Hanoi
Contrary to what I had been told by the majority of my friends who had been before me, Vietnam is a beautiful country, very tourist-friendly, with warm and kind people that are happy to welcome all tourists (even Americans) into their country. I arrived in Hanoi, and spent over an hour wandering the streets in search of the Backpackers Hostel, as the hotels in Hanoi were too pricey for single rooms. Plus, I had heard there was a cool scene, with mostly younger people at the hostel, so I knew I'd meet like-minded travelers there. Although I had difficulty getting directions from the locals I asked, I understood that this was because they couldn't understand me. I thought the last people to help me would be proprietors of other hotels, but I couldn't have been more wrong. The two hotels I stepped into both handed me better maps, and explained to me how to reach the hostel. So far, I was digging Vietnam, and the unrelenting motorbike traffic and honking that would usually irritate me in any other country/city, I was able to appreciate it as just one more of the unique qualities of Hanoi. That night I went out with some people I met at the hostel to the Bia Hoi area, where glasses of draught beer cost roughly 12 cents. I planned to spend the next day in Hanoi, but I met three Israeli girls that night who were leaving on the Ha Long Bay tour the next morning, and when I woke up I decided it was a good opportunity for me to go with some people I know rather than risking it and ending up with a group I didn't jive with.
The tour we chose was a 3-day, 2 night tour. Here's the recap:
After a 3 hour drive, we embarked on our boat from Ha Long City. Upon reaching the bay, I was struck with awe; this was by and far the most beautiful place I had ever seen in my entire life. We cruised around for a few hours, admiring the thousands of limestone karsts and isles surrounding us, before reaching the island that houses the enormous Phong Nha cave, which we explored for an hour or so. Then we kayaked for an hour, swam and jumped off the boat for another hour, and then had a nice sunset dinner on the boat. That night we slept on the boat, and in the morning we set off for Cat Ba Island, the largest of all the Islands in Ha Long Bay. We hiked up through Cat Ba National Park, in the jungle, to a viewpoint that was ultimately a little disappointing. But the hike was nice, so I didn't complain. We then had some beach time, which I almost passed up because I was very tired. I'm eternally grateful that I didn't, though, because the highlight of this tour was when a large group of 40 or so Hanoi residents arrived in tour buses to our beach, and a big beach soccer game was set up. When I asked to join, they all laughed in shock, chose to call me 'Beckham', and were happy to have me play with them. Fouls weren't called, rules weren't followed, and the score wasn't kept. But we all had a blast. That night we slept in a hotel on the island, and in the morning we made our way back to Hanoi, returning in the early afternoon.
Hanoi, pt. 2:
My plan was to stay in Hanoi only 1 more night, and then begin heading south. After bar hopping till late in the night, by chance I happened to meet a nice British fellow named David, who has been living in Vietnam for 4 years. I got his phone number, and decided that if I stuck around and we hung out, perhaps I'd get to see a side of Hanoi (and Vietnam) that most travelers don't. So I booked my bus for one day later, and David and I met up that evening for some drinks. As all the bars close in Hanoi at 12, there are only a handful that through bribes and such are allowed to stay open. So we headed to the Tet Bar, where within an hour we were surrounded by other travelers, of all nationalities and ages, sharing stories with no topics off limits. We left the bar when it was mostly cleared out, and only then realized that it was 5am. David obviously didn't make it to work the next morning, and for the next 3 nights we repeated this same pattern. Each night we went out to meet different Vietnamese and expat friends of David's, and then ended the night at the Tet Bar, where we became friends with the owner and the regulars there. But after 5 nights in Hanoi, I realized that my 30-day visa was counting down with each passing day, and there was still lots more I wanted to see and do in Central and South Vietnam, so after saying goodbye to my Hanoi friends, I took my first night bus in Vietnam to Hue.
I spent my first day in Hue with a motorbike guide, visiting the various historic/ancient monuments in and around the city. The next day, I took the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) tour, which is the area in Central Vietnam where most of the bloodiest battles in the American/Vietnam War took place. There was not much to see on the battlefields, but the highlight of the tour was seeing and walking through the elaborate Vinh Moc tunnels, where the locals took shelter during the heavily-bombed period of the war. While I did enjoy Hue, there was not much else to see there, and so the next morning I left for Hoi An.
