Chapter VIII
'Home from Home'
November 2023,
Day 1 in Hanoi, Vietnam! it’s safe to say I was very much looking forward to this destination, it has been on the bucket list for quite some time and I had about 3/4 days to see as much as possible. I arrived in Noi Bai International around midday and took a taxi to the centre, now I am sure theres some weird stat that there is twice maybe three times as many bikes than people and oh boy you bette believed it! it is carnage, the beeping the weaving of cars and motorcycles, honestly absolutely bonkers!!! The price for 3 nights was £51… and according to the website was the nicest out of them all so far. After fearing for every bikers life I arrived at the hotel which was smack in the centre of Hanoi, dodging bikes and people. Although there was a bit of an issue on arriving at the hotel, I was told work was being undertaken on several rooms and that I had been booked into a ‘sister’ hotel. This wasn’t exactly ideal to hear after several hours of travelling, I asked where and how to get there, as a very polite gentlemen appeared out of nowhere, who was part of the hotel staff, grabbed my bags and told me to follow him, he walked straight out of the hotel across several cross roads whilst dodging bikes which were flying around myself and him and within 2 mins we arrived at the hotel, he apologised and wished me all the best. Now after seeing this very small bloke walk across lanes of traffic it become pretty apparent, people don’t dodge the bikes in Vietnam the bikes dodge you. Yes, of course you put a lot of faith in them but if he could do it so could I, I then checked into the hotel with no problems at all and was shown to my room which of course did not disappoint, it was an extremely modern style room, very clean, all the gizmos and air conditioning, what more do I need.
I arrived pretty late into Hanoi, so took an early night to prepare for the incredible day to come. ‘Ha Long Bay’ infamous, legendary all round bloody amazing place, you would have to go pretty far and wide for there to be somebody who has never heard of it or seen it in a film. I booked this excursion through ‘GetYourGuide’ of course, the pick up time was around 5am, so the early night helps trust me, it takes around 2 to 3 hours by coach, but it was very comfortable and even managed to get some more sleep en route. You’re then woken up to the VERY enthusiastic tour guide telling you to look to your right and you do get a pretty amazing view of the bay, you first arrive at a complex close to the port where locals
show you fishing techniques and how ‘REAL’ pearls are harvested and made into necklaces etc, its actually pretty fascinating actually, all locally produced and what seems a very strenuous but rewarding job, you then of course walk into the shop where you can buy several things to do with the bay etc, of course its all one big selling technique which all tours work on but was enjoyable. We then jumped back on the bus for a 10min drive to the port, where more busses and ‘A LOT’ of boats are stationed, I do recommend when it comes to trips like this booking through a tour operator, just makes the whole process a lot easier and relaxed when they’re telling you where to go and here’s your ticket etc.
We set out on a fairly sizeable boat which as you can see had some amazing views! Ha Long Bay is a large area and some even opt to stay on overnight boats which I bet is fantastic. It took about 30mins to reach our first stop which is one of the few manmade beaches on one of the smaller islands. You could hike to the top of the mountain which in all was about an hour round trip or just relax on the beach with a drink and take a dip in the bay, which I opted for. We were then recruited back onto the boats and off we went again, this time towards one of the bigger islands, It was called ‘Sung Sot Cave’ which in itself was also very interesting, the islands included plenty of activities including speed boating, water sports, luxury boat cruises further into the bay or you could just relax on the top deck. There really was lots to do and I just spent all day just taking in everything it had to offer. As the sun started to fall it was time to head back, as you can imagine this was the money shot, the sun falling behind the countless islands turning the sky orange. I cannot recommend this trip enough it was the ‘Best’ natural experience I have ever witnessed. It was then back to the port and the long journey through the night back to the hotel.
After a great start to Vietnam the next day brought more travelling this time south of Hanoi, ‘Ninh Binh’ it involved some cycling, some kayaking and some hiking what more do you want after a few Siagon’s… the bus took about 2 hours and was greeted by a huge opening leading into the ‘Hoa Lu Ancient Capital’ when visiting these areas all are required to cover your shoulders and knees, so FYI but just outside they do supply cover for you to lend if needed. We then progressed to the entrance where the tour provider was able to secure us all bikes and ‘Non La’s’ similar to rice hats, which I thought was a nice touch. We then progressed through the villages and mountains at our free will.
