about the war.
- walked around city centre to see the architecture (reunification palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, post office building, opera house, and French Quarter), nothing super exciting
- went up to the sky tower for dinner, night view was pretty good, although not as impressive as Bangkok in my opinion
- checked out the backpacker street, nothing really interesting but lots of shops and travel agents; we noticed much cheaper travel deals offered here
- on the last night, we watched a modern Vietnamese Acrobat show at the opera house, very interesting
Everywhere we went, we are surrounded by thousands of motorbikes! AND, they are ruthless and thrive on your fear. Even Lars, who always believes in "showing no fear", was almost run over by drivers showing even less fear. By the time we reached Hanoi, we finally mastered the art of crossing roads.
Although it's supposed to be a city for good food, we did not manage to find any really good restaurants. We had some average Pho, OK spring rolls but the best is probably the BBQ chicken with vermicelli. We need to go with locals next time.
Hoi An - ancient little (China?) town, with more than 300 tailors!
We flew into Da Nang and the hotel in Hoi An picked us up. We got the room with the view to the rice field, except there wasn't much rice at that time. :P Again, we hit the usual touristy spots:
- walked around the old town and my first impression is that it reminds me a bit of George Town in Penang, Malaysia except the architecture is more consistent and uniform and better preserved. It feels like being in ancient China. A German couple, whom we met later, said they had a cockroach running up their legs and arms in Hoi An streets!
- checked out the Japanese-Covered Bridge, some Chinese Houses, temples and museums, none of which is super impressive (to me) though
- we also did a food tour and tried some of the typical local foods - White Rose dumplings, Ca Lau, sesame paste, coconut sticky rice, Vietnamese coffee, Banh Mi sandwich (best I have ever had), home made spring rolls and quail egg tarts, etc. The highlight was the night boat ride in the river with lanterns everywhere, very pretty! Hoi An at night is a must see in Vietnam.
- stayed at the beach for a few hours; it's not a bad beach except its crowded with sun decks and local women chasing tourists to eat at their restaurants, especially if they want to use the sun chairs; we had good fresh shrimp spring rolls, but bad stir fry noodles.
I couldn't resist the temptation of going to a tailor as there are so many around (allegedly over 300) and it seems to be THE thing to do in Hoi An. I had one trench coat made by a tailor within 24 hours and I made them going back and forth four times to get what I wanted. They are quite accommodating I have to say. In general, the quality of many tailors seems questionable, judging from the samples outside the shops. Apparently, it's a good place for women to get dresses, jackets, winter coats, etc. Bangkok probably is better for men to get suits though.
Our hotel gave us bikes to ride around, but I chickened out on the first try as there was so much traffic on the road. On the second day, Lars was given a broken bike and he nearly fell from the bike! Strangely, the hotel staff were laughing at Lars and said he is too heavy - we did not found it funny that Lars could have hurt himself. Vietnamese people do like to laugh and smile a lot :P
We went to TripAdvisor #1 ranked tea house called "Reaching Out". All the staff working there are disabled (e.g. deaf or cannot speak) and customers are not supposed to talk. It's a good idea, but the coffee and tea are mediocre at best especially considering the premium prices. We thought at least this is for a good cause, but we later learned from a local that the owner pockets all the profit and the staff gets minimal wages only, contrary to their advertising. I also got a recommendation list from a highly ranked food tasting place, but it seems that the recommendations are mostly based on friendship and not quality. In general, services or business dealings in Vietnam, like in many place in South East Asia, seem a bit doggy to me.
Hue - 2-day easy rider motorbike trip, a highlight for Lars
Under our friend Dominik's excellent advise, we booked an Easy Rider tour with a guy called Mr. Thong for our transfer from Hoi An to Hue. I was sitting on the back of his motorbike, which has a comfortable back cushion, whereas Lars rode on his own. In theory, only people with Vietnamese driving license are allowed to drive motorbikes, but in reality, anyone can rent them at ridiculously cheap prices (at £5 to £8 a day!) and the police doesn't seem to care about driving licenses. Our 2 day itinerary included:
- Marble mountain, where we followed some locals by mistake and ended up rock climbing to the top in extreme high temperature! We were sweating madly, but at least the view at the top was good. The Pagoda and the largest cave were the nicest.
- Hai Van Pass: the bridge and the coastal road leading to the pass offer impressive views! I particularly like the basket boats which are so picturesque. This is the pass that was featured in Top Gear's Vietnam Special.
- a local waterfall full of Vietnamese people as it was a Sunday (over 400 tickets were sold that day whereas 20-30 is the norm any other day). Lars was the only Western person there and became very popular among the locals. He was asked a few times for photos and when Lars pretended to ask for money, these locals reached for their wallets and were willing to pay lol they also got really excited when we shared a kiss!
- On the second day, we spent the whole day in the forest/mountains and made several stops at villages to visit the locals and minority people. The mountain ranges are beautiful. We visited another waterfall by the highway on the second day... I went for a quick dip in my bikini. Two teenagers came and I thought they also wanted to swim. It turned out that they only wanted to watch me :P
Spending time with Mr. Thong itself was an interesting culture experience for us. He eats much louder than me, and he also eats A LOT! Lars didn't think that was possible before... Mr. Thong is a man of few words, but if you ask him a question, he will tell you what he knows. He strikes us as an honest and very hard working man.
