Vietnam 2006 Part 2 : Streets of Hanoi

Day 2(Sun) : Around Hanoi

A New Day
Woke up on Sunday to light filtering in from the window. It was a new day and we were raring to start exploring Hanoi. But before that, we just stood out at the balcony to take in the fresh morning air, listening to sounds from the bustling city below and enjoying the sights of the locals going about their business.

After freshening up, we moved downstairs to have breakfast. We had a few things lined up for the day - a few chores to complete, a few decisions to make and a number of places of interest to visit.
Rather than bore you with a detailed account of every single concrete monument that I visited and every interesting sight that caught my attention, here is the story told from the lens of my camera.

Sightseeing around the city
Scenery around Hoan Kiem Lake ...

View of Ngoc So'n Temple from the river bank

The inaccessible Tortoise Tower

A boat on the lake

Ngoc So’n Temple ...

A pavilion in Ngoc So'n Temple

In front of the temple

The Streets ...

Motorcyles rule the streets of Hanoi

Shophouses

St.Joseph Cathedral ...

Worshipers leaving the Cathedral after Sunday morning mass

Pho - 2nd Breakfast ...

Pho Bo (Beef).

Temple of Literature ...

Courtyard outside temple

Temple corridors

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum ...

The Mausoleum was closed. It closes before noon.

Lunch ...

The fate of man's best friend - served cold. Lost my apetite after this starter.

Norman tasting the intestine-like piece. He was the only one working on the plate after we decided that we had enough.

Army Museum ...

The guard tower outside the museum.

Train Tracks ...

Train tracks running along the back alley

French Opera House ...

Looking grand and magnificent at night A singing performance was on that night.

Ciao Café ...

After dinner. We had our new hats on. Bought mine for 40,000D

Chores Completed
1) Booking a Ha Long Bay tour
The hotel had given us their sales pitch during breakfast. We were presented with a few packages and had later on decided on the most expensive package(US$45). It was a 2 day 1 night tour inclusive of two-way bus transport to and from Ha Long City, a English speaking tour guide, tour and overnight stay on a houseboat(with sails), room with attached toilet on boat, kayaking and big meals. More on this in the next post.

2) Planning for Sa Pa

We were offered a US$85, 4 night 3 day trip to Sa Pa by the hotel, that includes 2 nights on the train, a night in a hotel and possibly a night in a village. But after checking out the train ticket(212,000 Dong or $US13.30) to Sa Pa, we decided to travel on our own. We purchased the train tickets to Lao Cai, soft sleepers of four in a bunk (perfect for a company of four). The train leaves on the same day we return from Sa Pa, at 9:30pm.

Vietnam 2006 Part 1 : Road to Hanoi

Day 1(Sat) : Arrival at Hanoi.
Touchdown
Our Tiger Airways’ Airbus A320 landed in Noi Bai Airport, Hanoi before 8pm local time. As Vietnam is one hour behind Singapore and Malaysia, the skies were already dark when we arrived.

The flight was slightly over 3 hours, spent updating each other on our latest news, finalizing our travel plans, watching people going to the loo that was conveniently located behind my seat, talking to a Dutch stranger, and wishing we could speak a little Japanese (the presence of five Japanese lasses sitting in front of us was purely coincidental).

After clearing customs at the airport, we headed to the money changer to convert some US Dollars to Dong. The rates (US$1 = 15,918 Dong) were better of the Dollar compared to other currencies. We became instant millionaires. Next we got a ride to the city by taxi for US$10.

Finding ‘Salute’
We had chanced upon Salute Hotel on the internet before coming for the trip. It looked pretty decent in the pictures and was reasonably priced. So that was the destination we told the taxi driver.

Outside the car, the air was cool and slight drizzle dripped from the skies. The road to the city passed through desolated areas, occasional rows of townhouses, and bridges spanning the Red River. Traffic was sparse but the incessant honking accompanied us through out the journey .

Entering the city, we were greeted by the sight of the Old Quarters - the trademark narrow streets, with mazy rows of shophouses and budget hotels, and groups of people sitting on low stools by the roadside enjoying hot bowls of Pho. Motorcylces weave through these streets like they own the place.