Many travelers had previously told me that they loved the charm of Hoi An more than any other Vietnamese city. When I arrived, and walked through the old town, I understood what they meant. Unfortunately, on my second day, I began hearing people talking about a typhoon approaching, which was validated when trucks with loudspeakers drove around telling the locals, in Vietnamese, to prepare for the typhoon. I bought some food to have in my room, but since the typhoon wasn't scheduled to hit until the morning, I went out that night to the bar. The biggest natural disaster I ever lived through was a blizzard, and the thought of experiencing a typhoon personally was a little exciting. I didn't even know exactly what a typhoon consisted of, but in only a few hours I was going to find out...
The next morning, I woke up to the rioutous sounds of pieces of tin roofs crashing on the roof outside my window. The power had gone out, and there was too much noise to stay asleep, so I put on my bathing suit, put my camera in its waterproof case, and headed outside. I walked around for quite some time, taking pictures, and then decided to cross the river, where the flooding was knee-deep. There were not many other locals around, but the ones that were all laughed at the crazy sight of me in my bathing suit trudging through the flooded street. I ended up walking to the resort where some Canadian girls I met the night before were staying, and they as well were shocked to see me stroll up in my bathing suit. I spent a few hours hanging out with them, taking advantage of the restaurant they had at the resort, and in the late afternoon I walked back to my hotel. In the evening we hung out in our lobby, playing cards, until the water started to slowly pour into the hotel. We assisted the owner in moving almost all of the furniture up to the 2nd floor, and by the time we went to bed, there were a few inches of water accumulated in the lobby. When I woke up in the morning, I looked out my window to see blue, cloudless skies. I got excited, thinking the worst was over, and got dressed and headed downstairs, only to discover when coming down the stairs that the first floor was flooded under 4 feet of water. So, I went back upstairs, changed into my bathing suit, grabbed my camera, and headed outside.
As locals and tourists were floating around in boats, trying to get to dry land, I was walking through the chest-high water, capturing every moment on my camera. I walked on the bridge over the river, which was now only a few feet over the raging waters below, a fraction of what it was the day before. I helped some of the locals who had to move their carts from the flooded market to dry land, where a makeshift market was set up within less than an hour. While I was surprised at first by how quickly they did this, it sank in that it was not done for profit purposes as much as it was done out of necessity. People still needed to buy food, and people still needed to sell food while it was still fresh. I walked across town, on the dry part away from the river, towards my travel agency, only to realize that they were also flooded, so I wouldn't be able to catch a bus out of there that day, or probably the next day either. Eventually, I returned to my hotel, packed my bags, and got a boat to bring me to dry land where I found a hotel far enough away from the river so I didn't need to worry about it getting flooded as well. Two days later, with my custom-made suits and shirts ready and shipped home, I was able to get on a bus to Nha Trang.
Nha Trang
I arrived in Nha Trang off the sleeper bus at 6 am, and at 7 am I was boarding a boat to go scuba diving. Visibility was not as good as I hoped it would be, but the diving was ok. When I finished diving and headed to the beach, I ran into a few friends I met in Hanoi, and we rented a small catamaran and went sailing for an hour. I spent the next two days reading and laying out on the beach, and going out to the various bars which make for a great nightlife in Nha Trang. I was still hoping to meet my friend David in Saigon the following weekend, which didn't leave me enough time to fully see Da Lat and Mui Ne, but I didn't want to miss them either. It was at this point that I decided that Vietnam was going to be at the top of my list of countries I wanted to revisit, with a longer visa and a bigger budget. But for now, I had to make do with what I had...
Da Lat
After I arrived in Da Lat, I had to wait in my room for a few hours for the rain to settle down, and then I headed out to see the city. Other than the cool climate, the first thing I noticed was that nobody bothered me. No motorbike drivers, no tuk-tuks, no people in the market. It was a nice change of pace from pretty much every country and city I've been to so far on the trip. My first destination was the Hang Nga Crazy House, a guesthouse/attraction which in my guidebook is described as Gaudi-meets-Alice-in-Wonderland. I won't try to describe it, so check out the link to see what it's about. I then spent the rest of the evening walking around the center of the city, and in the morning grabbed a bus to Mui Ne.
