Vietnam

2 weeks in Vietnam. Covered a lot of ground, got a good taste of Vietnam. Definitely recommend it. Here’s what we did for the 2 weeks:

Day 1: Fly to Ho Chi Minh

Friday night we started our travel from Shanghai. We took the Maglev train to Pudong Airport. Normally we are not that bothered about trains but this was pretty exciting as it goes 300km/hr. Within 8 mins we were at the airport. Amazing! And all for only 40rmb.

Waiting for the Maglev

Day 2: Saigon

We arrived to Ho Chi Minh Airport (Saigon) early Saturday morning. We gave our visa application form, letter and 2 photos. We had prepared the documentation beforehand in Shanghai. The visa cost 45usd on arrival and letter 16usd (beforehand). It didn’t take long to get the letter (2-3 days) using the website: http://www.tuanlinhtravel.com/Vietnam/visa/application.htm (visa tuan linh travel). The visa issued was for one month. Once we had our visa we went outside to catch a taxi to our hotel. We had arranged for a pick up from the hotel as it was really the early hours of the morning. After a little sleep we were up and doing the walking tour around Saigon. The main sites were:  Ben Thanh Market, Antique Street, Turtle Lake, City Post, Opera Hall, Statue of Tran Ngugen Han, Notre Dame Cathedral.We ate lunch in a Vietnamese restaurant Nha Hang Ngon which is recommended by the lonely planet. A good recommendation.

Saigon Post Office

In the evening we visited the War Remnants Museum, passing the Reunification Palace along the way. Entry cost for the museum was 15,000vd (25,000vd is around 1 euro), so really very cheap! The museum was very impressive. Outside there was tanks and helicopters that had been used in the war by the Americans. Inside the museum there were 3 levels with different rooms. Some about agent orange, others with weapons, photographs etc.

Vietnamese Edgar

War museum

In general there is plenty of action in the streets of Saigon.  Motorbikes are everywhere. Crossing the street for the first time was a little scary but after a while you get used. The main entertainment street is full of bars, shops and restaurants. A saigon beer costs a little as 9,000vd (30cent). There was always life on the streets, people selling books (fake lonely planets), fruit, vegetables or having their dinner outside.

We stayed in Giang Son Hotel (19e/night) for 4 nights, including breakfast.  It’s a very central place but in a back street so it was still quiet. We made day trips from Saigon to the Mekong Delta and Cu Chi Tunnels.

Day 3: Cu Chi Tunnels

We spent a half day at the Cu Chi tunnels. We left Saigon early in the morning by bus and it took about 2 hours to get there. We stopped along the way to crafts made by disabled people who were affected by agent orange.

Edgar in the tunnel

The guide we had did a great job explaining everything. We went down into one of the tunnels and crawled for 120m. This was only a small distance but we were sweating when we got out! The Vietcong has 3 levels of tunnels that went for 250km. Pretty impressive as well as all the traps that they made. Towards the end of the trip you can go shoot guns. Machine guns, M16 and others. We didn’t fancy this but others did. Overall, well worth it. Price: Bus -79,000vd, Entrance-90,000vd.

Day 4: Mekong Delta

Spent a full day exploring Mekong Delta. The day didn’t start off to well as nobody came to collect us at the agency in the morning. In the end, we got collected by 2 motorbikes which drove us to one of the main roads. The bus was there waiting for us at the side of the road. The people on the bus presumed we were late, but the agency had forgotten about us! 2 hours later we arrived to where the boat departs for Mekong Delta. We moved around to different islands, the first island we visited was called Coconut Island. Here we saw how they manufacture coconut sweets. We ate lunch there also. On another island we watched a woman make rice paper, got to hold a python, saw honey bees and had tea (with the honey) and fresh fruit from the island while listening to some locals play music and sing. The last part of the trip involved getting on a little wooden boat with a local girl. We spent about 15 minutes on this joining with the delta in the end. We returned back to Saigon after the day, others stayed on one of the islands with a local family. The price for this trip: 150,000vd.

Edgar with the python

Day 5: Fly to Hanoi

To get to Saigon airport we took the local bus 152. We booked our flight to Hanoi with the company Vietjet. Once we arrive to Hanoi it was much colder. We got a minibus with the locals from the airport to the centre. This took about an hour. Once we found our hotel (Royal Palace Hotel 2) we walked around the city. The streets were super busy, bikes everywhere, much more crazy than Saigon.

Busy Hanoi

Turtle Lake

Local woman selling goods

Day 6: Christmas Eve in Hanoi

We started our day by visiting Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. We got to go inside to see his body. Everyone had to remain quiet, hands out of pockets and glasses off, no shorts, hats and no cameras. It was similar to when went saw Mao in Beijing. The museum is closed for 2 months of the year, the body of Ho Chi Minh goes to Russia for maintenance. The museum is surrounded by gardens and a palace. We walked around there, saw the changing of the gaurds. We walked by the Temple of Literature but didn’t go inside. We did go to visit the prison (Hoa Lo Museum), otherwise known as the ‘Hilton Hanoi’. It was built by the French. Hundreds of Vietnamese were kept there (many escaped over the walls through the sewers). It was also a place where some American pilots were kept. The traffic was mental for the new year. There was a sea of hundreds of motorbikes, sometimes 5 on a bike. It was never ending. They all seemed to be making their way to the church, St.Josephs Cathedral where there was a big screen and nativity set up.

