Hanoi - North Vietnam

Hoi An to Hanoi by plane, Vietnam – Day 18 (Feb-16)

In the morning we taxi to DaNang, and then fly to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Apparently, DaNang is experiencing a mass build up along the beach, with a new DaNang International City. The promo pics look like Dubai. Oddly enough, the flight to Hanoi is similar cost as the train, and saves us some time.

(1 hr flight)

We arrive in Hanoi at the Viet Fun hotel. Walking the streets of Old Town is like playing Frogger. I feel like I’ll be squashed at any minute. We eat some really delicious food at Little Hanoi restaurant. Later I find that it is delicious because it is swimming in so much garlic, I can't sleep later. Vana gets eaten alive while sleeping; I thought the bugs don't like garlic! Also, the fan in the back of the hotel was making noise all night. Note to self; ground floor in hotel is bad, better to pay for the first floor (first floor is US second floor).

the delicious meal that made KR restless

We book trips for the rest of the week at the hotel; an organized tour of Halong Bay, and train tickets to Sapa. It's non-stop action!


Halong Bay aboard a Junk, Vietnam – Day 19 (Feb-17)

In the morning, the bus picks us up for the three hour ride to Halong Bay. In Halong bay we board a 3-star refurbished junk (boat) for a one night cruise. The boat and rooms are really nice; better than most of the cheap hotels we've stayed so far. We thought there was four boats (one for each star rating), but there are several hundred junks in the harbor. Ours has 8 cabins for 16 guests, two levels, and a roof to chill out.

junk

our room, small but clean

Legend has it; a dragon appeared, blew fire to kick foreign aggressors out of Vietnam, spit thousands of pearls to become protective islands off the coast, and then jumped into the bay to sleep. We thought that was really fantastic, so we asked our tour guide if the dragon could do it again so Vana could take a picture.

On arrival in the bay, we climb 422 steps, and take some great sunset pictures. The scenery is similar to GuiLin in China, or in the south of Thailand, with the steep limestone rock formations covered with vegetation. Surprisingly, the 50 junks anchored in a cove for the night, actually add to the charm of the bay. The Bay is beautiful and the pictures turn out great.

We are alarmed to find that the tour we booked pays for everything except for drinks (even water). Fortunately, there is a woman and her son in a fat rowboat selling boatside; water, booz, cigarettes, snacks and TP. The kid puts on a huge smile for a photo.

rowboat, cheaper water

Halong Bay Junk to Sapa night train, Vietnam – Day 20 (Feb-18)

After a dreamy 10 hours of sleep on the Sleeping Dragon (Halong) Bay, we take a kayak ride around the cove where the junk is anchored. We find the Bay is very beautiful, until you decide to get down in the water. With all the boat traffic and raft villages, the water is not very clean. Vana spots a dookie while paddling out of dock. We pass a school in session in the raft village; the children wave and smile. We paddle along the cliff edges where you can see caves and stalagmites. The boat cruises back to Halong City.

Kevin gets to drive the junk. The Captain steers right a few turns and gives me the wheel; which sends the boat into oscillation which takes five minutes to correct. I drive for about 20 minutes until the Captain spots a freighter 90 deg starboard, and takes over. He points it out to me, and it takes me a minute to find it. You mean that huge freighter on an intercept course?

First Officer KR

We bus back to Hanoi, repack our 22” suitcase and night train to Sapa. The couple in our cabin is a fowl mouth Vietnamese woman with western boyfriend. She is a piece of work (unlike anyone we’ve met anywhere in Asia). Vana and her get in a small tiff over the power outlet (meow...).

This train leaves on time, arrives on time, and hauls ass all night. The train is rockin’, and I almost back flop into the bowl when coming out of the WC.

CLICK HERE to see Halong Bar photos (Slideshow).


Sapa, Vietnam – Day 21 (Feb-19)

The train arrives on time at 5:30AM. The hotel arranged bus service has our name, and we follow the pickup guy to the bus. We see the back of his shirt says “BUT DIFFERENT”. And we know immediately the front says; “SAME, SAME”, which is pretty funny at 5:30AM. The Bus ride goes up the mountain and is pretty; reminding us of California (without the burning vegitation). The weather is significantly cooler and we are wearing shoes and socks for the first time on this trip. We are only a few hours’ drive from the Vietnam/China border.

Sapa is the main stay for tourist and is accessed via a developed road. The surrounding mountains are famous for Hill Tribes (54 minorities). The villages close to Sapa are touristy, but easy to access with maintained trekking paths. Fanspin mountain opposite the valley from Sapa is Vietnam’s tallest mountain at 15000 feet.

When the bus arrives, it becomes swarmed with hawkers dressed in the traditional Black Mong tribe outfit yelling “buy from me, buy from me” (actually, this has been our daily experience in Vietnam at any given time rather it's 5AM or 11PM. Hawkers everywhere and westerners are constantly harrassed). They are all over town, but leave you alone if you ignore them. We stay at the Mountain View hotel, which is pretty ok. The weather is a bit foggy, and we don’t see much of the mountain until few hours before we leave town. We think we they should give us a discount.

beggars, hawkers, flying around Westerners. This is when I'm really thankful for my Asia appearance :)

We take a rest and then trek down the road to Cat Cat village; we trek way down the hill. We pass terraced rice field, although now is not rice season so they are not as pretty as the promo pictures. We walk through the village, and along the river. Vana takes some great pictures of the children.

his playmates just took off on him

CLICK HERE to see pictures from this day (SLIDESHOW).


Sapa, night train back to Hanoi, Vietnam – Day 22 (Feb-20)

After researching some guided tour options and talking with some fellow travelers, we decide the tours are not worth it. We pack a lunch, and hire two motorbike drivers outside of the hotel. They drive us out of town and drop us at the dirt road to Lao Chau village. It’s a fun ride on a cliff side road, and we stop to take pictures. Vana looks quite the pro with her biker helmet and camera gear.


It’s a beautiful trek down the hill to the river. The village is in a river valley with mountains going up 5000 feet on each side. About 2000 feet up in all directions is completely terraced for growing rice. Some of the terraces are flooded, but most are dry; cut to a few inches which feed their water buffalo in the winter. It’s unlike any “nature” scenery we’ve experienced, and pictures turn out great.


Although we start our trek with eight hawkers following us, it reduces to one by the time we arrive in the village (30 min later). In the village we look in the school and take pictures. We are really stoked about this hike even though the rice is not in season. It must be really incredible in the spring when all the rice is green, and summer when the rice blooms yellow. We take a look in a home stay in the village. Apparently you can stay in the village to visit, or work in the rice fields as you like. They are at least fifty villages in the area, and some people spend weeks trekking between them, or visiting by motorbike.

Nap Time!

We trek to Tan Van village down the river, and met our motorbike driver. Vana and I hop on his bike and ride back to town. He is very concerned about police because he doesn’t have enough helmets. We think we got scammed because the other driver took off, but our driver has a very heated conversation with the other driver as soon as we arrive in town. In the late afternoon we bus back to Lao Cai train station and take the night train back to Hanoi.

CLICK HERE to see pictures from this day (SLIDESHOW).