Vietnam Trip Report 3/31/05-4/14/05
May 8th, 2005 | 11:19 AM
#1
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Vietnam Trip Report 3/31/05-4/14/05
I wrote this up for another message board I post on but thought it might be of interest to folks here.
In a nutshell, it was a great trip to a very interesting and beautiful country.
First impressions...the first was (driving from the Hanoi airport into downtown), oh, my gosh, get a load of the traffic! It's not that there are too many cars on the road, like here...it's more the *variety* of the traffic! Not many cars and trucks, really...but hundreds and hundreds of motorbikes, many loaded with an entire family (parents and 2 kids) or piled up with stuff being taken to market, plus bicycles...all on the highway. The cars are in the left lane, but there are really three "lanes"...the right one for the bikes and motorbikes, an imaginary center lane for the slower cars and trucks, and then the left "lane" (that goes over the center line into oncoming traffic) for passing. It makes for exciting travel ;-). My drivers were all very good but I still had to close my eyes multiple times during passing manuevers ;-).
This was the first time I'd ever traveled with a car and driver and a guide, and it was pretty cool. It's so inexpensive to do that there...I did feel a little too pampered with the driver always popping out to open my door (I tried to beat him to it but didn't always succeed!) but on the whole it was a very comfortable way to travel in a place where not much English is spoken. I had three teams of drivers/guides: one team in the north for 8 days, another team in central Vietnam for 4 days and then a 3rd team in Saigon for 2 days (I took domestic flights between each area to save time). All of them were good, but the guide in Hanoi (the first guide) was the best. She's 28 and just a real go-getter with a great sense of humor. We really hit it off and had a great time together...we even sang karaoke together one night while staying on an island in Halong Bay ;-).
I spent the first day in Hanoi and did a little sightseeing by "cyclo", which is basically a bicycle with a cushioned seat attached to the front so you are front and center in the traffic action (with the "driver" behind you)! I thought for sure I was going to die a couple times when we were pedaling through traffic circles with motorbikes, cars and trucks barrelling toward us, but no one hit us! Not all the intersections have traffic lights, btw, so it makes for very exciting street crossings as a pedestrian. The trick is to go slowly and steadily so everyone sees you and has time to go around.
The 2nd day we got an early start for the 10 hour drive into the mountains to visit Sapa and Bac Ha, two towns where certain of Vietnam's "ethnic minorities" as they are called live (mostly H'mong, but certain other tribes live nearby as well). It was a long drive, but really interesting seeing rural Vietnam...I saw LOTS of water buffalo ;-)! And every time we stopped for coffee or to eat, the people were very interested in me...most westerners take the train from Hanoi to Sapa so they don't see a whole lot of tourists (I didn't want to take the train because it's an overnight and I have trouble sleeping on trains plus you miss the scenery traveling at night). The mountain roads were pretty exciting...extremely narrow, and you'd come around a corner and a couple water buffalo would be crossing the road, with a truck or tour bus coming down the mountain in the other direction...there was a lot of eye closure on that part of the trip!
Unfortunately it rained the entire time I was up in the mountains so I didn't get to see much of the scenery, but it was still very interesting to see the markets (although the H'mong women and girls in Sapa are *very* aggressive in trying to sell their wares to tourists so that was a little hard to deal with. In fact, that was the one downside to my visit as a whole...I felt constantly hit up for money or to buy things, except when I was in the car. But I guess that's inevitable in a country where westerners are all wealthy by comparison) and we took a couple of hikes to villages where the ethnic minorities live. At one village, my guide has gotten to know the village leader so we got to go into his family's house which was really interesting.
From there we went back to Hanoi, and spent the next day touring the major sites of the city, including the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum where his body is preserved and displayed. I also got up early that morning to observe the tai chi groups and other exercisers around Hoan Kiem Lake, which was very cool.