Mui Ne
The smallest of all the cities I had visited in Vietnam, Mui Ne consists of one long road that runs along the beach, with various hotels, resorts, restaurants, and bars on either side of the road. I spent the day on a motorbike tour, starting with a stroll down the Suoi Tien, the Fairy Stream, which is a shallow stream of running water with red and white soil building up the hills alongside it. It was a nice, peaceful walk up and down the stream, and it was one of the few times in Vietnam I wish I had somebody else with me to share the experience. From there, we continued to see the Fishing Village, which consisted of thousands of fishing boats out in the bay, along with countless tiny round rowboats that helped transport the fish to land. After a quick stop at the Red Canyon, we continued to the White Sand Dunes. In my mind, I expected to see dunes that stretched out as far as the eye could see, but this was not the reality. And after thousands of tourists had trudged over the dunes that day, the natural wind-swept ridges were completely covered over by footprints, also making the sight less impressive. The Red Sand Dunes, on the other hand were a nicer sight, and seeing the sunset from there was the perfect finishing touch on the tour. That night I hung out with some people at the guesthouse while we played guitar and sang, then went out for a few drinks and to shoot some pool. The next morning, I was off for Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City.
Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City
My first night in Saigon, I met up with some Vietnamese friends that I met in Nha Trang, and they took me to the Apocalypse Now bar, packed to the brim with locals and a few tourists. I spent the next two nights at the Chabad House, celebrating Sukkot and Simchat Torah, both holidays I can't recall celebrating in the last 10+ years. But I met many great people there, the alcohol flowed freely, and I had a great time. I also continued reuniting with more people in Saigon, so everyday I had another excuse to stay longer. I spent one day touring the Cu Chi tunnels, where the Viet Cong guerillas built an extensive network of tunnels to fight against the Americans and South Vietnamese forces, as well as the simple yet highly effect booby traps they used. Even crawling through a piece of the tunnel for 30 seconds was too much to handle, and made it all that much more astounding that the Viet Cong would spend up to 5 hours crawling 5km to reach the enemy bases to surprise attack them. After the tour, back in Saigon I headed to the War Remnants Museum, which more than just showing a biased story of the war, did show the unbiased effects of Agent Orange on the victims of Vietnam, both in the last generation and in the current one. None of the museum's patrons spoke as they looked at photos and read stories of these victims, and I'm sure each one of them could recall seeing such a victim out on the streets at one point begging for money. I walked out of the museum, still in shock for some time, not able to grasp the atrocities that the US had committed in the war. And while I know that there's always some sort of bias in any news you hear or read, those Agent Orange victims are victims of deplorable war crimes, and nobody can deny that.
With only 3 days left on my visa, it was time to leave Hanoi and make my way towards Cambodia, and I signed up for a 2 day tour of the Mekong Delta, finishing in Phnom Penh. The tour included visiting floating markets and villages, coconut and rice crispy factories, and then a boat ride to cross the border into Cambodia. And so began the next chapter of my journey...
As locals and tourists were floating around in boats, trying to get to dry land, I was walking through the chest-high water, capturing every moment on my camera. I walked on the bridge over the river, which was now only a few feet over the raging waters below, a fraction of what it was the day before. I helped some of the locals who had to move their carts from the flooded market to dry land, where a makeshift market was set up within less than an hour. While I was surprised at first by how quickly they did this, it sank in that it was not done for profit purposes as much as it was done out of necessity. People still needed to buy food, and people still needed to sell food while it was still fresh. I walked across town, on the dry part away from the river, towards my travel agency, only to realize that they were also flooded, so I wouldn't be able to catch a bus out of there that day, or probably the next day either. Eventually, I returned to my hotel, packed my bags, and got a boat to bring me to dry land where I found a hotel far enough away from the river so I didn't need to worry about it getting flooded as well. Two days later, with my custom-made suits and shirts ready and shipped home, I was able to get on a bus to Nha Trang.
