Smeagol and Muffins Vietnam adventure begins..
Nov 20th, 2009, 05:19 PM
#22
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 418
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi Smeagol,
Am writing this from the club floor at the Metropole---think I will miss you by a day since we are leaving tomorrow morning after a week in Vietnam and a week in Siem Reap, having an incredibly wonderful time (will post the details when I get back to DC). Have a great trip!
Kathy
Am writing this from the club floor at the Metropole---think I will miss you by a day since we are leaving tomorrow morning after a week in Vietnam and a week in Siem Reap, having an incredibly wonderful time (will post the details when I get back to DC). Have a great trip!
Kathy
Nov 21st, 2009, 06:47 PM
#25
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 4,466
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hello everyone.
I am writing this from the club lounge of the metropole dn we LOVE HANOI and this hotel.
Kathryn - spookily i am sat at the same PC you were sat at (I know cause you left yourself logged in to Fodors but i just logged you out)
Ok i have to be brief (Muffin is checking the football scores)
All the flights were fine (biz class on Eva still continues to be value for money) only slight hitch was horrendous traffic jam getting from Hanoi airport took over 1.5 hours....
I'll write more later but so far, had a fab day with Ariel of Hanoi kids yesterday we did:
HCMC complex, incluidng seeing HCM himself, one pillar pogoda, Presidential palace, stilt house etc.
Temple of literature, shopped (and bought) in craft link (gorgeous little laquer pictures that were so cheap i had to check the currency convertor 3 times!! Lunch at Koto (which i though was so so - had my first bun bo nam bo (yum) and Bun cha!
Museum of Ethnologie(sp?)
Last night after drinks in the club lounge we went to the old quater adn had a few drinks there before going to green tangerine for dinner. This is a really cute converted house. We had the vietnamese corner menu which was around $15 each (which i guess may be expenseive???) anyhow we really enjoyed it and gave us a great sample of some nice dishes.
We have noticed how early everything closes here!
Anyway we were due to do a street food walking tour today but unfortunatley i am not feeling my best, so after a lazy morning we are just going to walk round the lake now, head off to the old qtr and we have tickets for the water puppet show tonight, which the metropole got for us (thanks for that tip Craig)
First impressions we really love this hotel and Muffin has declared he thinks he may like Hanoi better than BKK!!!!! I have to say i think Hanoi is really great.
Anyway sorry its short but feeling a bit woosy so need to go lie down before todays adventures..
I am writing this from the club lounge of the metropole dn we LOVE HANOI and this hotel.
Kathryn - spookily i am sat at the same PC you were sat at (I know cause you left yourself logged in to Fodors but i just logged you out)
Ok i have to be brief (Muffin is checking the football scores)
All the flights were fine (biz class on Eva still continues to be value for money) only slight hitch was horrendous traffic jam getting from Hanoi airport took over 1.5 hours....
I'll write more later but so far, had a fab day with Ariel of Hanoi kids yesterday we did:
HCMC complex, incluidng seeing HCM himself, one pillar pogoda, Presidential palace, stilt house etc.
Temple of literature, shopped (and bought) in craft link (gorgeous little laquer pictures that were so cheap i had to check the currency convertor 3 times!! Lunch at Koto (which i though was so so - had my first bun bo nam bo (yum) and Bun cha!
Museum of Ethnologie(sp?)
Last night after drinks in the club lounge we went to the old quater adn had a few drinks there before going to green tangerine for dinner. This is a really cute converted house. We had the vietnamese corner menu which was around $15 each (which i guess may be expenseive???) anyhow we really enjoyed it and gave us a great sample of some nice dishes.
We have noticed how early everything closes here!
Anyway we were due to do a street food walking tour today but unfortunatley i am not feeling my best, so after a lazy morning we are just going to walk round the lake now, head off to the old qtr and we have tickets for the water puppet show tonight, which the metropole got for us (thanks for that tip Craig)
First impressions we really love this hotel and Muffin has declared he thinks he may like Hanoi better than BKK!!!!! I have to say i think Hanoi is really great.
Anyway sorry its short but feeling a bit woosy so need to go lie down before todays adventures..
Nov 21st, 2009, 11:08 PM
#26
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,433
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Haha...glad Muffin has been rocked out of his traveling curmudgeoness. 
