Hanoi and Hạ Long Bay - Travel Diary
Wednesday 1 May 2019
It turns out the north of Vietnam is quite cold in the winter - who knew.
I certainly knew when I was starting to turn purple walking through the streets on Hanoi in shorts and a t-shirt. It was 10 degrees.
Luckily for me, Hanoi is the place to be when you require a warm coat. Every single street had numurous stores, all called 'Made in Vietnam' selling fake Northface coats. No other brand it seems. Just Northface.
When I eventually convinced myself that it was actually a vital spend if I didn't want to get pneumonia, I prepped myself for the bartering. I found a shop that had a colour I liked and picked up a medium-size to try on. I couldn't get it on. Immediately the shop owner appeared:
'You need big size, you big girl.'
'Um, excuse me I'm a size 10 so I'm not really that big'.
'Yes, you big. You bigger than me see and I'm a man'
'Maybe you're just a small man?'
'Lady, in my country, you a big girl, fact. In your country, you are probably perfect size. But here, try 2XL'
Annoyingly, it fitted perfectly and I paid full price $40 for a fake coat that made me feel like I wanted to go home and join a gym.
We were in Hanoi for 1-night before we headed off to Ha Long Bay for a New Year's Eve. Despite being Vietnam's capital city, Hanoi is actually the second largest city in the country - behind Ho Chi Minh in the south.
We had booked the Hanoi Lotus Hotel, however, when we arrived we were told we couldn't stay there due to maintenance work and they had booked us into another local hotel which was supposedly a 'free upgrade'.
It was not a free upgrade.
If it was, I dread to think what the Lotus Hotel would have been like. We ended up at the Ritz Boutique Hotel. It was grim.
In the evening I tried to turn on the TV - it didn't work. I rang reception and was told 'yes we know, the tv won't work because it rained this morning' - um. ok.
In the evening I tried to turn on the TV - it didn't work. I rang reception and was told 'yes we know, the tv won't work because it rained this morning' - um. ok.
Luckily, we were only there for the one night, so when the morning arrived we were quick the leave and head to a cafe where we were meeting our tour group for our party cruise in Halong Bay.
We booked our party cruise with Oasis Bay Cruises. We were a bit nervous about it - was it going to be lame, or too wild, or were we going to be the oldest people there?! But it was something a bit different to do for New Year, and if it was awful at least it was only one night.
It wasn't awful. It was the best New Year ever.
After a 4-hour bus journey from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay (it actually wasn't as bad as it sounds), we arrived on our boat at about 2pm on NYE. Our room was very nice - just like a hotel room. We even had a cute balcony to sit out on (we didn't of course, because it was freezing). The only downside was that the WiFi didn't work - but the whole experience was so much fun we didn't really need it.
There were hot tubs running and kayaking activities available when we arrived - which pretty much every female on the boat avoided as it was still only around 10 degrees, but the bars were open and we were free to do what we wanted. They provided a huge traditional Vietnamese dinner to line our stomachs and there was a little bit of 'organised fun' (surprisingly not that bad) at the beginning of the evening - dance off/beer yoga etc.
There were hot tubs running and kayaking activities available when we arrived - which pretty much every female on the boat avoided as it was still only around 10 degrees, but the bars were open and we were free to do what we wanted. They provided a huge traditional Vietnamese dinner to line our stomachs and there was a little bit of 'organised fun' (surprisingly not that bad) at the beginning of the evening - dance off/beer yoga etc.
Halong Bay is beautiful. It is made up of over 2,000 limestone islands/islets in the Gulf of Tonkin, and we were cruising around then with hundreds of other riverboats. I felt a little bit disappointed that we had spent our whole time on the party cruise and hadn't planned any time to explore the bay a little more.
I did ask one of the girls to take this incredibly hungover photo of me in the morning just so I could remind myself that I did, in fact, go to Halong Bay and it was pretty amazing. (Also, I'm wearing my big girl coat if you were wondering about it)
Most of the people on the trip were British - a lot of them from near my hometown - and we all bonded really quickly. There was incredibly cheap alcohol, beer pong, and Little Mix dancing. When we went to pay for our drinks the following morning, we had spent the equivalent of £27 each (actually worked this one out in £'s for once because I was with British people) for the whole afternoon/night!! Which was pretty incredible for NYE.
It was a bit weird the following day when it was all over, and we were all like 'alright bye then, nice to meet you'. And you realise, these people that you just had the best night ever with - you don't even know their surnames, and you will most probably never speak to them again.
