Vietnam North
Hanoi (pop
4 mio)
Old Quarter click on photo to enlarge
Brisk capital city of 4 mio people and app. 2 millions of motorbikes. Some
traveller like this city, but there is nothing very special to see, so
that one or two days are sufficient. Staying in Hanoi is a good point to
visit all the interesting places in the North of Vietnam.
The Old Quarter
Usually you will stay in the Old Quarter, where are many backpacker
accommodations to reasonable price (4-10 dollars) are waiting for guests.
In the 13 th century 36 guilds of tradesman were established at the Old
Quarter, with each taking a different street. Some concentration has remained,
but today all is more a motley crowd of small shops, hotels, travel agencies,
markets, peoples and thousands of motorbikes.
At "Old Quarter" borders the Hoan Kiem Lake (lake of the restored
sword), with the forlorn Tortoise Tower. An old legend tells, that once
Emperor Le Loi drove out the Chinese by a divine magical sword. After the
war he was swimming on a giant tortoise on the lake. The tortoise grabbed
the sword and disappeared in the depth of the lake to restore the sword
back to the gods.
Just at the corner of the lake and the Old Quarter is the Water Puppet
Theatre. Entrance is about 3 Dollars, there are daily performances
in the afternoon and evening that take 1 hour. Puppeteers stand in the
water behind a screen and steer the puppets with poles and cords.
A band with singers and instruments tells the story of the performance,
that originated from traditional legends of the rice farmers in North Vietnam,
who spend much of their live in flooded rice paddies.
The Temple of Literature is a place of calmness in the otherwise
vividly surrounding. It was founded 1070 AD to honour the successors of
Confuzius, scholars and men of literacy. There are 82 steles, which were
erected from 1484 to 1786, recording the names and achievements of men,
who had received doctorates in examinations. There are five courtyards,
the main building in Vietnamese architecture is from 1802. The turtels
that carry the stelaes are a symbol of wisdom and permanency.
You can also visit the "Uncle Ho", whose body is lying in state in the
"Ho Chi Minh" Mausoleum (closed on Fridays). Entrance should
be free, but in fact you are obliged to buy a leaflet as a foreigner. Looking
at the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh means also queuing up a lot before.
Photography and unsuitable clothing (shorts, tank tops etc.) are not allowed
in respect of the dead body. In winter the corpse is in Russia for restoration,
therefore I can´t tell my experience; but the spectacle should be
interesting. The last wish of "Uncle Ho" was to be cremated and his ashes
should be scattered in the mountains, where trees should be planted in
memory to him. But "Uncle Ho" has to wait until Vietnamese people will
reach real independence and freedom. The summary live story of Ho
Chi Minh : here
Nearby is the rebuilt One Pillar Pagoda that was built in 1049
and destroyed by the French in 1954 as the last act by quitting Hanoi.
There are some more Museums (Ethnology, Ho Chi Minh, Geology,
History, Women, Memorial House, Revolution, War, Fine Arts, Air Force,
Border Guard), a Cathedral, some Pagodas, Temples, Markets and
a Zoo, I didn´t visit. Mail me your experience, please!
The most famous dish of Hanoi is "Cha Ca": fried pieces of white
fish, served on fresh herbs and a lemon sauce on a small coal oven at the
table. Good, but also a little overrated. The oldest "Cha Ca" restaurant
is "Cha Ca La Vong" (14 Pho Cha Ca- Old Quarter) but you can eat it cheaper
or in better atmosphere elsewhere (e.g. "La Brique" Pho Nha Tro -
near Hoan Kime Lake- west). I was told, that the Jazz Club "Quyen
Van Minh" (Old Quarter- Pho Luang Van Can) should be worth a visit, too.
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Halong Bay (bay
of the decending dragon)
Halong Bucht click on photo to enlarge
The most famous highlight of Vietnam, you shouldn´t miss travelling
in the North. Thousands of limestone islets create gorgeous scenery of
sea, mountains and sky. Even if it is foggy, the silhouettes of the crags
immerse you in a magic land.
