Tag Archives: Hanoi

Hanoi, Vietnam Part 2

29 Tuesday Mar 2011

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We got back from Halong Bay late and had no idea if there was going to be room in the hotel we stayed at before. Thankfully they found room for us! Seriously, it you are in Hanoi, stay at the Serenity Hotel. You will not be disappointed!!

We left almost immediately to get some dinner. The hotel recommended a place close by called Highway 4. Amazing! Another Lonely Planet recommendation as well. They even have a line of  liquors that you can buy. I kind of wish I had now. Not a late night. After 8 hours round trip in a car, it was time for bed.

We had no real plans for the next morning. In the afternoon we had booked a massage and then it was dinner and apres dinner for Susan’s birthday. We came down for breakfast and our favourite guy who worked at the hotel said “Happy Birthday!”. I guess he had looked at Sue’s passport when we checked in! So we had our usual breakfasts and then we decided to just walk around and check out parts of Hanoi that we hadn’t seen yet. Before we knew it, it was time for lunch. We decided on the Green Tangerine. We were the only ones on the patio and ordered a feast! Holy moly did we eat a lot! After a few birthday/lunch cocktails it seemed appropriate to go find a place for another beer. We walked towards a location that was suggested in the LP but that place ended up being closed. So we backtracked to a place we had seen earlier. EZ Rider. I loved this place! And more so loved the manager. He was playing Backstreet Boys so I asked him about the band and if he liked them. He said he did and went on to tell us how much tickets were etc. He was totally cute! He told us that it was also a club and they have a backroom with a dance floor. We told him we might come back later to check it out! Most bars in Vietnam close at midnight but EZ Rider club stayed open late.

Off for our massage appointment. The funny thing about the place we booked at is that it was actually the place we wanted to go to a couple days prior but couldn’t find (SF Spa).  It was way better! Your typical spa with serene music and everyone quiet and respectful. Damn! We wasted money at that other place! The massage was fantastic. I fell asleep a couple times. We walked out of there totally out of it from being so relaxed. Until Susan says “Wow, I have never had my boobs massaged before”. Gutteral laughter ensued. Um what? I said to her that it must have been a birthday special because I certainly did not get that!

When we got into our hotel room, we saw red roses and a birthday cake. How nice is it that the hotel did that? Susan was so moved!

We decided on a place for dinner. It was packed when we got there but we managed to squeeze into the bar while we waited for our table. Good thing we got a table right away as we were getting no service at the bar. The food was fantastic. I know I sound like a broken record but I mean it when i have said that we didn’t eat a bad meal in Vietnam.

On to Le Pub! We settled in with some large beers and a jager bomb to get the night going!

After buying a t-shirt, taking a bunch of pictures and talking with the manager, we walked back to EZ Rider. The manager was still there! We chatted with him some more. He actually is brought into various bars to start them up. I talked with him about what he was doing advertising wise. Oh come on…. it is what I do!!! I always have the marketing hat on!

After some more drinks, we ventured to the back “club”. Such a vast different from the bar out front.

 We stayed maybe half hour or so but knew that one more drink would put us over the edge so we made our walk back to the hotel. Of course getting lost in the process. Thanks goodness for Jason and his iphone. GPS!! The crazy thing about our walk is that there is really no one on the streets. The busy Hanoi streets of the day are long gone and a quiet takes over. Kind of strange!

When we got back we dug into the cake! Did we ever. I would say when I woke up there was only 1/3rd of the cake left. Yummy!

Sue wasn’t feeling very well the next morning, so Jason and I wandered down to the Vietnam History Museum. They had some really cool artifacts. But really we just walked around Hanoi. Nothing on the agenda. Just taking it all in.

We met up with Susan later and went to the Water Puppets show! It was fun! Although I am not sure I would see it again but I do I think everyone should experience it!

Since this was our last night in Hanoi and our last night with Jason, we wanted to go out for a nice dinner. We chose Five Restaurant. We did it up right! Appies. Entrees. Desserts and of course wine. A bottle or two. Just really took our time. The craziest thing happened at the restaurant. I has just tweeted about our meal when someone at another table asked me if I had just tweeted?? She must have been following a Hanoi feed and saw my Tweet. It was so strange! We now follow each other on Twitter!

We wanted to check out Ho Kiem Lake at night so after dinner we headed there. Very cool when it is all lit up.

 

We then strolled through the night market. Didn’t see anything worth buying mind you but it was fun regardless! Loved all the colours that we saw as we walked though. So vibrant!

So with that, we made our way one last time through the streets of Hanoi and back to the hotel. An early morning to the airport to say goodbye to Jason and make our way via Vietnam Airlines to Hoi An.

Halong Bay, Vietnam

18 Friday Mar 2011

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The train back to Hanoi from Sapa was uneventful. Slept on and off and arrived in Hanoi about 5am. We mistakenly got in a meter cab on our back back to Hotel Serenity and got gouged. What should have been a 30,000 dong cab ride cost us triple that. We got in an argument with the dude. Kind of a funny but paid him anyway. No more meter cabs for us!!

