Mind Blogging. Mind Boggling.

Had originally planned a comprehensive 13-day Vietnam North to South trip way back in 2012, but lost my nerve when executing such a long solo trip, so backed out. Here was the post, which talked about my effort to entice people to join via Facebook , along with this detailed itinerary:  link   Nothing wrong in losing nerve then- no regrets. I finally ended up going now, 12 years later. Lonely planet, a 10-year later version, was invaluable as always. S and Sh were company. Appendix has specific restaurant and stay recommendations.

Itinerary 

Flying out Friday afternoon from Bangalore, via Kolkata, we reached Hanoi late Friday night (2 AM). We spent Sat-Sun in Hanoi, Mon-Tue in a cruise through the Lan Ha bay (a less commercialized offshoot of Halong bay), then Wednesday second half thru Saturday first half at Hoi An.  Saturday night was spent back at Hanoi, and we took a 3 AM flight via Kolkata, getting back to Blr at 9 AM.  There are direct flights to Hanoi from Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata- so travel from there would be much smoother than from Blr. It's a night 5 hour night flight from Mumbai, which will allow you to hit the ground running the next morning. Kolkata is just around 2.5 hour flight away from Hanoi- so close. With a simple e-visa process, it is a great travel option. If I had more days, might have gone to the mountainous areas of Da Lac or Sapa. 

Hanoi, and food aspects common to the entire trip

We stayed in the 'Old quarter', where all the action is. I enjoyed the food despite being a veggie- they replace the meat with tofu and egg, and the modified versions tasted good. Obviously I am blissfully ignorant of what I'm missing by cutting out the pork, beef and what-not. My favorite dishes- Bahn Mi (sandwich), Bao (buns), rice paper rolls, variety of curries, and the dessert Che. The coffee was fantastic. While I found the egg coffee interesting but not necessarily tasty, I loved the coconut coffee. I also enjoyed the concept of Vietnamese black coffee with a drop of condensed milk. They try many other things such as salt coffee (which I tried- was interesting and could grow on one) and yogurt coffee (which I tried to make by mixing yogurt and coffee, producing an unsatisfactory outcome). I enjoyed the local fruits- Rambutans, Mangosteens and Longan, all through the trip, with Mangosteens the best of the tropical trio. Thanks to Sh for buying some 2 kg each of both fruits early during the trip, which lasted a good part of the entire trip. All of this holds for Hoi An, too.  

Got to be ready for a lot of walking in exploring Old quarter. Some of the t-shirts with nice local and quintessential-Vietnam designs,  artful shoes (non branded) and paintings where nice- happy with my/ group's purchases in these categories. Costs are pretty much same as India. Got to be smart in shopping, though- I got frazzled a couple of times at the night market by the combination of crowd, lights, variety of wares, and the heat. I think the best way to do it is to do a recce for an hour, buying on or two items, and doing price discovery. Use that time to compile a list, and then do targeted swoops next time. Our targeted swooping was on our last night on Saturday, and it was efficient and enjoyable. Ceramics is famous, but we found it to be too expensive and not significantly better than the wares on India ecom.   

I enjoyed the water-puppetry show, which must have originated in the flood plains of the Mekong and other rivers which feed the rice-growing plains of Vietnam. The 'train' street was exciting, especially for a train-lover like me- as I sat and enjoyed my bao (bun), a train bustled past me at arm's length away. I got to see how the characteristic sound of a train which so enchanted me in my childhood is produced, as a wheel passed over the small gap between two lengths of the track. I also enjoyed going to the 'Citadel', a monument and location which was the seat of power for Vietnam for most of its history. The indoor museum there also provides a walking tour of Vietnam's history. The walking tour we went on, with students, was average- no great insights.  

I spent a lot of time around Hoan Kiem lake, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's unique in my travels, for while it is a historical and cultural sight, it is bustling with activity by the locals (zumba, couple dance, runners) and also has great restaurants near it. I went on two long runs around this lake (on Sun morn and Tue evening). 

It was uncomfortably warm on Saturday, but thankfully it rained on Sunday morning and for the rest of the time at Ha noi, the weather was great. 