Due to a legend the Viet people were attacked by the Chinese. A dragon
was sent from heaven to fight the enemies. He crushed the attacking army
by his tail to pulp and plough deep furrows at the same time. After he
had descended in the sea, the water was rising and the peaks of the furrows
were remaining. And look out: several sea monsters as an equivalent of
"Nessie" are still living there.
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You pass this scenery by boat from Halong City to Cat Ba on Cat Ba Island.
The public boats use the same route, but usually you will come by a tourist
boat.
Tours from Hanoi are offered for less than 20 dollars. This should include
staying one day in a hotel in Cat Ba. You can return the same day from
Hanoi, but this is in my opinion only an option, if you have no more time.
Tour operator "Hanoitoserco" should ripp off tourists by charging alleged
added non included services to exorbitant prices. The bus to Haiphon is
2 Dollars and the boat to Cat Ba, that should take the same route is 1
Dollar (each one way).
You´ll start your trip in the morning in Hanoi and enter your
boat in Halong City after lunch. Then you visit two nice limestone
caves. Keep your tickets! This caves with stalagmites and stalactites are
nice, but nothing special compared to other limestone caves. After that
the best part of the tour starts. You pass hundreds of islets. After an
hour you stop at some fishermen houses, which are lying picturesque built
in the water. Several fish, crabs and other sea animals are shown. At sunset
you arrive on Cat Ba. There is a hotel on the harbour, which is booked
from some tour operators. Other hotels are in town that is 4 kilometers
away; there is more to do at night. Internet at Cat Ba is very pricey.
An additional fee of 5 dollars is charged, if you want to stay on
boat that will anchor some hundred meters into the bay. The cabins
just at water level are sometimes small and sticky, don´t believe
in leaflets. Some people find rats crawling on them, when they awake in
the morning. But they are harmless. I took the matress at for sleeping
under the starry sky. Sleeping on boat could be great with nice people,
but after dark you don´t see anything from the scenery and it is
more comfortable at Cat Ba in a hotel.
You can skip the hiking trips that are offered at a second day in Cat
Ba National Park. The trail leads through a village and climbs steep up
a mountain. There is a lookout to the sea, mostly it will be cloudy in
the noon, no good conditions for photography. There is really nothing special
doing the hike.You may rent a kayak or relax on one of the beaches near
Cat Ba, mail your experience!
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Sapa (pop
40.000, elevation 1.650m)
H´mong Kids 
rice paddies click on photo
Visit the hill tribes in the mountains at the Chinese border. It
is interesting, but not a "must" like Halong.
A three-day trip booked with a tour company costs around 55 Dollar by
train (soft sleeper).You start the night train in the evening and arrive
in the morning at Lao Cai station from where you go with bus to Sapa (1,5
hrs). The compartments (4 bed soft sleeper) in the train could be closed
and it was very comfortable to sleep there. If you go individual, the fare
one way is 15 dollars to Lao Cai and 2 dollars one way for the bus to Sapa.
It was reported that a motorbike might stop half way and ask for more money.
You easily hire a local guide form the villages (mostly women) that speak
English in Sapa, the hotels will help you.
Room rates could be higher at weekends and in high season. It is recommended
to change money in Hanoi to better rates.
In Sapa you start your trekking for the Black H´mong village
of Cat Cat. You pass picturesque rice paddies. Women and children will
try to sell some handicrafts, mostly handmade cloth. Black H´mong
people live apart from agriculture now also from tourism. They have their
own language; because of the contact to tourists children usually speak
better English than Vietnamese today.
The problem is that they often don´t send their children to school,
girls should marry early and work on the field. Women who want to do something
different sometimes are expelled from their families and live in Sapa.
You can sleep instead of Sapa in the village that means no shower
and toilet cabins on the field. I was lucky in the village, met some nice
people and had a great meal. In the evening there was a local show,
where locals and guides performe traditional songs. After that the
tourist had to sing, too. We sang "Brother Jacob" and some French played
songs with guitar.
If you are interesting in doing something handicraft, you can
hire a teacher in the village, who show you how to weave bamboo baskets.