BTW, how crazy is that? We went to Green Tangerine before the Water Puppet show when we were in Hanoi on 07. We coincidentally loved both.
I assume that Cha Ca La Vong is on your list of to-eat-ats. I can't wait to hear what you think of it. It still resonates with me as some of the best (if not the best) food I've had in SE Asia yet. Great place for lunch.
Have fun--glad you're loving it so far!
BTW, how crazy is that? We went to Green Tangerine before the Water Puppet show when we were in Hanoi on 07. We coincidentally loved both.
I assume that Cha Ca La Vong is on your list of to-eat-ats. I can't wait to hear what you think of it. It still resonates with me as some of the best (if not the best) food I've had in SE Asia yet. Great place for lunch.
Have fun--glad you're loving it so far!
Nov 22nd, 2009, 12:40 AM
#27
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 33,288
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Smeagol, it sounds like you are having a wonderful time. I wanted to let you know that we ate at Baan Khanita on Suk 23 today. It's in a lovely old Thai house. Both the service and the food were excellent. I expect you and Muffin would enjoy it.
Nov 22nd, 2009, 04:31 AM
#29
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 418
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi Smeagol,
That is too crazy that we were both almost there at the same time---I must have missed you by minutes! Would have been fun to connect. I hope you love Hanoi as much as I did. I'll be posting when I get back to DC (am at the Singapore airport now waiting, waiting, waiting). Enjoyed lunch at Green Tangerine (so pretty) as well as as Quan (now I forget the rest of the name but it is recommended by most books and most people)---and had a lot of fun at the bun cha place Lori recommended and Kristina also enjoyed. Have fun!
Kathy
That is too crazy that we were both almost there at the same time---I must have missed you by minutes! Would have been fun to connect. I hope you love Hanoi as much as I did. I'll be posting when I get back to DC (am at the Singapore airport now waiting, waiting, waiting). Enjoyed lunch at Green Tangerine (so pretty) as well as as Quan (now I forget the rest of the name but it is recommended by most books and most people)---and had a lot of fun at the bun cha place Lori recommended and Kristina also enjoyed. Have fun!
Kathy
Nov 23rd, 2009, 02:25 PM
#33
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,408
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
dgunbug-The bun cha place is called Bun Cha Dac Kim. It's #1 Hang Menh St, Hanoi. It's right in between Yen Thai (where the Hanoi Elegance 4 is) and Hang Non street. I don't think they are open for dinner.
You can see photos here; http://www.wired2theworld.com/vietnam2009Day2.html
I've been trying to find something as good here in LA and it's hard to come close. We had some the other night and while it was very good, it didn't include the pork patties, only the sliced pork.
You can see photos here; http://www.wired2theworld.com/vietnam2009Day2.html
I've been trying to find something as good here in LA and it's hard to come close. We had some the other night and while it was very good, it didn't include the pork patties, only the sliced pork.
Nov 24th, 2009, 06:22 AM
#35
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,834
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi Smeagol
Glad your trip is off to a good start. I agree with Muffin...I like Hanoi better than Bkk...but I know were in the minority on this forum ;-)
Did you do any shopping in the street by the cathedral? Several cute boutique clothing stores...with items in western sizes.
Glad your trip is off to a good start. I agree with Muffin...I like Hanoi better than Bkk...but I know were in the minority on this forum ;-)
Did you do any shopping in the street by the cathedral? Several cute boutique clothing stores...with items in western sizes.
Dec 5th, 2009, 08:56 PM
#38
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 4,466
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Back home late last night 4 hours sleep and now trying to figure out:
A) why my heating won't work
B) why the decorator hasn't finoshed the job
C) what the hell time my body clock thinks it its...
GREAT trip, proper report to follow, had plannned to do it in Mui Ne but internet connections was soooo slow....
Dgungbug - depends what you like doing 4 days in Hanoi was great for us, could have actually had another day..
Saigon we did 3 and 1 which again was fine, although not sre about the rest of your intin, so you may feel cityed out??
Now recovering from a nasty bite which made my ankle swell so bad i could hardly walk (aquired this nasty nip in BKK!!!) didnt stop me shopping though.....
A) why my heating won't work
B) why the decorator hasn't finoshed the job
C) what the hell time my body clock thinks it its...
GREAT trip, proper report to follow, had plannned to do it in Mui Ne but internet connections was soooo slow....
