🇻🇳 Vietnam – Hanoi: Travel and Backpacking Nov 2019

Disclaimer

The information in this blog is accurate as of November 2019.

CONTENTS

• 🤔 – What to Expect
• 🌅 – Activities
• 🍛 – Food
• 🚇 – Transport
• 🛌 – Accomodation

🤔 What to Expect

• Vibrant and Bustling City.
• Beep, Beep! Crazy Roads.
• So Many Scooters!
• Pedestrian crossings with green men but the traffic doesn’t stop.
• Historic and Cultural.
• French Architectural Influence.
• Roughly 30,000 Vietnamese Dong to £1.00.

🌅 Activities

Hop On, Hop Off Tour Bus (The Red One)

• Expensive – 450,000 VND each for 24 Hrs.
• 350,000 for 4 hours and 650,000 for 72 Hours. The yellow one is slightly cheaper (think the route is the same but not sure)
• Yes it is good for getting around the main attractions. However, way over priced for the service provided.
• The route goes one way. There are sections that crossover so no need to ride the bus for ages.
• Headphones and water provided on first trip – keep headphones.
• The audio guide’s volume is a little low even at the highest setting. It also cut off information part way through sentences when the bus reached the next site or stop. This meant it was actually better to catch the tour at busier times.
• Personally Rachael and I had already walked the tour without help the day before.

Hoa Lò Prison

• 30,000 Dong Entrance Fee. Additional cost for audio guide and booklet, both 15,000 dong each.
• 2 hours spent here.
• Open 8am – 5pm daily.
• French colonialists built the prison between 1886 and 1901.
• In its time it was one of the most secure prisons of Indochina.
• The prison was built to house a maximum of 600 inmates but at times housed around 2000, including Vietnamese revolutionaries.

• One of the French guillotine’s, used to behead important figures of the Vietnamese revolutionaries, is displayed in the museum.

• At the time of the Vietnam War it housed American captives, including John McCain and Pete Peterson.
• At this time the prison was commonly known as Hanoi Hilton as the American prisoners were treated better than most, including dignity and respect.

Tran Quoc Pagoda

• No Entrance Fee. Donations Welcomed.
• Oldest Buddhist Temple in Hanoi built in the 6th century.
• Closed Monday and Friday.
• Lovely location and beautiful scenery.
• It can get quite busy.
• On West Lake.

West Lake & Trùc Bach Lake

• It’s a lake!
• Great for some landscape shots.
• Plenty of cafes to sip a little coffee and look out across the water.

The Huc Bridge & Temple of Jade Mountain

• Located on Hoan Kiem Lake.
• Price – 30,000 VND per person.
• Beautiful scenes especially after the sun goes down.
• Legend states an emperor was given a magical sword to defeat the Chinese Ming Dynasty. In turn this meant the return on the Golden Turtle God to the lake.

Old Quarter

• Have a real cultural experience exploring the old quarter.
• Watch out motorbikes about. There are so many but don’t worry they will let you know they are near with several pips of their horn.
• It is a little touristy.
• Plenty of bars and restaurants.

Military Museum

• Closed Monday and Friday – Open the rest of the week.
• Times 8.30 – 11.30 and 13.00-16.30.
• Visit early has the 1hr 30mins for lunch can mess up the day.
• Learn about the troubling past of Vietnam’s existence.
• Find out about the South and North divide during the Vietnam War.
• 40,000 (£1.35) VND per person.
• 30,000 (£1.05) VND for a camera – Rachael had her phone and they did not seem to charge for that…however, I probably could have hidden my camera and pulled it out later because no one checked the ticket.
• Museum is small but there is a lot packed into the space. Military vehicles fill the exterior whilst interiors provide information and display weapons.
• Interesting to learn about the Vietnam War but harrowing to realise the ordeal innocent people experienced.
• Great exhibition on Military Women.

Xuan Market

• Surprise, Surprise…another market.
• A three level market.
• Open 6am – 6pm
• Selling various items.
• Rachael and I were going to go but I messed up with the times so it did not happen.
• There is also a night market after 7pm on the street outside. Busy is an understatement.