The hotel wasn’t open yet as they lock up for the night but our favourite guy who worked there opened the doors when he heard our voices and even gave us a room to chill out in for a couple hours as we were not meeting my brother until 7am.

It was so great to see Jason! He lives in the Philipines which means we don’t get to see eachother often. I was looking forward to spending some quality time with him. We had some breakfast and then waited for our Halong Bay shuttle to pick us up. We grabbed seats at the back of the bus for the 4 hour drive. What a mistake. Every bump catapolted us off our seats. Thank goodness for seat belts! Felt a little sick by the time we got to Halong Bay and I don’t normally get car sick.

Halong Bay at noon is chaos as people from the overnight boats are leaving to go back to Hanoi and people from Hanoi are arriving for their tours. We were scheduled to go on a 3 day, 2 night trip on the Oriental Sails junk boat. We paid a premium for our tour. Some boats can as cheap as $30 for 2 nights but often that is not the best choice as you will note below.

There was some confusion when we arrived. For some reason we were not allowed to get on our boat. We had heard that they were not giving out slips to leave the harbour but there was no reason given. After waiting about 30 minutes with no real answers, I found our guide and pressed him on the reason. I said that we were not understanding the delay and that he needed to come explain to everyone what the problem was. He came back over and that is when some British man started barking at our guide to tell us the truth of the accident that had happened the night before where people had died. Um what???

We didn’t get that confirmed really until later that day. Our guides continued to tell us it was about a storm coming which seemed fishy since it was clear out. So what did happen?? Apparently a junk boat had sunk the night before and 12 people drowned. How horribly tragic. I feel so badly for the loved ones of those who died. And those poor people. What they thought was going to be a lovely holiday turned into tragedy. Word was that it was an unliscenced boat. So sad.

||A bit shaken from hearing that news, we got into a day boat and started touring Halong Bay. We were told we could go out for the day and that they would give us more information later about what was going to happen next.

Halong Bay is beautiful. And so were the junk boats. Hundreds of them sailing about.

 

We cruised around for a bit and were served an amazing lunch with complimentary wine for all of our troubles. The food was incredible. So much fresh seafood!

As we approached the dock for our cave tour, Sue decided to help out.

The cave was quite cool to walk through.  It had all these crazy rock formations that were unfortunately not naturally lit. All the light make it kind of corny but we still had fun as they pointed out all the different formations.

The view from outside the caves.

We then set sail once again and this is when we really got to see Halong Bay. What an amazing experience!!! Especially to see it when the sun went down. It really was perfection and I can understand why so many people come here every year. Some pictures I took as we sailed along.

After the sun set, we came back down into the dining area and the staff explained that no overnights were being allowed on Halong Bay and that we had the option of staying in the hotel overnight and then going out on another day trip or heading back to Hanoi and getting 50% of our money back. This is where Caley and Kyle stepped in with their awesome negotiation skills! They are fellow Canadians from Toronto and they stood their ground and said that they wanted 75% of their money back which actually was right seeing as we only got 25% of the trip we had paid for. The tour agreed and we took that same option. Still no reason was given as to why no overnights were allowed. Well, they said it was about the storm still but at this point, it had been confirmed to us by other staff that the accident had indeed happened.

So we piled back into the shuttle bus after a beautiful day experience in Halong Bay and headed back to Hanoi. The tour in Halong Bay was supposed to be Susan’s birthday trip and it sucked that it didn’t go as planned. I know that it would have been such a great time but these things happen. They needed to check the saftely of all the boats before letting them stay overnight again and we completely agreed with that decision.  

 

 

Hanoi, Vietnam- Part 1

09 Wednesday Mar 2011

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A 13 + hour flight is not what I call fun but my plan for the flight was executed perfectly. Glass of wine (or two) accompanied by half a sleeping pill and I must have slept on and off for 6 hours. Cathay Pacific definitely makes it easier. Comfortable seats. More leg room. It is no business class or first class pod but for economy, it’s not so bad. And for a scared cat flyer like myself, the flight was pretty smoothe. A few bumps along the way but nothing that I couldn’t handle. We were flying through Hong Kong and as soon as we landed we were met by DragonAir staff who herded us through the airport. I had been worried about making our connection with the tight time between but they were on the ball. Before we knew it we were up in the air and on our way Hanoi.

I really didn’t know what to expect when we landed. I had heard amazing things about the country and I had done my research but I don’t think any of that really prepares you. We hopped in a taxi and were off to the old quarter where we were staying. I think Sue and I were pretty silent on the ride in. Just took it all in.  It is hard to put into words. I was explaining to a co-worker how I was struggling with putting it into words and she said it perfectly. It is like you were plucked out of Vancouver and put into the set of a movie (Thanks Aly!). It was so different. So stripped down. Culture shock. Big time.

The closer we got to the old quarter the crazier the traffic got. And the honking. I did not understand the honking at first but there is a method to the madness. They honk to say they are turning, they honk to pass, they honk to say watch out I am here or move over. You get used to the sounds but when you first experience it…. it’s just nuts!