A girl from Australia and Denmark were doing this for some days.
The next day you visit two more villages where other tribes are living.
Though living only some kilometres, the tribes don´t communicate
among each other much, intertribal marriages are rare.
You are brought back to Sapa and Lao Cai and leave the train in the
evening for Hanoi.
If you book one more day you will visit more villages, some with stilt
houses. Minorties who live there are more adapted to Vietnamese life and
usually wear traditional clothes for tourists purposes.
You can go on Friday by bus to Sapa. This tour is cheaper (less
than 30 dollars). On Sunday is a colourful minority market at Bac
Ha where local tribes are coming in traditional clothes selling all
kinds (also strange) of goods. It is very recommended.
The Fansipan (3,143m) is the highest mountain of Vietnam and
is visible from Sapa. The summit can be reached by foot without climbing
gear by a three to four days treck from Sapa. Be careful!
An English girl that was trekking in a guided tour last year slipped and
fell to death.
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Perfume Pagoda
Perfume River click on photo to enlarge
there is an ancient pagoda and some Buddha shrines built in the
Huong Tich Mountain (Mountain of the fragrant traces) 50 km southwest from
Hanoi. The pagoda is nice, but the best thing is the 1 hrs rowing trip
to the Pagoda with the magical contours of limestone mountains in
the background. The one-day trip from Hanoi is about 7 dollars; the three
hour ascent to the top of the hill is usually skipped by this tour. There
is a usual tip of 1 dollar (10-15 tsd Dong) for the oars(wo)man; usually
they ask for more.
Tam Coc (means
three caves)
Tam Coc click on photo to enlarge
One day trip from Hanoi near Ninh Binh (8 dollar) similar to Perfume Pagoda,
but also different. It is also called the "Halong Bay on the rice paddies"
or "Halong Bay without water". At first you visit for half an hour an old
Pagoda. After that you will climb in a rowing boat and you are rowed on
the river and through the caves, where the river had bored its pass through
the limestone mountains. This is very touristy but the scenery
is well impressive. When the oars(wo)man return they will try to sell
you some embroidery to very reasonable price. But you are never obliged
to buy, what you don´t want. At the rowing turning point drinks are
offered for one dollar. They will ask you to buy a coke for the oars(wo)man.
After you have bought the drinks he sells it back for half the price or
if he drinks the Coke the vendor and the oars(wo)man will share the profit
anyway. Even if you have bought a drink they will ask for a tip after the
trip and they will always complain that what you have paid for tip is not
enough. Don´t be angry, this is Vietnam. Profits from tips and selling
embroideries and beverage are anyhow calculated in the price of your trip.
Be funny and don´t support pushing for money too much, that it won´t
go out of hand.
Others (I
didn´t visit)
around Hanoi there are some handicrafts villages and pagodas.
Bat Trang is known as the pottery village, Van Puc is the silk and So the
noodle village. Near So there are also the Thay Pagoda and the beautiful
Tay
Phuong Pagoda. Another beautiful situated pagoda is the Keo Pagoda
at the Red River near Nam Dinh. There is an odd Cathedral
in
Phat Diem that is a synthesis from christian and Chinese architecture.
As nice as the area at Tam Coc should be the surroundings of Hoa Lu
also near Ninh Binh.
"Ba Be" National Park (250km northeast of Hanoi is an area with
lakes, waterfalls, deep valleys and caves where the Tay minorities live
in stilt houses. Also available by tour from Hanoi.
Near Ninh Binh you can visit in the "Cuc Phuong" National Park
the Endangered Primate Rescue Center, there are also some hiking opportunities
there. There are a lot of endangered animals in this oldest National Park
of Vietnam, the best time to visit is in late spring (April, May), when
plenty of butterflies are breeding.
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Vietnam Central
Expect a lot of rain in the month of October to November. I was travelling
in late November and it was raining the hole day. Rain was coming down
in buckets. The "Hai Van (Sea Cloud) " Pass (496m) between
Hué and Danang is the climate dividing line (Ai Van Peak 1172m )
between North and South.
Hué (pop.
