A rolling stone gathers no moss, so they say. For this year, we (me and my wife) decided to roll over to Vietnam, country in East Asia. This country is not spoken much in the travel world and is not compared to other mainstream countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, France, Italy. However, after our six-day visit, we knew that this country has so much to offer and our six-day trip was not enough to justify the beauty, culture and coffee (no Food) Vietnam had to offer us.
Now you might have read lots of bag packs, but we are really not into it. My trips are usually well planned and researched. So, I call for lots quotes from lots of travel agents before I decide the route and places to travel. Finding a local tour operator can be of lot of help as they know the place well. Jenny from tinny tours and travels impressed me. We need 12-15 days to tour Vietnam, and we didn’t have those, so we fixed on Hanoi and places around it to carve out 6-day tour. She did an awesome job planning the trip with me, we had cruise, beaches, natural reserve, villages, hike, bikes, boat rides, islands, hill tops, local markets and yes cycling. So, we were all set to rock and roll.
We landed late at night at Hanoi airport, visa fees being $ 25 (we need invitation letter from tour operator), were picked by private cab straight to hotel close to lake. We reached by 11 pm and were informed by hotel staff of joint “The Church” which remains open late in night for some food. That’s were we realised we will have hard time with food. Absolutely bland! no spice at all, no sugar, less slat. Somehow, we had potato fries and slept. I love to start the day early, which is against nish’s rules of vacations. I am saying this because in Vietnam, things do start early for you to reach your destination early. So be prepared to get up and be ready 8 very morning.
Ha long Bay :
Cruise Very next day, after good breakfast at hotel, we were ready for our cruise in ha long bay. Limousine rolled in sharp at 8am. Time matters in this part of world and so does connectivity. WIFI is free and available everywhere, even in most remote locations. As we passed villages and rice fields, we saw how beautiful Vietnam is. Alicia cruise was really awesome. We boarded by 12am and were pampered with awesome lunch. People loving non veg will have a gala time. We had night stay on cruise which makes it expensive.
Time moved really slowly, we visited caves, some temples, floating village and at night we wound up with great drinks on the deck with awesome mountains at our back. The next morning, we hiked to some hill top on small island, and where greeted to breath-taking view of ha long bay. Have posted lot of pics for you all, to just understand what am I taking. We came back to Hanoi, same hotel for a night again.
Phu Long – Natural Reserve Area / Sa-Pa
Day 3, started early again by 7.30am, we boarded a group bus, to Phu long, the rural Vietnam which is 4/5 hours drive from Hanoi, This is where we were greeted by Mr. Quy, your local guide (Instagram handle). Lots of local coffee on the way (don’t miss Vietnamese coffee which is very different from Indian definition of sugar loaded Nescafe). We passed through Sa-Pa, a lovely village – where should have had night stay but missed it as we were tight on schedule. We stayed at Phu long Eco retreat - was heaven, rooms were really cosy and to add to that, the weather was just awesome, though it was too cold for us to venture into infinity swimming pool.
We went for a river ride, boat made of bamboo, so local, visited local village, meet them, clicked photos with them and they were more than welcoming, went to local market the next morning, it was Sunday and they have local market at Sunday morning at 8am, we hiked to mountain top, with our fellow travellers, with our local guide, Quy and clicked more pics.
Ninh Binh / Tran Anh
Ninh Binh is a small city of northern Vietnam, a treat to eyes, small, tinny mountains rising from water, words cant describe this place. Beers, cocktails and more rice. Vietnam is all about beers, cocktails and rice. Vietnam celebrates its new year on 25th Jan, and we were lucky enough to be close to this date during our visit because we got to see country bussing with colours with party mood. We did have night stay at Tran Anh eco retreat, felt like we had room right in middle of mountain and jungle. But don’t expect too much luxury. We can sacrifice that for an experience! can’t we?
Our 2 ½ half our boat ride from Tran Anh was a real deal. Under water caves are amazing. Don’t know why some people blogs/Vlogs described it as boring. Tam coc is another place were tourist can take boat ride, however my preference would be Tran Anh. Be generous to tip your boat driver. They clean the river for a day (free) to get permission to ride boat for another.
Later we went cycling, and being cycling enthusiast, I wanted more, but nish was at herself and she said she will not, so we took bikes and hiked to Mau caves, but weather was so foggy that we missed the beautiful views, which we saw on internet and in lot of blogs. Don’t forget to kiss the dragon on the top – it brings luck – at least that’s what a French tourist told me.
Hanoi
Back to Hanoi, we went to lake, it has lots and lots of roof top pubs and beers literally flows like water in tap. Dont miss stick coffee shop, you should be lucky enough to find a place to stick you stick on.
Places to go
Vietnam is just awesome, take 12/15 days to travel this country. Have not talked about budget, because it can wary with kind of luxury you need. One can travel in just Rs. 100,000 for 12 days and can spend like Rs. 3,00,000 for same. Keep these places on your list
1. Hanoi
2. Sa-Pa
3. Ha long Bay
4. Pu long
5. Ninh Binh
6. Ho chi min city
7. Cu chi tunnels
8. Hoi An – a trading port
9. The golden bridge at bana hills
10. The hang son doong, the largest caves which contains its own forest and ecosystems
11. Ban Gioc Falls
12. Hue – the imperial city
13. The gate leading to the marbel mountains
I could not visit many of the above places, but there are always many more things to do. I will surely come back to this country to complete the uncompleted. This country should be in every tourist list and I would love if you need any suggestions from me. Infact you can get in touch with jenny and Quy, leave it to them to plan for you. My love for both you guys.
Lets travel the world, lets share the experience, and lets stay in peace and love. Love you all
Rahul & Nisha
Jenny – tinny tours and travels (+84 916810188)
Quy – your local guide (+84 357653501)