When we did head off, we had to get a small boat back to the bus. We all climbed on and sat down and the boat started to move - I suddenly realised Sam was nowhere to be seen.
'EXCUSE ME, MY FRIEND IS NOT ON THE BOAT'
'Well that's her problem, you'll see her again in Hanoi'
The boat went silent and everyone was looking at me.
Hanoi was 4 hours away, it's pretty huge, and neither of us had working phones.
I died inside.
When we got to the bus, I was super stressed so I went to ask the tour guide if we could pass a message to the group Sam was now with. It was then he told me he was just kidding and she would be on the next boat in a minute.
Hilarious joke.
The bus journey back to Hanoi felt a lot longer than the way there. Most people were asleep and the rest of us just wanted to be asleep.
The bus journey back to Hanoi felt a lot longer than the way there. Most people were asleep and the rest of us just wanted to be asleep.
We had another 4 days in Hanoi on our return and this time we were staying at the Serene Boutique Hotel and Spa. This one was a complete contrast to the previous and was, in fact, the best hotel we stayed in whilst in Vietnam. The location was perfect, in the heart of the Old Quarter, and the staff could not have been friendlier or more helpful. They also bowed to us every time we walked in the main doors, which obviously made me feel like a queen.
Unfortunately, Sam got bed-bound-kinda-ill for the next 2 days so I was flying solo.
It was a little intimidating because Hanoi was yet another incredibly intense place with scooters literally everywhere and I didn't really have a clue where I was going. One tip we had been given prior to getting to Vietnam was when trying to cross the road you have to just walk and do not stop. The scooters will just go around you (don't do it if there are cars there though because they will just drive into you). This seemed completely crazy and we often made sure we followed a local across the road - but it does actually work!
It was a little intimidating because Hanoi was yet another incredibly intense place with scooters literally everywhere and I didn't really have a clue where I was going. One tip we had been given prior to getting to Vietnam was when trying to cross the road you have to just walk and do not stop. The scooters will just go around you (don't do it if there are cars there though because they will just drive into you). This seemed completely crazy and we often made sure we followed a local across the road - but it does actually work!
I decided to play it safe whilst on my own and find the city hop on hop off bus (I love them), where I spent the morning seeing all the city highlights from an open top bus, with headphones giving me an English commentary. I made a mental note of all the places I wanted to go once Sam had recovered and got to see a few extra along the way including the worlds longest mosaic mural which runs alongside one of the roads in Hanoi and it 4 miles long.
As I wandered around Hoan Kiem Lake (start and finish point of the bus tour), looking at a map on my phone, I was approached by two Vietnamese boys - I'd say about 16/17 years old.
I looked up as one of them was stood right next to me waving. 'Hello,' he said, "Photograph?" I thought he wanted me to take a picture of me and his friend by the lake so I nodded and waited to be handed a camera, but before I knew it he was stood next to me grinning with his thumbs up, like he was posing next to a tourist attraction, and I was stood doing some weird Chandler Bing style grin with no makeup on, a hoody and a coat on - both hoods up.
And then they were gone.
That actually happened.
I mean, I'm hoping it's because I'm a tall, blonde girl, and not that I actually looked like a Teletubby, but I will never know.
When Sam recovered, we set off for a day of sightseeing.
Our first stop was the Ho Chi Mihn Mausoleum. Because, who doesn't want to see a dead body on a Thursday morning?
The security is very strict here. After going through airport-style security to get in, you then have to walk around in a single file line, you're not allowed to stop and you're certainly not allowed to take photos.
Ho Chi Mihn was the countries most famous leader, in power from 1945 until 1965, who led Vietnams Independence movement. Following the war, Vietnam's largest city Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Mihn City. And following his death, they laid him to rest in Hanoi, and his embalmed body is in the mausoleum for everyone to look at - despite expressing wishes to be cremated before his death.
Next up was the activity I had been looking forward to the most since my bus ride - the swan pedalos.
We had the whole of Trúc Bạch Lake to ourselves, although we soon realised it was actually pretty cold and peddling was quite tiring.
So we headed to a nearby coffee shop to warm up.
Opposite this lake was the beautiful Tran Quoc Pagoda, Hanoi's oldest Buddist Temple. The temple is situated on a small island in the even bigger West Lake and is open to members of the public to visit.
In the afternoon, we decided to check out Dong Xuan Market, secretly hoping it would be along the lines of Fake City in Ho Chi Mihn.
It was however completely different. The place was even smaller and even more cramped, and the locals did not seem to have any time for the tourists (in fact, there weren't many of us there) and there was nothing really of interest to buy. Surprising, as this was listed as one of the 'top things to do in Hanoi'.