After we arrived at Hue, the old imperial city, we said our heart felt goodbye to Mr. Thong, who felt very uncomfortable when I gave him a hug. :P We felt slightly sad about leaving him after 2 days :(
Riding motorbikes through beautiful scenery and witnessing the local life without other tourists was definitely a highlight of our trip in Vietnam. It was especially fun for Lars since he rode on his own. We got a bit of rain here and there, but generally got lucky with the weather.
We checked into Hue Serene Hotel, the staff of which turned out to be super helpful especially with booking bus tickets and arranging travel plans. We later stayed at their sister hotel in Hanoi. We did the typical touristy things in Hue:
- tried Hue speciality foods (a different type of Pho, spring rolls etc.), which I prefer over Hoi An's
- after "fierce" negotiations, we hired a private river boat (for less than $10) to visit the Pagoda and the Palace via Perfume river (according to Lars it's the river that was featured in the movie Full Metal Jacket). The river did not smell anything so not sure why it is called perfume river, but I quite like the scenery near the Pagoda. It reminds me of ancient China and the typical scenery in Kung Fu novels. But in general, there were no high rise or modern buildings along the river, making the landscape very natural.
I like the Pagoda and the Citadel (or the Purple City) very much. The latter reminds me of the forbidden city in Beijing. I see a lot of Chinese influence in Hue as all writings in the Pagoda and the Citadel are in Chinese. After some research, I realized that China has ruled Vietnam for over 1000 years, but the Vietnamese eventually took their country back after a millennium. I also thought of the Vietnam war and I respect Vietnamese people for their tenacity and determination!
Sapa Valley - most spectacular rice terraces, Li's favourite of Vietnam
Our hotel helped us to arrange Sapa Express bus tickets. The service is new as a new highway had just been completed a couple of months ago. Otherwise, we would have to take the bumpy overnight train, though it is still the most popular way to go to Sapa. When we first got off the bus, we were surrounded by local minority women offering accommodation, tours, souvenirs etc. They were a bit too aggressive for my liking and some of them won't let you go unless you tell them you already have hotels booked.
We were very lucky with the weather - the only day we had for trekking was sunny and warm (almost too hot). The day before and after were cloudy and rainy! We picked the more expensive, private option for guided trekking to avoid the typical touristy route - I still suspect the official tourist office, which arranged the tour, is getting a kickback from the tour operator, but I will never know. In Vietnam, I learned that not even the official ticket or tourist offices can be trusted. More on that later.
Our local guide turns out to be quite professional and spoke very good English. We hiked 15 kilometres past beautiful scenery including the most beautiful terrace/village called Ta Van, which happened to be our guide's home village. We didn't run into any vendors on our route and saw only a few other tourists. However, we did get "harassed" a couple of times by, what I call, "the little Mafia of Sapa". They are young minority girls trying to sell you bracelets. If you buy one, the rest of the group will force you to buy from them as well. They typically sing, "buy one from me, buy one from me!" together and won't stop until you buy something. We saw one other tourist made the mistake of showing interest - soon all other girls swooped in! We found the best way is to just gave them something, be it candy or watermelon. They actually would say thank you and go away!
After we reached the destination, we got picked up by a SUV who drove us back to the town. On our way back, we saw the most amazing and impressive view of the famous Sapa rice terraces. This road is surprisingly quiet - not many tourists.
On the last day, we rented a scooter for half day from our hotel and drove to the Silver and Love Waterfall as well as Tom An Pass. The view along the way was very nice, but the weather was not the best. We even drove back to the amazing road again, but it did not look as spectacular as the day before because of the weather. When we were passing by the Ta Van village, we noticed someone was waving a flag at us and only later realised that he wanted us to stop and pay - that explains why there were almost no tourists! Oops, we didn't know. Luckily, they did not chase after us!
I always have a soft spot for rice terraces, so of course I left Sapa with extreme awe and satisfaction! But it's true, Sapa can be very touristy. Even the waitress from a restaurant tried to get business for her husband! We think the best way is to just rent a scooter and drive around. There is no need to hike or do any guided tours.
Tam Coc near Ninh Binh - "Ha Long Bay on land", dramatic limestones on rice fields
Mr. Thong told us about Tam Coc so we squeezed this side trip into our already very busy itinerary. Our hotel in Hanoi sorted out the transfer for us and it turns out that we only paid $7 each to go with a day tour group that would normally cost $45. We even did some sightseeing (visited Hua Lou Temple) before being dropped off in Tam Coc town.
We booked a family hotel in town and the youngest daughter Ginny, very pretty and the only one speaking English, looked after us. I don't think the family cares too much about money - we had to tell them a few things were not added to the bill when we checked out, and they let us use the scooter for half day for free. They also gave us a big bottle of water for the road on the last day. However, the other people in town were not so kind. In fact, I feel everyone else there was trying to rip off tourists. Even the Backpacker Hostel tried to charge us 10 times the price for a short taxi ride. I was smart and lucky enough to get a metered taxi!