As you can see the sites were incredible, you really didnt want to travel too fast just take it all in. Safe to say there were a few tyre blow outs within some of the group which was equally entertaining but as helpful as always they were quick to repair or replace. We did this for about an hour and then headed to a local hut to have lunch, I assume they always do this probably some deal with the locals but it all added to the experience, you get to see some incredibly old temples and other places of worship, plenty of wildlife and all of the locals just going about their day to day business. I cannot recommend this part highly enough it was just amazing to be part of the culture and just do your own thing at your own pace completely different from the manic of Hanoi.
We then proceeded back on the bus for a short journey to ‘Trang An’ an UNESCO World Site, its a group rivers preserved because of the caves they surround, but boy oh boy ‘UNBELIEVABLE’ we queued up to jump on the boats and set off into the river, this is a very popular excursion so theres a lot of other people and boats but it really doesn’t spoil the experience, doing some research into the area before coming I found out its where they’ve filmed ‘King Kong’ and you can spot the areas straight away I could say this all day everyday the surrounding areas of Vietnam are just too good to be true. The ride takes around an hour depending on the route you take, this is already sorted before you get on the boat, from what I could make out they’re equally special so don’t feel you’re missing out on which ever you take, towards the end of the river you come to the caves which I’m told depending on the weather is sometimes closed and once you get into the caves you realise why and the reason they give you a safety helmet, one wrong move or your attention goes elsewhere and WHACK your head would be grinding along the rocks under hanging in the cave, at times you have to pull yourself along its just great fun. You return to the same area you boarded, theres some shops and food stalls also and then its back on the bus again!
It was only another short journey time to the final stop of the day, ‘Nui Ngoa Long’ time for a trek, now all of this isn’t mandatory of course you don’t have to do these things, but realistically you know exactly what you are getting yourself into when you book the excursions, so I didn’t want to skip anything. You arrive at the entrance which could be just any old walkway, couple of food stalls again and souvenir shops which it then opens up into fields with rivers and small huts. The walk up to the top is very accessible but still no easy task, it took around 40mins to make the climb with a few stops along the way, what keeps you going is the 70yr old locals making it look easy. But its 100% worth it as you can tell, it was also a great way to finish off the days trip seeing what Vietnam had to offer away from the cities. It was a brisk 20mins walk down to the ground which I had time to spare so just enjoyed the culture going on around me, we were then rallied together after waiting quite some time for the oldies to return to the surface and it was back to the hotel. Another Saigon very much earned for todays escapade.
The next day I decided to have a lie in, well, not wake up 5am and venture into the unknown, it was actually incredibly nice to just sleep in till 9am go out onto the balcony and have some breakfast and just people watch. The plan for today was just to see what Hanoi had to offer. I started off by walking to the Presidential Palace which was safe to say very heavily guarded I couldn’t actually get near it but it was still pretty awesome, another place you must have knees and shoulders covered by the way and close by the ‘Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum’ which was pretty cool in itself, from there stopped off for somewhere to eat and then went Pagoda hunting, to you and me the cool looking towers. To my surprise a very, very impressive lake is smack in the centre of Hanoi, where people were fishing, dancing, exercising and just generally lounging around and in the centre, a small village like called ‘Chua Tran Quoc’ one of the coolest areas I have seen to this date.
I continued to explore Hanoi on foot until the night was upon me, I did think about having a bit of a session but remembered my flight was early tomorrow back to Thailand which number one isn’t exactly round the corner and number two I am not cool on flights when hungover, so just headed to the very busy area of Ho Hoan Kiem, it is surrounded by nightlife, activities, shops, markets and bars/restaurants. The small lake had little islands with temples on lit up like Christmas trees an island called turtle tower, and live music and performers every where you went. I sat down near some people doing what I can only describe as musical yoga, probably 30 people all in sync moving as one, wasn’t really anyone else watching either so assumed this is the norm, what I can confirm wasn’t the norm! ME, I was approached by two families an elderly couple and a couple of kids who wanted to shake my hand and take a picture, safe to say it was pretty weird, completely kind and utterly harmless but felt like I was out of place a little, but I didn’t come across the other side of the world to fit in! Its beyond accurate and safe to say I loved Vietnam and in 3/4 days didn’t even scratch the surface of what it had to offer, I will 100% be back to visit the rest of Vietnam and have already informed friends and family that I would move o Vietnam to see out my days, I loved it that much! As you will tell in my ratings reflection. WHAT A PLACE!