Non stop motorbikes on Xmas Eve

Markets in Hanoi

Ho Chi Minh- changing of guards

Day 7 and 8: Halong Bay

We decided to spend Christmas in Halong bay, one of the 7 wonders of nature in the world! We organized our trip through our hotel. It took around 4 hours by bus from Hanoi to get to the bay. Once we arrived we got a little boat to our cruise boat called Royal Heritage. We were lucky as the hotel upgraded us so the boat was pretty impressive! We had a double room fully equipped with shower, mini bar etc. All food was included on the boat and we did various excursions. One of the first things was a stop to a cave, one of the biggest caves in Halong Bay. We had to climb some steps to get into it but it was impressive. We also stopped at an island with a manmade beach. Edgar was the only one who went for a swim! We climbed more steps to see the amazing views! Lots of limestone structures in the bay. It was misty when we were there but we still got a good view of them. In the evening we learned how to make Vietnamese spring rolls on the boat and had some beers with the others in the group. The next morning we were up at 6.30am to do some Tai Chi with the captain of the boat, and then we spent some time kayaking. It rained when we were kayaking so not so great! Overall, a worthwhile trip!

Halong Bay

Kayaking in the Bay

Day 9 and 10: Ninh Vinh, Trang An

Once back in Hanoi in the evening, we got our first train in Vietnam! We went to Ninh Vinh from Hanoi. The train was very basic and it took 2hours. Once we arrived at the station, we got picked up by the owner of the place where we were staying, Kinh Do Hotel (16e/night) including breakfast. It was raining the next day so we were unsure what to do. In the end we rented some bikes (60,000vd each) and with 2 other guys went off cycling for the day. We cycled to Tam Coc and moved on to a nearby town which had a temple. We left the bikes there and hiked around a bit. After lunch we cycled around another 10km, this time to Trang An. The weather didn’t improve all the day so after looking around Trang An we went back to our place. The next day the weather was much better so we went on the boat trip in Trang An. This lasted around 2 hours and it was really nice. We went through around 8 or 9 caves, stopped at 2 places. At one place we climbed some steps to see a temple. It cost 150,000vd each. We were 5 on the boat.

Cycling to Tam Coc

Trang An-leaving a cave

Edgar gets his hair cut in Ninh Vinh

That evening we took our first overnight bus to a National Park called: Phong Nha-Ke Bang. We were not fans of the overnight bus, very claustrophobic with too many people.

Day 11: Dong Phong Caves and Dong Hoi

We arrived to the park at 5am and had to wait a few hours until it opened. We shared a boat with some Italians, the more people the cheaper it is. We paid 112,000vd each. We ended up meeting the 2 Italian/German guys in Dong Hoi that evening and in Hoi An by chance later on. This happened quite a bit on the trip. Everybody was either moving south like us or going north on the same trail. The boat trip for the cave took about 2-3 hours. It takes a while to reach it by boat. Once we arrived to the entrance we changed to a smaller boat to enter Phong Nha Cave. It’s huge and very impressive. We stopped at one point to walk around it. There are other caves in the park..the biggest in the world, but they are not ready to be open yet. In the evening we moved on to Dong Hoi. There’s not much going on in Dong Hoi but it was nice to rest and walk around. There is a famous old church remains from American bombings and the local market is nice to see.

The biggest cave ever!

Day 12: Hue

Moving south to Hue and the weather is already much warmer from the north. It took about 4 hours to get there from Dong Hoi. We got an upgrade in our hotel Hong Thien 1 which was nice! This hotel also has a pool which Edgar tried out! Not a lot going on in Hue. The main attraction is the citadel which is nice.

Inside the citadel

Hanging around the citadel

Day 13 -15: New Years in Hoi An

Next stop was Hoi An. We took the train to Danang and then a local bus to Hoi An. We stayed in a brand new hotel in Hoi An, it had just opened. The breakfast was amazing every morning and we even tried out the pool. Hoi An is a really pretty place. At night it is all lit up and the reflections in the river are really nice. There are plenty of shops, restaurants and markets. If you want a suit, this is the place to get one as there are tailor shops everywhere. We spent the New Year in Hoi An and it was great. The city had organized music all evening and night and despite the rain people were having a lot of fun. We even ended up on stage ..along with a few hundred tourists with the band that were playing. It was crazy. New Years day we rented some bikes and cycled to one of the beaches nearby. Hoi An is well worth a visit.

Hoi An-Japanese bridge

Hoi An

Happy New Year!

Day 16: Fly to Saigon and back to Shanghai

Last day in Vietnam! We flew from Danang to Saigon. We stayed very close to the airport in Saigon to make it more convenient to fly early morning back to cold Shanghai.

Here is a list of the places where we stayed:

Saigon: Giang Son (19e/night) 4 nights and Sunflowers (23e/night) 1 night

Hoi An: Nova Villa (17-21e/night)

Hue: Hong Thien 1 (14e/night)

Hanoi: Royal Palace 2 (19e/night) including breakfast

Dong Hoi: Dong Hoi Nam (14e/night)

Ninh Vinh: Kinh Do Hotel (16e/night) including breakfast