We rode around with the scooter from the hotel. The bike was a little too small so I had to sit on the rim and hold on to Lars very tight. Some roads require advance driving skills so it was a relief that we managed to return the bike in one piece. The tourist map here was almost a joke - the hand drawing bears no resemblance to reality and Google Maps wasn't of much help either, because it doesn't show any of the small roads... At the end we managed to visit the following places:
- Bich Dong Pagoda: a nice little pagoda and the upper cave has a nice view, but the road leading to the Pagoda is much nicer ; some locals tried to trick us about admission and parking fees.
- On the way back from the Pagoda, we passed by a large area of rice field. We had to stop to adore the sunset against the glowing yellow rice fields. We met a group of other backpackers including a Turkish lady who later gave us travelling tips on China! She has been to many more places in China than me!
- We followed a side road by Ta Vi Temple. The road was in a bad condition, but the view was beautiful!
- A river boat ride is a must in Tam Coc. We showed up really early and were almost the first ones. As usual, the locals tried to trick us with parking and I gave them the universal middle finger... The official ticket office also tried to short change us. We got two rowers instead of one, but at some point I had to tell them to shut up as they were talking really loud. We figured out half way that we need to tip them extra in order to go to THE spot to take the famous shot...
- We visited Mua cave, but the main sight there is not the cave itself, but the viewpoint on the mountain.We climbed the million stairs in the hottest time of the day - lunch time! I nearly fainted, but the effort was worthwhile. The view up here is simply the BEST.
- Under Ginny's recommendation, we drove a long way to visit Bird Park, but guess what, there were almost no birds! The cave there was quite interesting though - lots of bats and cave rock formation and the only way in was by boat.
Riding with Lars on a scooter trough the yellow rice fields dotted by gigantic lime stones is another unforgettable highlight in Vietnam.
Ha Long Bay - no wonder it's the number 1 attraction of Vietnam
Any trip to Vietnam is not complete without going to Ha Long Bay. We got lucky with the transfer from Tam Coc to Ha Long Bay - we paid $20 and got a semi private transfer for a 5-hour ride, because there was no one else going. Our driver was driving really slow though, so by the time we arrived, we were just in time catching our cruise with Indochina Junk.
The 3-day cruise on the Prince IV was luxurious and the food was excellent and definitely a highlight. Our bed was also quite comfy and the cabin is spacious compared to other sailing trips we did. Our guide Wong was funny, but sometimes his jokes got lost in translation... we also met another young Russian couple on their honeymoon and an American family of three celebrating their anniversary & graduation. They gave me many cough candies as the humidity and heat in Vietnam was finally getting to me.
The cruise included some activities including visiting a fishing village, kayaking, beach BBQ, etc, but for me the main highlight was just to enjoy the beautiful view of thousands of limestones rising out of the ocean! Some rocks have very interesting shapes. Had we not seen limestones in Thailand and Tam Coc already, I would have been completely stunned by the view.
Hanoi - everything happens on the street in the Old Quarter
After we came back to Hanoi, we did very little sightseeing and mainly just walked around the Old Quarter, partly because of the heat and unbearable humidity. I felt I was very close to collapse because of the heat!
We only managed to visit Ngoc Son Temple on our last day in Vietnam, before heading over to Japan. It was interesting that the Japanese travel agent in Vietnam tried to overcharge us for the Japan Rail Pass, and the agent (who is Japanese) we spoke to has never been to Japan herself! We were so looking forward to the colder weather in Japan!
My impression of Hanoi is that everything happens on the street - people eat and drink on the street, they dry rice on the street, and they also fix bikes and motorcycles on the street; a typical street in the Old Quarter is filled with fruit/veggie stands, butchers selling unrefrigerated meat, tools, clothes, rice, people socialising, bike taxi drivers sleeping on the edge of their bikes without falling down...
I was on the hunt for the best Pho and Banh Mi in Hanoi and did achieve my goals. Thanks to Lindsay, I went to Pho Gia Truyen for a bowl of very fulfilling Pho. We followed TripAdvisor and went to Banh Mi 25. In here, we shared a table (literally just a small table with a few tiny chairs on the street) with another world traveller - a French scuba diver, who has been travelling for the last 5 years! The owner of the joint is so nice and kind. I had to insist on paying for a local drink, which he wanted to give us for free. He is the opposite of another street vendor who tried to charge me £5 for a drink that the locals paid £0.5 for!
In summary, we are super impressed by the varied and beautiful landscapes that Vietnam has to offer. It was difficult for us to travel and plan at the same time, as there is so much to see and to do. You can easily spend two months here in order to appreciate all the natural beauty of Vietnam. The best way to get around the country is undoubtedly by motorbikes. The Vietnamese people are warm in general and we have met some really kind and helpful people, especially with our hotel staff. However, many others will try to rip off tourists, but at least most of them will do it with a smile. :)