Train Street

• Erm…A street with regular trains passing through it.
• Have a beer mere inches away from a passing train.
• Watch Instagram influencers dice with death whilst they try to get that perfect shot.
• No entrance fee but prepare to get pestered at every bar/cafe on the tracks.
• A couple of polite no thank yous whilst passing is usually enough.
• Rachael and I had to rush through this bit because we had tickets for a show. Otherwise, totally would have stayed for a drink.
• Trains do have a schedule and times can be checked online.
• I’d check it out quick as the government plan on closing it in 2020.

Lang Toi – My Village – Theatre Show

• Tickets cost 700,000 VND (£23.50) for the cheapest seats.
• A Lune Production
• Using a cirque style, Lang Toi, gives you a creative peek into the life of a Vietnamese village. The performance transports the audience to witness farming, building and traditional games.

🍛 Food

Not the easiest experience the two of us have had with food. However, the Vietnamese do love their Pho.

Cumulus

• Our best street food experience and a must visit!
• Moderate cheap eat located in Old Quarter.
• Bun Cha – 79,000 VND (£2.70)
• Spring Rolls – 60,000 VND (£2.00)
• The two ladies who served us were lovely, helpful and attentive.
• Through a suggestion – Bun Cha is a must try. Grilled pork, accompanied with rice noodles, fresh herbs and a seasoned broth.
• By adding ingredients to your own individual bowl a wholesome tasty dish is created.
• One of the lovely ladies showed us how to do it.
• Good portion size that we did not finish.
• The ladies also provided us with a tofu tomato dish and rice for free!
• Spring rolls were great – expected two but got six.

Pepperoni Pizza 🍕

When travelling for a long period of time sometimes you just need some comfort food.

• Had a delivery/takeout deal for 256k VND – Pizza, Pasta, Crispy Korean Chicken and, oddly, one can of choco milk.
• The food was actually really tasty. Pizza was a decent size and portions were enough for two.
• Choice of crispy base or thick base.
• The eat in menu seemed a little expensive. They did have combo meals though.
• If ordering takeout expect to wait. Not sure if Rachael and I pissed them off but it was a good 45 minutes in the end.
• One of the employees mentioned there was an app called Foody. We did not end up using it because we were already at the restaurant.

🚇 Transport

Public Bus

• 7,000 – 8,000 VND one person per ride.
• A cheap great way to get around the city.
• Can get a little busy during rush hour times.

Tuk Tuk – Possible Scam/Rip off

There was a nice Netherlands gentlemen we met in Luang Prabang, Laos. He had visited Vietnam quite a bit and mentioned the Tuk Tuk drivers are scammers. He stated they will over charge you considerably for journeys. They will agree a price at the beginning but have a tendency to stop half way and double or triple the price.

In the end there was no need for us to use the tuk tuks because it was easy to walk everywhere. Otherwise, public transport is dirt cheap.

Grab Taxis

• Really cheap for a city – an early morning (7am) six minute journey in a busy part of town cost 35,000 VND (£1.20).
• Straight forward app similar to Uber.

🛌 Accommodation

Veque Villa

“Rachael and Arran surveyed their surroundings. Next door in Villa 3 there was a private bathroom, a mattressed double bed and decor only found in Homelife magazine. However, they were in for a surprise…” – Morgan Freeman

• If you spot one of the other Villas attached don’t look or even peer through the door. Just keep walking – you are not getting that 😓.
• Instead you’re treated to the Harry Potter box room.
• The bed was rock hard. Not one good night sleep.
• The door’s locking system was a padlock and key.
• Bathroom was cleaned daily. Shared – the sliding doors had lightly frosted glass. Let’s just say no imagination was needed on the outside. The silhouette of me using the bum gun forever engrained on other residents retina.
• The room had perplex glass and privacy was provided via a curtain. However, the curtain rail was not long enough. Thus, residents now had my hairy ass burnt into their retina. Just install a longer fu*king rail.
• Free washer and dryer 😀. However, it was constantly in use…and next to our room. The hum and squeal of the machines really sooth you to sleep…not.
• The host were lovely and a pet chocolate Labrador greeted us every morning. She loved a stroke of the belly.
• Location was good.
• Apparently there is a roof top space. However, we were not shown it.