Dgungbug - depends what you like doing 4 days in Hanoi was great for us, could have actually had another day..
Saigon we did 3 and 1 which again was fine, although not sre about the rest of your intin, so you may feel cityed out??
Now recovering from a nasty bite which made my ankle swell so bad i could hardly walk (aquired this nasty nip in BKK!!!) didnt stop me shopping though.....
Dec 5th, 2009, 10:20 PM
#39
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 4,466
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ok so i have finally figured out the heating.. thank God as its wet and cold here in the UK, Muffin is blissfully unaware as he has (finally) manged to get some sleep as he said the paint fumes were keeping him awake (this i am amazed at as we have just spent 2 weeks in Vietnam where i am sure the pollution we have ingested has turned my lungs to a sticky mess.
Part one of my report,although it will not be as detailed/Fabulous as Kristina's or Craig's i forget so many things, and it may take me a while. I'll try to include things i think will help future Vietnam travellers but ask away if you want any specifics. Hopefully it will be of interest.
Travel to Heathrow was uneventful and we got there in plenty of time, as i said before the Eva air biz class product continues to be excellent value for money for us and is one of the reasons i am able to persuade Muffin keep going back to SEA.
Arrived in BKK and quickly off the plane, LONG queues at immigration but we are thru, bags collected and checked in to our Air Asia flight to Hanoi within the hour. We had paid extra for additional luggage (good job we needed it) and i pre booked seats 1a and 1B.
We had a good look round the airport, and then a quick snack at new res called Silom Village by concourse E, food arrived quickly and beers were nice and cold. Can't remember price but i know we got 20% off as someone had handed us a flyer.
Our Air Asia flight was due to take off at 18.45 (we landed from LHR at 15.45) i had originally wanted to book the Thai flight to Hanoi at 17.35 but was told by my TA that is was too tight a connection! anyway we would have made it as the check in was still open,(muffin was bit miffed at this until i pointed out the AA flight was nearly £200 cheaper AND the Thai flight was actually delayed till 18.15)
I'm glad we had the seats at the front, it was a packed and uneventful flight, the plane was very old and tired but fitted the bill for an under 2 hour flight and was good value at about £75 including extra luggage and seat choices.
We landed early and Muffin and I were first off. The place was deserted, we had obtained our Visas at home as i didn't want any hassle when we got there, which i don't think we would have done but still happy to have had it in my passport upfront.
From landing to retrieving our bags took 20 minutes!!!!!
I had arranged thru Toking travel a driver to collect us and had been quite specific to ask how i would know he was our driver (as i had read a lot about taxi scams at the airport) she assured me it would say Tonkin Travel and then my name. However when we got outside there was a driver with a scruffy piece of paper with my name, mmm was this our driver or had he copied it from the real driver? (I know looking back i sound paranoid but this is actually a problem i have heard about at Ha Noi and Saigon airports.)
I asked the driver where he was going and he said Sofitel Metropole, so i figured he must be the right one.... quick stop to get some dong and off we went....
At first i am thinking this is OK, traffic's fine, not sure what everyone goes on about and then we hit the mother of all traffic jams. (by now its 9.15pm on a Friday night) alarmingly we are stuck in 2 lanes of traffic BUT some bright spark has manged to turn his car around (he clearly wasn't waiting in that jam) and is now driving towards us down the dual carriageway the wrong way... Mopeds followed suite, horns blaring, lights flashing, 4 lanes of traffic when there are in fact only 2 lanes!!! Welcome to Ha Noi. Traffic laws, what traffic laws? This was our first taste of the CRAZY roads that make up Vietnam.
I am however still stressing that the taxi driver may not be who he says he is and having convinced myself he will drive to some wasteland and rob us of everything (and if we are lucky not shoot us in the back of the head)However Muffin tells me to cowboy up and i am being more Sarah Palin than Michael Palin, He's right of course and after practising some Vietnamese on the taxi driver (who thought this was really funny - in fact one of the things we noticed was that the Vietnamese people LOVED it when we said Sin Chow, tham biet etc etc) FINALLY at 10.30pm we arrived at the Sofitel and were whisked up to the Club Lounge for check in. Welcome drinks and then showed to our room. Which i have to say was fabulous. Really pleased with our choice, Muffin was very pleased with the room and i am glad i insisted we stay here rather than his choice of the Intercontinental over at West Lake. Craig your recommendation was spot on.