The cruise in Lan Ha Bay was a novel experience. You start at around 8 30 from Hanoi, and after a 4 hour comfortable journey (including a RoRo ferry) you get to your cruise boat. Ours was called Cozy Boutique. The rooms are quite luxurious. I enjoyed the Kayaking the most- kayaking on the gentle sea with huge limestone karsts looming all around, then getting to a secluded beach and dragging the kayak on with you to the beach. In fact there are 4-5 beaches around, and you can pick which ones you want to visit during the 1.5-2 hours you are on your kayak. S and Sh loved the sunset on the deck after this, because they had a nice endorphin rush from the kayaking- would rank in their top moments of the trop. There was a cycling trip next morning, which took us to a small village. 

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Hoi An

Hoi An is a lantern town, with beautiful lanterns of various designs and hues dangling from cables that run across the street at a height of 4-5 meters. It runs along a clean river with a well maintained promenade. However, when these lanterns are lit up in the evening, the tourists throng and it gets jam packed, which I did not enjoy. My favorite part of the time in Hoi An was the 6 30 AM walking tour, through which we learnt about Hoi An's past as a great port city, serving Japanese and Chinese traders who were on the way to India and Arab lands. We also went on a morning cycling ride through a small town Cam Kim, which I did not enjoy too much, mainly due to the heat. We bought a few lanterns, which we hope to dangle at our home during some party we might throw someday. 

We liked our trip to the nearby An Bang beach, just 5 km away . It's a long stretch of sand, and the waves are friendly. I kicked a football around with a British guy who was a fan of Luton FC (unfortunately close to relegation), and we discussed the upcoming Euros. I also did a 45 minute core workout routine on the beach, while S was frolicking around in the waves while also doing some yoga. Distant mountains loomed, clouds formed intricated patterns, and the sunset was beautiful.  

The last morning, we went to the local market (Cho) which the walking trip guide had shown us, and bought Mangosteens for folks back home. We also bought Mung bean cakes and some Rice + mung bean cakes for back home. 

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Through the journey, I started and completed a Sci Fi book called Ascension. Around 400 pages long and a read which was moderately difficult. I read during our time on the flights, a bit during the cruise, and during the afternoons at at Hoi An, when we wanted to relax and anyway the heat forced us to be indoors.  

The locals are pretty friendly and the tourism ecosystem is set up well. Language is a problem but Google translate helps out. There was tourists from across the world , with a high share of French. I chatted with a Danish guy as we sat at a sports bar in Hanoi, I watching an Arsenal game and he catching a Rugby game. Reminded me of the value of following a truly international sport such as Football - you can easily make friends with someone from a different geography. 

Vietnam's had a history of being occupied. Chinese, French and finally American. Their path to independence was through war, unlike India's. Ho Chi Minh is their Gandhi, and is on their currency notes just like MKG is on ours.      

I enjoyed spotting 'Vinfast' electric vehicles- bikes, cars and buses. 

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Appendix

Ha Noi: Hotel Serene Boutique (on the outskirts of Old Quarter which was nice because a bit away from the bustle), can try Silk Path if the budget is higher. No complaints with Serene Boutique, but nothing mind blowing. Memorable restaurants with good veg Vietnamese options: Bahn Mi 25, Hoang's Restaurant, Met (this one's a chain). The pizza and experience at pizza 4P's was great (now also open in Indiranagar BLR and booked out for 1 month)  and the founder's story touches a chord. Street food Bao at Banh Bao Binh Mo. Che dessert at Little Bowl. Coffee at Cafe Giang, the one who invented egg coffee, and with branches across Asia. Desserts for taking back home at Com Nangtan  ; bought Banh com and Keo Cu do.  Enjoyed reading post it notes at Note Cafe. Tour agent for Lan Ha bay: Ethnic. Family run enterprise, trustworthy. 

Hoi An: We stayed at Vinh Hung riverside, one of the finest resorts there, right by the river. We booked a riverside cottage which was nice. The breakfast buffet was solid. Because of the heat, a lot of Grab ordering. Great vegetarian restaurants: Minh hien and Rom. Bahn Mi Phuong was excellent, and Anthony Bourdain apparently loved it. Walking tour by Momo travels - real good.  

Links: 

Desserts from bringing back home: https://vinpearl.com/en/vietnamese-food-souvenirs

Labels: Travellog

# posted by Ashwin Ravikumar @ 8:32 PM