An interesting thing we noticed in the Old Quarter in Hanoi is that a lot of the streets seem to have a shopping theme. For example, there will be a specific street where most of the stores sell silk goods. The name of the streets also translates to what it is selling - in this case, silk street. Other examples we spotted were aluminium, mannequins (creepy), shoes, hats etc (although not sure the names translated for all of them as of course times have changed since the streets were named)
For our final day in Hanoi, we set out early to visit the Temple of Literature. It is a beautiful temple made up of 5 picturesque courtyards and was originally used as a place of study for the elite. It built in 1070 and is still a popular place for students to study now (although, I'm not sure I would be able to study with the number of tourists that were walking through)
We wanted to give shopping one more go, so we got a taxi out to the Vincom Centre (we thought it was a mall). The centre was more of a huge department store and was still quite interesting to look around but it was mostly branded concessions that you can get anywhere- Pandora/MAC/Levi etc. There was a viewing tower that looked over the city but it was pretty pricey considering it was a dull cloudy day and we wouldn't have been able to see much, so we gave it a miss.
As we were leaving in a taxi, we spotted a mall about 5 minutes down the road - turns out we were just in the wrong place.
For our final evening - we knew the perfect way to say goodbye to Vietnam - we went to get our nails done.
Yes, ok, that's not the most cultural thing to do, but we were pretty tired after 2 weeks of travelling around Vietnam (4 weeks of travel in total for me). We went to a place called Tiny & Nail Spa, which is located on Hàng Bông - which translates to the street of cotton (the street with the clothes shop). It cost about $20 for a gel polish manicure and they did a really good job. You also get a Vietnamese tea and biscuits.
With my sparkly new nails, it was sadly time to leave, but at least I was heading back to New Zealand for a couple more months of travel life. We had booked our flights separately so I was heading back with Air New Zealand via Hong Kong.
As this blog has firmly established, I absolutely hate flying and by the time I'd got to Hong Kong (2 hours out of my 14-hour trip) I'd had enough. Hong Kong airport was too much for me (it's ridiculously big and busy) so I booked myself into the first class lounge with LoungeBuddy and spent my 4-hour layover having a shower/massage/a la carte breakfast and lots of wine and cake to soothe my flying stress.
It was at this moment I realised I'd probably become a bit of a high-maintenance traveller.
As we were leaving in a taxi, we spotted a mall about 5 minutes down the road - turns out we were just in the wrong place.
For our final evening - we knew the perfect way to say goodbye to Vietnam - we went to get our nails done.
Yes, ok, that's not the most cultural thing to do, but we were pretty tired after 2 weeks of travelling around Vietnam (4 weeks of travel in total for me). We went to a place called Tiny & Nail Spa, which is located on Hàng Bông - which translates to the street of cotton (the street with the clothes shop). It cost about $20 for a gel polish manicure and they did a really good job. You also get a Vietnamese tea and biscuits.
With my sparkly new nails, it was sadly time to leave, but at least I was heading back to New Zealand for a couple more months of travel life. We had booked our flights separately so I was heading back with Air New Zealand via Hong Kong.
As this blog has firmly established, I absolutely hate flying and by the time I'd got to Hong Kong (2 hours out of my 14-hour trip) I'd had enough. Hong Kong airport was too much for me (it's ridiculously big and busy) so I booked myself into the first class lounge with LoungeBuddy and spent my 4-hour layover having a shower/massage/a la carte breakfast and lots of wine and cake to soothe my flying stress.
It was at this moment I realised I'd probably become a bit of a high-maintenance traveller.
Next trip: New Zealand, Northland
Hội An - Travel Diary
Sunday 21 April 2019
"MEGAAANNN, did you see that?! That old man just tried to pour hot water from his kettle on me"
"Really? Are you sure he wasn't just offering you a drink?"
"Um, no. He put a kettle towards me like he was pouring it, so I pushed him away and ran"
"You pushed the old man?"
"Yes."
And that is how our trip to Hoi An started.
Hoi An was a popular recommendation when I was planning my Vietnam trip, and I definitely agree - it was my favourite of our stops in Vietnam.
We stayed at the Silk Marina Resort and Spa Hotel which was in a perfect location, just a 5-minute walk away from the Old Town. When we arrived we were given cocktails and informed that we had been upgraded as I was an 'Expedia VIP' (I think that just means I spend too much money on Expedia), but it was a great start.
Of all the hotels we stayed in this one was the nicest in regards to space and amenities. After the first night, I did have to request a new room as they had put us next to the noisy bar (probably thinking we were going to be fun party girls - but actually we were more excited about what movie was going to be on at 8pm each night on the one English movie channel).
