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Published: November 11th 2007
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Hi folks,
This is our first blog from our Vietnam trip in September. Since we went to three different cities, and spent a significant time in each one, we decided to divide up this blog into 3 different logs. This first one is about the northern capital city of Vietnam, Hanoi.
Our first impressions of Vietnam were that it had really cool French architecture, a small amount of cars, but a ridiculous amount of motorbikes, and friendly people - most of whom spoke English (actually, surprisingly more speak English there than in Japan and Korea!!!)
After we first arrived in Hanoi, we knew that our hotel was a great choice. We were a little nervous about choosing a hotel online, especially after reading so many horrid reviews about rats, bedbugs and dishonest hotel clerks, but I think we really got lucky! We stayed in a brand new hotel right in the middle of the city, named the Ritz Hotel, that was fabulous! The couple that ran the hotel, their names River and Spring, were super sweet and made our stay extra memorable. They were so helpful with everything, and every morning they got up and personally made us
a delicious breakfast whenever we came downstairs. In addition, the hotel only cost us $14/night (including the breakfast)!!!
In fact, we soon found that pretty much everything in Vietnam was extremely cheap! From hotel stays, to 5-course meals, to shopping, to exotic tours....we feel giddy now just thinking about how rich we felt in this country. (And bad for most fellow Americans too, who continuously choose places in Europe as their vacation hotspots, where the dollar isn't worth nearly as much when compared to the Euro and the Pound!) Oh well...
Our first few days in Hanoi, we did a fair share of exploring the city, shopping at the local street markets, and enjoying the amazing food (w/ a LOT of French influence). But then, we decided it was time to do a much-anticipated tour of HaLong Bay, today considered as possibly the new "8th wonder of the world!" As we looked for a travel agency to book our tour through, we were careful not to choose one that was not listed in the Lonely Planet. According to this "traveler's dictionary," most travel agencies in Vietnam ran scams, and you had to be careful not to lose your
money! So, we chose the "Kangaroo Cafe" to book our tour - listed in black & white within the Lonely Planet pages. Well, as it turns out, some shady travel agencies copy the names of the good, recommended ones to do better business....which is what the "Kangaroo Cafe" we chose turned out to be!! But, luckily our tour was not a scam, we got a great price on it, and had a wonderful time too!
The HaLong Bay tour we did was 3 days and 2 nights. The $80 we spent (per person) covered all transportation and tour fees, cave entrance fees, a 1 night stay on a private boat in the middle of HaLong Bay, a 1 night stay in a luxury hotel on Cat Ba Island, and all meals for 3 days! The first day was spent driving to the bay, boarding our boat, visiting a popular cave, going for a swim at a beach we docked at, and of course, getting some much needed 'R & R.' That night we had a lovely dinner aboard our boat at sea, and then after hanging out on the deck for awhile under the stars, went back to our
cabins (on the boat) for a night's rest on the water.
The next day was a long one, but an adventurous one. We (err, actually just Larry) started off the morning with a dip in the bay. Some of the other guys on our tour did the same, and so I was the designated photographer as they took turns jumping off the top of the boat! Next was breakfast, sightseeing and kayaking. We were a little disappointed because our kayak trip was supposed to include going into caverns, but the tide was too high for us to do so on this day. After kayaking though, was a lovely lunch on a small private beach. While here, we also met some really cute Vietnamese children that lived in a local fishing village. Sadly enough, these children will not get an education beyond that of 3rd grade, because they will then learn their family's fishing trade to make their future living. But they were adorable and fun to take pictures with....and they were fascinated looking at the pictures on our digital camera after we took them.
That afternoon we went to an island to visit one of the poorest Vietnamese
villages in the country. This was actually one of my (and Larry's) favorite parts of our entire trip. It was really amazing to ride a motorbike all the way into this tiny little village in the mountains, and then to meet some of the people who lived there. We bought some drinks from them, explored their hut (made of dirt & sticks) and their farmland, and played with their animals (pigs, dogs, chickens and cats). I actually had to stop playing with the cute kitties though when our tour guide told us that they would be used for food someday soon. In Vietnam, practically all animals are considered edible.
Later that evening, we headed to Cat Ba Island - where we stayed in a luxury hotel for the night. Unfortunately there wasn't too much time to explore this lovely island and its beaches, but we did have a nice dinner at the hotel and drinks at a local bar. The next morning we headed back to our boat to make our way back to the docks, where we would then get back in our van and head back to the city. Once back in Hanoi, we brought all the
new friends we had made on our tour (who weren't happy with their hotels) to our "Ritz Hotel." Not only did this make River and Spring REALLY happy, but it also was nice to have some folks to hang out with that evening - our last night in Hanoi. After we all attended a famous, Vietnamese water-puppet show, we then had dinner at a really cool restaurant (the seats were all made of cyclos!), and went to a local lounge afterwards.
Our last day in Hanoi, we had River's brother chauffeur us around in his car all day. Because he did this for us, we were able to go to many tourist places all over the city that we had missed. We went to the Hoa Lo Prison Museum, the Temple of Literature, a War Memorial, and a Vietnamese orphanage. I think the most interesting place though had to have been the area known as 'Le Mat,' where we went for lunch. 'Le Mat' is like the "Snake Alley" of Vietnam. Here, all the restaurants had huge poisonous snakes in cages to draw in the tourists, and then once you were there, you could choose your meal from an
exotic menu of many different animals - their specialty being snake. Once we were there and I saw all the animals sitting there in cages (including cats, dogs, and even iguanas), I couldn't choose anything from the menu. Larry was going to have snake and I wasn't interested. So, I asked if they had chicken, to which they replied they did...thinking I had made a safe choice. But when the "waiter" came in 2 minutes later holding a live chicken by the neck, I decided I wasn't going to eat at this place. I'm not a vegetarian, but under no circumstances do I want to "meet" my meal before I eat it. So, while Larry ate his "snake belly," "snake rolls," and drank his "snake wine," I watched. I ate at a Western restaurant afterwards, while Larry waited for me this time! 😊
Later this afternoon, it was time to leave Hanoi. We were sad to be leaving so soon, but at the same time, excited to visit Hoi'an - the next city on our Vietnam exploration. Hoi'an is in the middle of the country, and all of our friends RANTED & RAVED about this city the most. This
also is the city with all of the tailors, where you could get any article of clothing custom-made at, again, a ridiculously cheap price! So, aboard the plane we went and....
Stay tuned for our next Vietnam entry!
Love,
Larry & Melanie
Vietnamese for the Day: xin chao - "Hello!"
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Bree
non-member comment
wow!
your trip looks absolutely amazing. i honestly never really thought i would want to travel to vietnam before but now i am dying to go!!!!