From Hanoi we went to Halong Bay where we did a boat trip on the bay...luckily the sun came out for one day, and it was absolutely *gorgeous*. (If you've ever seen "Indochine" or "Vertical Ray of the Sun", you'll know what I mean.) The boat I was on was a beautiful wooden Chinese Junk style boat with a couple of cabins...when I go back I'd love to charter one for a few days of sailing around the bay. We had a great lunch of fresh seafood on the boat and visited a really cool, HUGE cave on one of the islands. We spent the night on Cat Ba island (the biggest island in the bay) and I went kayaking in the harbor with a local guide for an hour or so.
The next day we went back to Hanoi for one more night, and I went to the water puppets show...it's an ancient local art form and very cool (although strictly for tourists these days!).
BTW, the food was amazing all over. Extremely fresh and flavorful...and SO cheap! I splurged for a set menu at a really nice restaurant in Hanoi one night...the price was $18 and I assumed you got one choice for each course...so I was giving the waiter my choices, and he's like, no, you get ALL the dishes! There were 8 or 9 dishes in all...but in small portions so it was manageable. But most dinners were about $5-10...and that was at good restaurants, you can easily eat for a dollar or less if you stick to noodles and street food.
The next day I flew to Danang, and spent two days in Hoi An, a seaport where most of the buildings date from the 1800s (one of the few places not bombed). It was HOT there--it even got up over 100 one of the days I was in central Vietnam, with high humidity...we would go out sightseeing early in the day, then I'd go back to the hotel and sit by the pool and in my air-conditioned room for a few hours, then we'd head back out late in the day. A real highlight here was My Son, ruined temples dating from the 4th century (similar style to Angor Wat in Cambodia). It was a VC hideout during the war so it was bombed heavily...the bomb craters were HUGE. But quite a bit of it is still standing. Hoi An is known for its tailor shops so I had 2 shirts and a pair of pants made...for $43 total.
Hue, the old capital during the 1800s until 1945, was the next stop. It's a smallish city of about 300,000, with more bicycles than motorbikes. The Imperial City in the city and royal tombs along the Perfume River were really impressive, although much of the Imperial City was destroyed during the Tet Offensive in 1968 and is just fields now. But a number of the buildings have been restored and it was very interesting. I rented a bike one afternoon in Hue and cycled around the Citadel (the outer area of the Imperial City)...THAT was exciting ;-). Once I was in the Citadel, it wasn't bad because of less traffic, but getting from the hotel to the Citadel was scary!!! Once you got away from the entrance to the Imperial City, there were very few westerners so I got a lot of smiles and strange looks pedaling through the back streets.
From Hue, I flew to Saigon, which is officially Ho Chi Minh City, but no one in the south calls it that. It was interesting...there were very few bicycles in Saigon compared to Hanoi (almost all motorbikes) and my guide said it's because people in Saigon are better off, on the whole. I splurged on my hotel in Saigon and stayed at a fantastic 4 star place (the Majestic) right on the river...built during the French colonial times with gorgeous wood floors and great service...and a spa where massages were $15 an hour (actually that was expensive compared to my hotel in Hanoi where they were $6, but the service and surroundings were much nicer). We did a day trip to the Mekong Delta where we did a boat ride on the river that was ok...very much designed for tourists though and not really a glimpse into how people live there (except the ones who make and see stuff to tourists!). Next time I'd like to get further out from the city, and do a homestay in the area.
I liked Saigon better than I expected...from reading the guidebooks I thought it would be too busy and crazy compared to Hanoi but it wasn't that bad (not as crazy as I remember Bangkok being). I saw a silk 2 piece ensemble (kind of a modified ao dai, the traditional women's wear in Vietnam, with pants and a long overdress with slits up the side to the waist) in a shop window as we were driving to the hotel, so I ended up having another outfit made...this time for a whole $63! I bought a whole bunch of smaller stuff, too...an embroidered cotton blanket made by the H'mong, a couple of really cool silk embroideries of street scenes made under the auspices of an agency that gives kids with birth defects caused by Agent Orange a living (kind of like Goodwill except they were making stuff, not just sorting it), jewelry made from pearls farmed near Cat Ba island, a few small marble carvings, some lacquerware plates...it was hard to stop shopping because it was so cheap but I was running out of room in my suitcase ;-).