On our first evening, we were pretty tired but took a stroll to find something to eat. We stopped at a Vietnamese restaurant called Madame Klein which was located next to the night market. We perched on a stool overlooking the market and watched the world go by before having an early night in preparation for a full day of exploring the next day.
The breakfast at the Silk Marina Hotel was the breakfast of dreams. So. Much. Food. I ate about 5 plates each morning - including my favourite - a freshly made omelette. I can happily say they did the best breakfast of any hotel I have ever stayed in and I would recommend this hotel for the breakfast alone.
For our first full day, we decided to rent some bikes to explore (we got our bikes from our hotel). We cycled through the town and along the river. During the ride, we stopped to take some photos of the beautiful buildings on the other side in the Ancient Town. As I was stood admiring the view I noticed a man coming over to me. He stood right next to me and my bike, and he just stared at me. The hotel had warned us to be careful with our belongings here, so I quickly shoved my camera into my bag and waited for him to say something whilst he was there, invading my personal space. But he didn't.
Me: Hello?
Him:
Me: What do you want?
Him:
Me: Are you mugging me? No? Ok. I'm really not sure what's happening here?
Him:
Me: Ok. Sam, I'd like to go now. Let's leave, please
Him:
And that was the time I think I almost got mugged in Vietnam. But I'm still not really sure.
We crossed the bridge to cycle around the Ancient Town, but the place was FULL of tourists and it was quite difficult to cycle (I'm way too British to keep dinging the bell to make people move) so we made the decision to return the bikes and return on foot. On our travels, we spotted another cafe opposite our hotel that sold egg coffee (my fave) so this became our daily pit stop on the way to the town.
In Vietnam, a lot of houses are also businesses, so walking along the street next to our hotel there were a lot of family-run cafes, nail salons, laundry facilities, where you could also just see the family living areas.
The streets of the Ancient Town are lined with numerous leather shops, tailors, coffee shops and gift shops. The town has some amazing architecture including a lot of French Colonial buildings that have been well-preserved. Most of the shops sell pretty much exactly the same thing but getting a tailored outfit is a must in Hoi An. I got a work dress and a blazer made, and apart from the fact it's quite different to what I requested (I showed a picture of a purple Topshop waterfall blazer, and got a bright pink fitted blazer), I was very happy the end result, the fit and even how quickly they made them. I, to this day, have major regrets about not getting more.
For some of the buildings you require an 'Ancient Town Ticket' to enter - one of these being the Japanese bridge (see the very first picture of this blog post), however, we discovered that if you got there early enough it was accessible until around11am as there was no one there checking tickets. During this time, motorbikes and scooters are also not allowed to drive through the streets so it's a lot easier to walk around and explore without being beeped at every 2 seconds.
As well as the lines of shops, there were also plenty of street vendors. Some sat at little stalls and others wandering the streets. I loved that a lot of them were wearing traditional Vietnamese rice hats and some were carrying the baskets of food over their shoulders - Quang ganh.
We sat in a bar drinking cocktails one lunchtime (FYI - happy hour is a thing in Hoi An!) watching the world go by when a street seller came and sat with us and started showing us all his (overpriced) fridge magnets. He was desperate for us to buy one, and even when we told him we had no Vietnamese cash, he was looking at my other currencies to see if it was any use to him (he didn't fancy 10p worth of Indonesian Rupiah, unfortunately). Some can be very persistent but most of them are very friendly. A lot of them ask where you are from as you walk by to try and start their sales pitch, but one of them caught my attention as she said 'Kia Ora' to Sam when she said she was from New Zealand, and then when I said the UK she replied 'ooo Lovely Jubbly!'
In the afternoon, Sam decided she was brave enough to attempt another Vietnamese massage (after the horror of Ho Chi Mihn). I was not, so I went back to the hotel in search of food. I wanted to try some Pho, so I headed to the hotel restaurant to get some as I was still a little too wimpy for authentic street food. Sadly, when it came out and was full of peanuts which was heartbreaking. (I don't like nuts if you didn't know that).
After confirmation that the nearby spa was not as dodgy as the last one, I decided to check it out for myself when the rain arrived. In Vietnam, you have to remove your shoes whenever you enter a spa and put their flip-flops on (even if you are just getting a manicure). This was difficult for me as I had pretty much bandaged my foot to my shoe to help me walk. My massage therapist (who I'm pretty sure was literally a 14-year-old boy, which was slightly weird) was traumatised when he tried to help me get my flips flops on and I almost kicked him in the face. So, we came to the agreement that I could just walk barefoot and I gave him a good tip when I left. The spa was excellent and was a lot more professional that Ho Chi Mihn. So if you find yourself in Hoi An, be sure to check out Green Heaven Spa. They were great with discounts and bundle deals too, so I also had a facial with my massage and paid about $20 total.