300,000)
old Emperor city at the Perfume River. The river
is named after the fragance of the pollen of the Lycopot flower.
The attractions of Hué are the tombs of the Nguyen emperors,
pagodas and the remains of the Old Citadel.You can book a boat trip on
the Perfume River in the morning for about 3 Dollars.
At first you stop at Thiem Mu Pagoda, the most famous pagoda
in Hué. Each of the seven stores represent the incarnation of Buddha
as a human being. Accroding to a legend the former Governor appeared the
divine woman "Thiem Muh" , who told him that on this place the capital
of Vietnam will be built. To her memorial he built this pagoda.
Emperor Tombs
Then the boat stops for visiting the Tomb of Tu Duc, Tomb
of Minh Mang and Kaih Dinh. An entrance fee of 4 dollars is
levied for each tomb. The motorbike ride from the boat stop to the tombs
of Tu Duc and Kaih Dinh cost from 10.000 Dong return. The tombs are
more summer residences than tombs and also were used as a place of refuge
from imperial business before death. The tombs consist of a complex of
buildings that are constructed artful in a beautiful architecture garden
with lakes and paths.
The tomb of Emperor "Tu Duc", who was a good poet but a weak
emperor, is constructed from 1864 to 1867. He was infertil, none
of his 107 concubines had beared him a son. In his regency he had to yield
to the French, he prefered to be an artist than an hero. But his weakness
also avoided a bloodshed. His live is written on a staele in 4916 characters.
The Tomb of "Minh Mang" was built from 1841 to 1843 and the Tomb
of "Khai Ding" from 1916 to1925. The last one is a mixture from
Vietnamese and French architecture, very much is copied from French chateaus
(Versailles, Sanssoucis).
If you want to do the visit of the tombs more relaxing, you can go there
also by motorbike taxi ride from Hue (Tomb Du Tuc 25.000 Dong).
Tomb of Minh Mang click on photo to enlarge
Old Citadel (Entrance 5 Dollars)
The old citadel was the Emperor palace which was built from 1805-1832.
The area was totally destroyed in the Vietnamese-American war by blanket
bombs by the US-Army in 1968. Only some buildings are now restored. Mostly
you walk through a peaceful area of ruins, nothing is left from the Emperor
Enclosure, the area for the Emperors own use ("The Forbidden Purple
City)". Entrance is 5 dollars.
There are more tombs and pagodas in and around Hué.
Danang (pop
1,2 Mio) and
around
Travellers- like me- most pass Danang and stay in Hoi An or at nearby
China Beach. The only interesting thing in Danang is the Museum of Cham
Sculptures.
The beaches of "May Ke Beach" and the famous "China Beach" are
6 to 10 km away from Danang. Swimming season is from May to July,
when the sea is calm. There are warnings for dangerous undertows in the
sea especially in winter. The Marble Mountains are five big rocks
from marble 15 kilometers south of Danang that are named Thuy Son (Water)
Moc Son (Wood), Hoa Son (Fire), Kim So (Metal/Gold) and Tho Son (Earth).
It is only 19 km to Hoi An from there.
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Hoi An (pop
80,000)
Hoi An click on photo to enlarge
a nice small well preserved town. The town was exceptionally
spared from destruction by war and many buildings from the early 19th century
could be visited.
Hoi An was a very important harbour town situated at the Silk Road of
the Sea from 2000 years ago. Merchants from Arabia, Indonesia, India, Japan
and China were trading in Hoi An. In the 17th to the 19th century many
Dutch and Portuguese merchant ships dropped anchor (who named the City
also "Faifo"). Paper, Silk and other goods were traded. In the 19th century
the river and harbour silted up and the French colonial ruler built a new
harbour in Danang that took over the trading center of Hoi An.
The most famous is the 400 year old "Old Japanese
Covered Bridge". This bridge was started built in 1593 AD, the year of
the ape and finished in 1595 AD the year of the dog. You see both animals
as a stone figure on each side of the bridge. The bridge linked the Quarters,
where the Japanese lived, from the Chinese Quarter. Trading between this
countries war forbidden in this times, Hoi An was an evading market.