Stalls along the streets

The taxi finally stopped in front of a hotel(no Salute sign) but we were told that the place was full and had better luck at one not to far away(supposedly ran by his ‘brother’). The man from the hotel gave instructions to the taxi driver and we were off. A few streets down and we arrived at another hotel. “Salute Hotel?”, we asked the guy who greeted us and he happily answered, “Yes, yes.” The sign above door read ‘Backpackers Hotel’.

We decided to stay after viewing one of the rooms. It had an attached bathroom, a single and double bed, TV (plus cable), and even a balcony. It was going for US$20 per night and could fit four.

First Meal
After throwing down our luggage and grabbing our jackets, we headed for the streets in search for food, our first meal in Vietnam. We passed over a couple of smaller eateries serving local food and ended up in a café overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake. Not exactly the Vietnamese cuisine welcome meal that we were expecting, but the place really had a cool view.

View from the cafe. Hoan Kiem Lake at night.

As most of the shops were closed, we decided to call it a night and headed back to our hotel. It will be a long day ahead.

Vietnam 2006 Prologue : Beginnings …

I was first fascinated with Vietnam when I read the book ‘Tangerine’ in July last year. The book talked about a man’s travels through Vietnam. Maybe because what he was experiencing made sense or his encounters with the local people and culture intrigued me or just the thought of escaping into an exotic foreign land was so tempting. Whatever the reason, it created a spark in me, a longing to one day visit this land up north.

Later on in the year, in one of the occasional meet-ups with Wee Loong and Ravi, we broached the subject of going for a trip together in the coming year. A monumental year as it marks our coming of age into the 30s. Anyway our last trip together was in 2001 when we traveled by land to Phuket and Haadyai. It was pretty enjoyable then and the prospect of going for another trip together was pretty exciting.

Hanoi was thrown into the hat. Neither of us had been there before. Wee Loong might have flown there but these were turnaround flights. Ravi had traveled to Ho Chi Minh and Hue, but never to the north. We left thinking about the possibility.

However the idea remained dormant until we met again earlier this year to confirm the trip and built a plan around it. Ha Long Bay was suggested due to its proximity and popularity. Sadly that was the extent of our knowledge about the attractions of north Vietnam.

A short trip to the Travel Guide section of Kinokuniya later, we expanded our travel options. Sapa, a town on the hills, North West of Hanoi caught our eye. Maybe it was the words used to describe the place; words like hill station, cool mountain air, picturesque scenery. The only obstacle was the journey to the hill station which included an 8 hour train journey to a border town and a short drive up to Sapa. A short calculation showed that we needed at least a week to cover all three places. We decided to go for it.

Norman was later roped in and not because we needed a fourth player for cards as he suspected (3 could play Chor Dai Dee comfortably). We proceeded to book the cheapest fare to Hanoi through Tiger Airways. The round trip cost S$225, including taxes.

We were on our way to Vietnam.

Lost Tails

They say an average of 10,000 bags are lost daily.

They also say 98% of misplaced baggage is returned evntually.

So hey, where's mine ???

Standing there at the carousel in Changi's spanking new Budget Terminal on Sunday night, I was reminiscing about the fantastic 9 days that I had spent in Vietnam and dreading the return to work the next day. Then slowly bags were picked and removed from the carousel; the number quickly diminishing as passengers headed towards custom clearance. When the last piece of suitcase was finally carried off, it became apparent, my backpack had gone AWOL.

The next few days were spent contacting Swissport (the baggage handler) and composing my letter to Tiger Airways. Well now I guess I'll just have to sit back and wait for their reply and perhaps compensation (cross fingers).

Now I have my own tale about lost baggage. Though, it seems that almost everybody has their own story too. Well, this slight hitch should not take anything away from the enjoyable trip.

I am half way through organising my photos and have uploaded some into my flickr site. Will write about the trip soon.

Tam Biet Hanoi

Hey there. It's my last day here in Hanoi. Decided to drop a few words in my blog since the hotel has internet facilities (as most Hotels do here).

I'm staying in the Old Quarters, surrounded by unending rows of shops selling anything from shoes to stone tablets. There is constant honking in the background as motorcycles and cars move along in haphazard fashion thorugh the narrow streets. There is activity everywhere. Will definitely miss this sight once I'm back in Singapore.

It's almost 11am now. Got to go pack my stuff before we set off to find food (our last lunch in Vietnam, so it better be good). Will write about my trip next week when I'm done organising my few hundred photos.

Tam Biet !