In a nutshell, it was a great trip to a very interesting and beautiful country.
First impressions...the first was (driving from the Hanoi airport into downtown), oh, my gosh, get a load of the traffic! It's not that there are too many cars on the road, like here...it's more the *variety* of the traffic! Not many cars and trucks, really...but hundreds and hundreds of motorbikes, many loaded with an entire family (parents and 2 kids) or piled up with stuff being taken to market, plus bicycles...all on the highway. The cars are in the left lane, but there are really three "lanes"...the right one for the bikes and motorbikes, an imaginary center lane for the slower cars and trucks, and then the left "lane" (that goes over the center line into oncoming traffic) for passing. It makes for exciting travel ;-). My drivers were all very good but I still had to close my eyes multiple times during passing manuevers ;-).
This was the first time I'd ever traveled with a car and driver and a guide, and it was pretty cool. It's so inexpensive to do that there...I did feel a little too pampered with the driver always popping out to open my door (I tried to beat him to it but didn't always succeed!) but on the whole it was a very comfortable way to travel in a place where not much English is spoken. I had three teams of drivers/guides: one team in the north for 8 days, another team in central Vietnam for 4 days and then a 3rd team in Saigon for 2 days (I took domestic flights between each area to save time). All of them were good, but the guide in Hanoi (the first guide) was the best. She's 28 and just a real go-getter with a great sense of humor. We really hit it off and had a great time together...we even sang karaoke together one night while staying on an island in Halong Bay ;-).
I spent the first day in Hanoi and did a little sightseeing by "cyclo", which is basically a bicycle with a cushioned seat attached to the front so you are front and center in the traffic action (with the "driver" behind you)! I thought for sure I was going to die a couple times when we were pedaling through traffic circles with motorbikes, cars and trucks barrelling toward us, but no one hit us! Not all the intersections have traffic lights, btw, so it makes for very exciting street crossings as a pedestrian. The trick is to go slowly and steadily so everyone sees you and has time to go around.
The 2nd day we got an early start for the 10 hour drive into the mountains to visit Sapa and Bac Ha, two towns where certain of Vietnam's "ethnic minorities" as they are called live (mostly H'mong, but certain other tribes live nearby as well). It was a long drive, but really interesting seeing rural Vietnam...I saw LOTS of water buffalo ;-)! And every time we stopped for coffee or to eat, the people were very interested in me...most westerners take the train from Hanoi to Sapa so they don't see a whole lot of tourists (I didn't want to take the train because it's an overnight and I have trouble sleeping on trains plus you miss the scenery traveling at night). The mountain roads were pretty exciting...extremely narrow, and you'd come around a corner and a couple water buffalo would be crossing the road, with a truck or tour bus coming down the mountain in the other direction...there was a lot of eye closure on that part of the trip!
Unfortunately it rained the entire time I was up in the mountains so I didn't get to see much of the scenery, but it was still very interesting to see the markets (although the H'mong women and girls in Sapa are *very* aggressive in trying to sell their wares to tourists so that was a little hard to deal with. In fact, that was the one downside to my visit as a whole...I felt constantly hit up for money or to buy things, except when I was in the car. But I guess that's inevitable in a country where westerners are all wealthy by comparison) and we took a couple of hikes to villages where the ethnic minorities live. At one village, my guide has gotten to know the village leader so we got to go into his family's house which was really interesting.
From there we went back to Hanoi, and spent the next day touring the major sites of the city, including the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum where his body is preserved and displayed. I also got up early that morning to observe the tai chi groups and other exercisers around Hoan Kiem Lake, which was very cool.