Many tailor shops, wood carver and picture galleries
are situated in the city. Cooking courses also should be offered. There
is also a harbour, where are many boats doing its business. Even though
you can walk in 1 hrs through the whole city, it is an enchanting place
to linger for two or three days.
Myson
Tours are offered for 6 dollars from Hoi An to
visit the ruins of the Hindu Cham Temples at Myson, .
(entrance fee 4 dollars). Myson was a temple district of the Chams
that was built form the 4th to the 13th century for religious purposes.
The ruins are divided by archaeologists in Groups A to K. They were destroyed
by the US troops under the rule of gruelling policy to destroy all that
could serve as an hiding place for Vietcong despite of international archaeological
protests from France.
Myson click on photo to enlarge
The Kingdom of Champa (2nd to 15th century) adapted to Hinduism
by commercial relations to India. Today app. less than half a million of
Cham people live as farmers in rural areas in Central or South Vietnam.
Both are totally different groups. As the Chams in central Vietnam are
still Hindus, the Cham people in South Vietnam are mostly converted to
the Islam. But many are adapted to Vietnamese life.
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Nha Trang (pop
350.000)
Party Boat Trip click on photo to enlarge
has a popular city beach and some beaches around, but I think Mui
Ne is a better place to relax. There are some Cham towers (Po Nagar Cham
Towers) in the North of the city, where Buddhists come to pray. On the
way to the Cham towers you cross the bridge and could have nice views to
the anchoring colourful boats in the habour. Excursions to a monkey islands,
to a fish farm and to Ba Ho Falls are offered.
Nha Trang is famous for the party boating trips (from 6 Dollars).
The boat takes travellers at first to a reef for snorkelling. This was
the best thing. Many colourful fish could be seen swimming between different
kinds of corals. Gorgeous! Then you will have lunch and the crew band play
some songs accompanied with guitar, keyboard and drums. You can dance on
deck if you like. After dancing is happy hour in the sea. You can drink
as much as wine you like at the water bar (see photo). A little drunk you
can relax on a small beach for an hour. At the end you can do a boat trip
on a traditional basket boat at a fishing village.
On the way to Mui Ne there are at the town Phang Rang the well preserved
Cham
Towers Po Kloong Garai. There are at some more but less interesting
Cham towers at Po Rome.
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Vietnam South
Mui Ne
Mui Ne click on photo to enlarge
Dream beaches in a wonderful beach resort ambience are waiting for you.
A nice place for swimming and relaxing. Rooms are available from 5 dollars.
It is 200km from Saigon (4hrs) and you can reach it with open bus (5 Dollar).
There are nice walks along sand dunes.
In Mui Ne you find also some windsurf opportunities windsurf-vietnam.com
Dalat (
pop. 130.000) (I wasn`t there, information from some guidebooks)
forests, hikes and waterfalls. I had to skip, because of not enough
time. Highlights are the Thien Vuong pagoda and the carnival atmosphere
of the "Valley of Love" and the "Lake of Sights". Recommended are the adventure
tours that offer abseiling, canoeing and treks to minority villages.
In the Central Highlands you can make trips to Ban Don, a village, where
elephants are trained. You can do some elephant riding (10 Dollar/one hour).
Some ethnic villages are around Pleiku and Kon Tum. In Pleiku you may be
forced to pay a tourist tax and to hire a local guide, so many travellers
skip it and advance to Kon Tum.
Mail your experience!
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Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) (pop.
8 Mio)
The economical capital of the country. The backpacker scene is situated
near the Ben Than-Market
at the Pham Ngu Lao area. Rooms are available from 5 dollars. There
is the whole backpacker scenery: restaurants, Internet Cafes, a second
hand book shop, bag CD-shops and travel agencies. It is not far from the
City Center, you can reach it by a 40 minutes walk. At night in the center
with the big luminous advertising and around the big hotels (Rex, Sheraton
etc.) you have the real feeling being in a big metropolis. Visit the colonial
Saigon and have a look at the Cathedral, the art nouveau Main Post Office
building (look inside) and the Mayor (Hotel de Ville or Peoples Committee)
building. You can visit also Cholon, the Chinese quarter with many Pagodas.