We got dropped off at our hotel and after our taxi driver tried to make us pay more than we were told (we didn’t let him get away with that), we settled in our hotel room and then immediately hit the streets. The next thing we experienced was trying to cross the street. Again, there is a method to the madness. You can’t wait until there is a space because more than likely there is not going to be one. You can’t run across the street because you will get hit. You have to slowly make your way across making eye contact with all the mopeds, motorcycles and cars who are coming at you from all angles. They will move around you but you have to be slow and steady and basically go in between them all. Petrifying at first but we became professionals by the end of our trip.

Here is a video of what it is like. Not one of the busier streets but you can see that there is no stop signs or lights. Anything goes.



We just walked around the streets of the Old quarter that day. Walked around Ho Kiem lake. Got lost pretty much every second turn. Avoided getting hit by a million mopeds. We got aquainted.

That afternoon we napped. There was no way we were going to make it through the day so as much as we hated to miss out, we had 18 days so getting on a schedule was important. A short nap and we were back out ready to find a place for dinner. We really just wandered around until we found something that looked good. It ended up being a Lonely Planet recommendation, Little Hanoi. A great meal to start our trip. And the fantastic meals never ended. 18 days. Not one bad meal.  

We had an early night but woke up in the morning with no power in our hotel. So me deciding not to have a shower the night before ended up being a horrible idea as I now wouldn’t be showering for another day. Was a little bit of a theme for us in Vietnam. Things went a little sideways at times resulting in showerless Jen and Sue. Oh well. What can you do?

We headed down for breakfast but of course there is no power so no food can be cooked but the guy downstairs puts a menu in front of us anyway. So we are looking at it thinking they must have figured something out until the people next to us said that they couldn’t cook anything but they have bagettes. We laughed as the guy was standing waiting for our order.  Clearly, we will have the bread. So I say “I will have the bread” and Sue says “I’ll have what they are having” and points to the couple next to us. So freakin funny! So we have our bread and head off into the streets of Hanoi once again.

A busy day! We took a taxi to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum. Total cost for the taxi was 30,000 dong. About $1.50. As we entered, there was a sign that said we had to drop our bags off as well as any guns, weapons, explosives etc we might have. Good to know that we can carry them but just can’t bring them in with us. We filed into line to enter the mausoleum. A very strict process. No talking. Single file. But so crazy filing passed him. So perfectly preserved. And a little creepy to be honest. We then got to wander around the grounds and visit the Presidential Palace.

The stilt house where Ho lived on and off from 1958 to 1969 is beside the palace. A humble abode. Here is a picture of the inside of the house.

After the Mausoleum, we walked down to the Army Museum which has a large collection of planes, helicopters and wreckage captured from the years of warfare in Vietnam. It was really interesting walking around.

Probably shouldn’t be smiling as there was so much death associated with all of these wars but it was cool to be able to go inside and see what it was like.By now, I was starved so it was time to eat! We stumbled into a restaurant that once again we realized was another Lonely Planet recommendation. Cafe Smile. It is part of the Hoa Sua chain that trains disadvantaged kids for careers in the culinary and hospitality industries. Our server was the cutest thing. He was just so happy and a perfect host. And the food was fantastic! There was a moment though when i got my meal, that I thought “Is this chicken” but it was and it was great!

Right across the street from Cafe Smile was the Temple of Literature. Along the wall of the Temple, were people of Hanoi selling their artwork. I actually really wanted to get one but new it wouldn’t pack well. Below is one of them creating.

The Temple of Literature was packed that day. Made for a hard visit. Not much room to enjoy it. But it was beautiful.

Our next destination was the Hao Lo Prison Museum. Heart wrenching. What these prisoners went through here. Apparently the prison was supposed to hold about 450 prisoners but in the 1930’s it housed about 2000. Below is a model of how they prisoners were cuffed to long beds.

Making our way back to the Old quarter we wandered the streets. Some pictures of our travels.

The one thing about Sue and I and our travels is we always end up stumbling upon things on our list. Le Pub was one of those things and by this point in the day it was most definitely Beer O’clock so we were grateful to have randomly passed it! And the best part…. Jager bombs. I had been dying for a red bull and so when it is cheap as it was here, jumped at the chance! So a jager bomb and a beer later, we were off to find the spa for our first of many massages on this trip.

We didn’t find the place recommended in our book but found another spa. Decided on a manicure and a massage for $20. The manicure was decent until they wanted to do our massages right away after they had just painted our nails. Totally ruined by the time we had gotten on the massage tables. Pointless. But the massage was pretty good. They literally walked on our backs which I haven’t had before. A funny moment when all of a sudden there were 4 feet below my bed and there was a change of the masseuse. And then a shuffling of other feet as someone else left the room. But left there relaxed and ready for our over night train to Sapa.

Some thoughts about Hanoi. Although busy, it is a wonderful city so full of life until midnight then everything shuts down and the streets are empty. Mid February, they still were playing Christmas music and had Christmas decorations up. They love Backstreet Boys. Actually all of Vietnam loves Backstreet Boys (more on that later). The people are super friendly and loved to smile. As an introduction to Vietnam, it was perfect.

There is a part 2 to our Hanoi adventures. We came back to Hanoi after Sapa and Halong Bay. Stay tuned.