From Hanoi we went to Halong Bay where we did a boat trip on the bay...luckily the sun came out for one day, and it was absolutely *gorgeous*. (If you've ever seen "Indochine" or "Vertical Ray of the Sun", you'll know what I mean.) The boat I was on was a beautiful wooden Chinese Junk style boat with a couple of cabins...when I go back I'd love to charter one for a few days of sailing around the bay. We had a great lunch of fresh seafood on the boat and visited a really cool, HUGE cave on one of the islands. We spent the night on Cat Ba island (the biggest island in the bay) and I went kayaking in the harbor with a local guide for an hour or so.
The next day we went back to Hanoi for one more night, and I went to the water puppets show...it's an ancient local art form and very cool (although strictly for tourists these days!).
BTW, the food was amazing all over. Extremely fresh and flavorful...and SO cheap! I splurged for a set menu at a really nice restaurant in Hanoi one night...the price was $18 and I assumed you got one choice for each course...so I was giving the waiter my choices, and he's like, no, you get ALL the dishes! There were 8 or 9 dishes in all...but in small portions so it was manageable. But most dinners were about $5-10...and that was at good restaurants, you can easily eat for a dollar or less if you stick to noodles and street food.
The next day I flew to Danang, and spent two days in Hoi An, a seaport where most of the buildings date from the 1800s (one of the few places not bombed). It was HOT there--it even got up over 100 one of the days I was in central Vietnam, with high humidity...we would go out sightseeing early in the day, then I'd go back to the hotel and sit by the pool and in my air-conditioned room for a few hours, then we'd head back out late in the day. A real highlight here was My Son, ruined temples dating from the 4th century (similar style to Angor Wat in Cambodia). It was a VC hideout during the war so it was bombed heavily...the bomb craters were HUGE. But quite a bit of it is still standing. Hoi An is known for its tailor shops so I had 2 shirts and a pair of pants made...for $43 total.
Hue, the old capital during the 1800s until 1945, was the next stop. It's a smallish city of about 300,000, with more bicycles than motorbikes. The Imperial City in the city and royal tombs along the Perfume River were really impressive, although much of the Imperial City was destroyed during the Tet Offensive in 1968 and is just fields now. But a number of the buildings have been restored and it was very interesting. I rented a bike one afternoon in Hue and cycled around the Citadel (the outer area of the Imperial City)...THAT was exciting ;-). Once I was in the Citadel, it wasn't bad because of less traffic, but getting from the hotel to the Citadel was scary!!! Once you got away from the entrance to the Imperial City, there were very few westerners so I got a lot of smiles and strange looks pedaling through the back streets.
From Hue, I flew to Saigon, which is officially Ho Chi Minh City, but no one in the south calls it that. It was interesting...there were very few bicycles in Saigon compared to Hanoi (almost all motorbikes) and my guide said it's because people in Saigon are better off, on the whole. I splurged on my hotel in Saigon and stayed at a fantastic 4 star place (the Majestic) right on the river...built during the French colonial times with gorgeous wood floors and great service...and a spa where massages were $15 an hour (actually that was expensive compared to my hotel in Hanoi where they were $6, but the service and surroundings were much nicer). We did a day trip to the Mekong Delta where we did a boat ride on the river that was ok...very much designed for tourists though and not really a glimpse into how people live there (except the ones who make and see stuff to tourists!). Next time I'd like to get further out from the city, and do a homestay in the area.
I liked Saigon better than I expected...from reading the guidebooks I thought it would be too busy and crazy compared to Hanoi but it wasn't that bad (not as crazy as I remember Bangkok being). I saw a silk 2 piece ensemble (kind of a modified ao dai, the traditional women's wear in Vietnam, with pants and a long overdress with slits up the side to the waist) in a shop window as we were driving to the hotel, so I ended up having another outfit made...this time for a whole $63! I bought a whole bunch of smaller stuff, too...an embroidered cotton blanket made by the H'mong, a couple of really cool silk embroideries of street scenes made under the auspices of an agency that gives kids with birth defects caused by Agent Orange a living (kind of like Goodwill except they were making stuff, not just sorting it), jewelry made from pearls farmed near Cat Ba island, a few small marble carvings, some lacquerware plates...it was hard to stop shopping because it was so cheap but I was running out of room in my suitcase ;-).