Quick shower and down to the bar on the ground floor. We were hungry and it was nice to see that they were still serving food at 11.30pm. There was a singer on in the bar and we had a couple of cocktails to start the holiday off nicely followed by a delicious club sandwich. First impressions, good vibe in the bar and service so far had been very very good.
Off to bed.
Part one of my report,although it will not be as detailed/Fabulous as Kristina's or Craig's i forget so many things, and it may take me a while. I'll try to include things i think will help future Vietnam travellers but ask away if you want any specifics. Hopefully it will be of interest.
Travel to Heathrow was uneventful and we got there in plenty of time, as i said before the Eva air biz class product continues to be excellent value for money for us and is one of the reasons i am able to persuade Muffin keep going back to SEA.
Arrived in BKK and quickly off the plane, LONG queues at immigration but we are thru, bags collected and checked in to our Air Asia flight to Hanoi within the hour. We had paid extra for additional luggage (good job we needed it) and i pre booked seats 1a and 1B.
We had a good look round the airport, and then a quick snack at new res called Silom Village by concourse E, food arrived quickly and beers were nice and cold. Can't remember price but i know we got 20% off as someone had handed us a flyer.
Our Air Asia flight was due to take off at 18.45 (we landed from LHR at 15.45) i had originally wanted to book the Thai flight to Hanoi at 17.35 but was told by my TA that is was too tight a connection! anyway we would have made it as the check in was still open,(muffin was bit miffed at this until i pointed out the AA flight was nearly £200 cheaper AND the Thai flight was actually delayed till 18.15)
I'm glad we had the seats at the front, it was a packed and uneventful flight, the plane was very old and tired but fitted the bill for an under 2 hour flight and was good value at about £75 including extra luggage and seat choices.
We landed early and Muffin and I were first off. The place was deserted, we had obtained our Visas at home as i didn't want any hassle when we got there, which i don't think we would have done but still happy to have had it in my passport upfront.
From landing to retrieving our bags took 20 minutes!!!!!
I had arranged thru Toking travel a driver to collect us and had been quite specific to ask how i would know he was our driver (as i had read a lot about taxi scams at the airport) she assured me it would say Tonkin Travel and then my name. However when we got outside there was a driver with a scruffy piece of paper with my name, mmm was this our driver or had he copied it from the real driver? (I know looking back i sound paranoid but this is actually a problem i have heard about at Ha Noi and Saigon airports.)
I asked the driver where he was going and he said Sofitel Metropole, so i figured he must be the right one.... quick stop to get some dong and off we went....
At first i am thinking this is OK, traffic's fine, not sure what everyone goes on about and then we hit the mother of all traffic jams. (by now its 9.15pm on a Friday night) alarmingly we are stuck in 2 lanes of traffic BUT some bright spark has manged to turn his car around (he clearly wasn't waiting in that jam) and is now driving towards us down the dual carriageway the wrong way... Mopeds followed suite, horns blaring, lights flashing, 4 lanes of traffic when there are in fact only 2 lanes!!! Welcome to Ha Noi. Traffic laws, what traffic laws? This was our first taste of the CRAZY roads that make up Vietnam.
I am however still stressing that the taxi driver may not be who he says he is and having convinced myself he will drive to some wasteland and rob us of everything (and if we are lucky not shoot us in the back of the head)However Muffin tells me to cowboy up and i am being more Sarah Palin than Michael Palin, He's right of course and after practising some Vietnamese on the taxi driver (who thought this was really funny - in fact one of the things we noticed was that the Vietnamese people LOVED it when we said Sin Chow, tham biet etc etc) FINALLY at 10.30pm we arrived at the Sofitel and were whisked up to the Club Lounge for check in. Welcome drinks and then showed to our room. Which i have to say was fabulous. Really pleased with our choice, Muffin was very pleased with the room and i am glad i insisted we stay here rather than his choice of the Intercontinental over at West Lake. Craig your recommendation was spot on.
Quick shower and down to the bar on the ground floor. We were hungry and it was nice to see that they were still serving food at 11.30pm. There was a singer on in the bar and we had a couple of cocktails to start the holiday off nicely followed by a delicious club sandwich. First impressions, good vibe in the bar and service so far had been very very good.
Off to bed.