Nha Trang
I arrived in Nha Trang off the sleeper bus at 6 am, and at 7 am I was boarding a boat to go scuba diving. Visibility was not as good as I hoped it would be, but the diving was ok. When I finished diving and headed to the beach, I ran into a few friends I met in Hanoi, and we rented a small catamaran and went sailing for an hour. I spent the next two days reading and laying out on the beach, and going out to the various bars which make for a great nightlife in Nha Trang. I was still hoping to meet my friend David in Saigon the following weekend, which didn't leave me enough time to fully see Da Lat and Mui Ne, but I didn't want to miss them either. It was at this point that I decided that Vietnam was going to be at the top of my list of countries I wanted to revisit, with a longer visa and a bigger budget. But for now, I had to make do with what I had...
Da Lat
After I arrived in Da Lat, I had to wait in my room for a few hours for the rain to settle down, and then I headed out to see the city. Other than the cool climate, the first thing I noticed was that nobody bothered me. No motorbike drivers, no tuk-tuks, no people in the market. It was a nice change of pace from pretty much every country and city I've been to so far on the trip. My first destination was the Hang Nga Crazy House, a guesthouse/attraction which in my guidebook is described as Gaudi-meets-Alice-in-Wonderland. I won't try to describe it, so check out the link to see what it's about. I then spent the rest of the evening walking around the center of the city, and in the morning grabbed a bus to Mui Ne.
Mui Ne
The smallest of all the cities I had visited in Vietnam, Mui Ne consists of one long road that runs along the beach, with various hotels, resorts, restaurants, and bars on either side of the road. I spent the day on a motorbike tour, starting with a stroll down the Suoi Tien, the Fairy Stream, which is a shallow stream of running water with red and white soil building up the hills alongside it. It was a nice, peaceful walk up and down the stream, and it was one of the few times in Vietnam I wish I had somebody else with me to share the experience. From there, we continued to see the Fishing Village, which consisted of thousands of fishing boats out in the bay, along with countless tiny round rowboats that helped transport the fish to land. After a quick stop at the Red Canyon, we continued to the White Sand Dunes. In my mind, I expected to see dunes that stretched out as far as the eye could see, but this was not the reality. And after thousands of tourists had trudged over the dunes that day, the natural wind-swept ridges were completely covered over by footprints, also making the sight less impressive. The Red Sand Dunes, on the other hand were a nicer sight, and seeing the sunset from there was the perfect finishing touch on the tour. That night I hung out with some people at the guesthouse while we played guitar and sang, then went out for a few drinks and to shoot some pool. The next morning, I was off for Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City.
Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City
My first night in Saigon, I met up with some Vietnamese friends that I met in Nha Trang, and they took me to the Apocalypse Now bar, packed to the brim with locals and a few tourists. I spent the next two nights at the Chabad House, celebrating Sukkot and Simchat Torah, both holidays I can't recall celebrating in the last 10+ years. But I met many great people there, the alcohol flowed freely, and I had a great time. I also continued reuniting with more people in Saigon, so everyday I had another excuse to stay longer. I spent one day touring the Cu Chi tunnels, where the Viet Cong guerillas built an extensive network of tunnels to fight against the Americans and South Vietnamese forces, as well as the simple yet highly effect booby traps they used. Even crawling through a piece of the tunnel for 30 seconds was too much to handle, and made it all that much more astounding that the Viet Cong would spend up to 5 hours crawling 5km to reach the enemy bases to surprise attack them. After the tour, back in Saigon I headed to the War Remnants Museum, which more than just showing a biased story of the war, did show the unbiased effects of Agent Orange on the victims of Vietnam, both in the last generation and in the current one. None of the museum's patrons spoke as they looked at photos and read stories of these victims, and I'm sure each one of them could recall seeing such a victim out on the streets at one point begging for money. I walked out of the museum, still in shock for some time, not able to grasp the atrocities that the US had committed in the war. And while I know that there's always some sort of bias in any news you hear or read, those Agent Orange victims are victims of deplorable war crimes, and nobody can deny that.
With only 3 days left on my visa, it was time to leave Hanoi and make my way towards Cambodia, and I signed up for a 2 day tour of the Mekong Delta, finishing in Phnom Penh. The tour included visiting floating markets and villages, coconut and rice crispy factories, and then a boat ride to cross the border into Cambodia. And so began the next chapter of my journey...
Great trip! Thanks for sharing :)
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