May 8th, 2005 | 01:28 PM
#3
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 563
Likes: 0
thank you wanderer for the report. we are planning a similar itinerary for october.....can you please tell us where you stayed in hanoi, hoi an and hue? also, how did you arrange your drivers and tours? what did you pay?
i have been researching this board for vietnam information and your trip sounds fantastic.
thanks again
i have been researching this board for vietnam information and your trip sounds fantastic.
thanks again
May 8th, 2005 | 10:56 PM
#5
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 108
Likes: 0
Oh dear, $63 for a students outfit. We had one made in Hoi An for my daughter for $18. $43 for 2 shirts and pants wasn't too bad. I had silk shirts made for $8 each. Still, a great report, and it bought back some memories of our recent trip.
May 10th, 2005 | 02:33 PM
#7
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,749
Likes: 0
Great report, when reading many of these it simply reminds me why I love being in Asia, "...we even sang karaoke together one night while staying on an island in Halong Bay" now I bet 'that' is a memory. Getting out and about and even casual contact with people going about their daily lives to me is one of the great things of travel, not just seeing popular sights but really getting to know how people live.
One of the greatest things at least in South east asia is taking it easy, not to worry, relax and see the world go by.
Hope you will be back in this region soon.
One of the greatest things at least in South east asia is taking it easy, not to worry, relax and see the world go by.
Hope you will be back in this region soon.
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May 10th, 2005 | 06:20 PM
#8
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 53
Likes: 0
Wonderful trip report, NW. We are going in November.
Does NW in your username by chance mean NW U.S.? If so, perhaps you could drop me a line at [email protected]. I am in WA state.
Does NW in your username by chance mean NW U.S.? If so, perhaps you could drop me a line at [email protected]. I am in WA state.
May 13th, 2005 | 12:30 PM
#9
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Joined: May 2005
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Thanks for all the feedback! A couple of specific responses:
DiveDiva: I stayed at the Hoa Bien in Hanoi, the Hoi An Hotel in Hoi An, and the Festival Hue in Hue. I would recommend the 1st two, but would have preferred something closer to the river in Hue (although the hotel was perfectly fine in other respects). I chose 3 star hotels for everything except the last 2 nights in Saigon, BTW, where I splurged for the 4 star Majestic. I planned my trip through Asianventure in Hanoi, and thought they did a great job--they arranged everything, including the internal flights. I think the cost for everything (hotels, breakfasts, a couple lunches, expenses of the guide/driver, the car, and the internal flights) averaged about $130/day (and I was traveling solo, so it would be a lot less if you had more than 1 person).
SidB and Fiona: Even if I overpayed, I really like my outfit and it's a beautiful silk. I would have paid a lot more to get it here, that's for sure!
Juju2: Yes, I'm in WA state...I'll email you.
DiveDiva: I stayed at the Hoa Bien in Hanoi, the Hoi An Hotel in Hoi An, and the Festival Hue in Hue. I would recommend the 1st two, but would have preferred something closer to the river in Hue (although the hotel was perfectly fine in other respects). I chose 3 star hotels for everything except the last 2 nights in Saigon, BTW, where I splurged for the 4 star Majestic. I planned my trip through Asianventure in Hanoi, and thought they did a great job--they arranged everything, including the internal flights. I think the cost for everything (hotels, breakfasts, a couple lunches, expenses of the guide/driver, the car, and the internal flights) averaged about $130/day (and I was traveling solo, so it would be a lot less if you had more than 1 person).
SidB and Fiona: Even if I overpayed, I really like my outfit and it's a beautiful silk. I would have paid a lot more to get it here, that's for sure!
Juju2: Yes, I'm in WA state...I'll email you.
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