As we were in Hoi An a little longer than the other cities, we had planned a day trip to the beach. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side for the beach so we decided to check out the Ba Na Hills near Da Nang - home of the Golden Bridge. We booked a driver through our hotel and the staff looked at us like we were a little bit crazy when we said we were happy to go in the rain. Little did we know the rain was not the same 1500m above sea level.
As we drove towards Da Nang the rain was getting heavier so we asked our driver if we could stop somewhere to buy rain ponchos. He pulled over beside a little shop and told us to wait in the car. He came back with 2 rain ponchos, each costing about $2*. He told us that as we were tourists, the shop owners would have charged a considerable amount more for those ponchos - probably about $7.
We arrived at Ba Na Hills and arranged for our driver to meet us in the same place in 4 hours time (HA, we actually lasted about an hour and a half) The top of the hills were hidden in the clouds, but still, at no point did we think this would be a bad idea.
Before long we were beginning our journey in a cable car up into the hills. We had been given a map that showed all the attractions at the top. There would be two stops - the first would be where the bridge was.
This bit was hell. We sat in silence for a good 20 minutes whilst the cable car continued through the clouds. We were swinging side to side and rain was hammering on the windows. We had no idea how long we had left because we could not see a thing. The plus side was I couldn't see how far down I would be plummeting to my death if it had gone drastically wrong, but it made my trip on the Christchurch gondola seem like a breeze.
When we reached the first stop we were greeted by a lobby full of tourists. I assumed they were queuing for something but it turns out they were just looking out the window at the bridge because obviously, the weather was too bad to actually go and stand out on it.
No, not for us.
We were there for that bridge so we were going to walk across it - in flip-flops.
Within seconds we were saturated.
Makeup down our faces. Clothes wet through. My bad foot even turned purple.
But I have absolutely no regrets.
We walked all the way across that bridge. - even got a couple photos.
This part of our day trip was actually one of my favourite things to do in Vietnam. I mean, if you google 'Vietnam Golden Bridge', you will see the view on most days is, in fact, a lot different to the one in my photo below. But it was still pretty cool to actually be on this bridge! Had it not been raining the views would have been incredible - but also it would have been jam-packed with other tourists.
After a trip to the bathroom to attempt to dry under the hand dryers (didn't work), we got in the next cable car and carried on to the top. When we got there, there was a waxwork museum (not quite Maddam Tussauds) and a large amusement area with lots of rides (reminded me of a larger scale seaside pier).
According to the map we had been given, there was also a French-style village at the top with a castle. In the pictures, it reminded me of the village from Beauty and the Beast. Our reality, however, was an even bigger storm, couldn't really see anything, and genuinely thought as I was wading through the flooded paths that I was going to fall over in the wind and get swept away again.
Again, other tourists were just stood in windows and doorways looking out. I'm really not sure why we didn't do the same. At first, it was pretty funny, but then in typical me style I slipped and hit my (now very cold and wet) bad foot on a metal sign, cried a bit, and decided it was time to leave.
Dramatic as always.
In hindsight, trainers and a raincoat probably would have been a much smarter choice of clothing for that day trip - potentially might have even lasted 4 hours. Live and learn.
We spent our final evening exploring the night market. Hoi An gets even prettier in at night. We took a ride in one of the many boats on the river and admired the magical atmosphere that was created by the street lanterns and riverboat lights. And, even though most safety standards in Vietnam are a little slack, they were adamant that we wore our lifejackets for this peaceful, slow boat ride (obviously, I gladly accepted mine after the number of near-death experiences I had encountered in the previous 2 weeks).
The night market itself was surprisingly small, and most of the stalls sold pretty much the same thing. But it still had a nice buzzing atmosphere. I did fufill my number one Vietnam goal of purchasing a banana shirt - which I still have not worn. After a bit of bartering, I did achieve this at a bargain price of $6 - the market lady did throw it at me in a temper, but overall it was a fairly low-stress experience.
As our time in Hoi An drew to a close we just had one more maniac driver to survive on the way to the airport but we did it! I think we only had one or two emergency style stops, and maybe a couple more near misses with motorbikes.
Next stop - Hanoi, Vietnam
* $ = NZD
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