At Ben Than Market and around there are a lot of small shops for doing
a shopping tour. I skipped the "War Crime" museum, because I don´t
pay (but really low (half dollar)) entrance for one-sided anti-American
propaganda. But it should be interested to see how cruel war for in reality
is. There is nothing really special in Saigon, but it is worth a visit
of two days. And expect 4 mio and more motorbikes!
Taxis in Saigon should have two stickers "Taxameters" at the front
windscreen, taxis with one sticker should charge double the price.
"Cu Chi Tunnels"
The "Cu Chi Tunnels" are a 250 km three stored system of tunnels, which
are built in the American- Vietnamese War to control this area. Vietnamese
are very proud of this war ingenuity. The tunnels allowed the Vietcong
to coordinate their actions. People lived in the tunnels at times, where
were also living areas and hospitals. The soldiers could disappear into
hidden trapdoors without a trace after surprise attacks from the ambush
. Many people died in this area, also a lot of Vietnamese civilians because
the US troops were in a situation back to the wall shooting everything
around.
Entrance fee is 5 dollars; you see a propaganda film at first and then
crawl through some tunnels. The last very narrow tunnel is more than 130
meters; your trousers will be dirty after crawling on all fours, therefore
wear old clothes! At last you will see some hidden trap gadgets that are
used in war for killing hostile soldiers. After the tour you can shoot
with real war rifles on a shooting range (each shoot one dollar - five
shoot minimum)
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Codai Temple in Tay Ninh
Codai Temple click on photo to enlarge
Odd temple and religion. A breeze of Disneyland.You usually combine the
Cu Chi tunnels trip with the Codai temple in Tay Ninh (5 Dollars) and usually
the travel agency wants to argue that you should skip the temple for visiting
the War Crime museum in Saigon. But it is worth the detour. At noon you
will look at the daily ceremonies of the divine service. Worshipper in
white and priests in red (Catholics), blue (Taoists) and yellow (Buddhists)
clothes are singing and praying while you are standing at the gallery taking
photos. The church is as abstruse as the people itself, a colourful phantasm
mixture of a church and a pagoda.
The religion was founded by Ngo Van Chieu, who worked for the French
colonial rulers in 1878. He claimed that "Codai" the ever watching divine
eye has appeared him as the third and last revelation of mankind. The religion
is a synthesis of Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Animism (ghosts) and Confucianism.
The structure is from Catholicism, they have a pope (who was evicted 1956),
cardinals and bishops. They believe in rebirth, spirits and oracles and
devote also as different people as Victor Hugo, Sun Yat-Sen, Nguyen Binh
Kiem, Luis Pasteur Winston Churchill and Lenin. App.2 mio people are Codaism
believer.
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Mekong Delta
floating market click on photo to enlarge
Small canals, floating markets, snake meals are the interesting things
of the Mekong Delta. You get tours in Saigon from 7 Dollar (one day) 15
Dollars (2 day) and 3 days (25 Dollars). Recommended is the 2 day trip
that I took. The first day you go to My Tho from where you visit some Mekong
Isles, where are some handicrafts shops (coconut carving, fruit garden,
coconut candy) and a short ride on a small rowing boat through a
channel. I expected more. In the evening we visited Vinh Long market, where
snakes are sold (at the fish corner.) Selling of snakes at markets and
in restaurants is due to animal species protection only legal in the Mekong
Delta. The promised boat ride on sunset was skipped. In the evening you
could have a snake meal (4 dollars), white meat nothing special. The next
day you cruise over a floating market, where vegetables and other goods
are sold from boat to boat. After that you cruise through small canals
that were very picturesque. The second day was more interesting than the
first day, so take at least a two day trip. Mail your experience of a third
day! You can combine to exit to Phnom Penh/Cambodia, it´s only 10
Dollars more. One traveller has recommended to take your baggage with you
and stay some days in the Touring Village "My Khanh" He liked the
moonlight diners at the Mekong and booked a sampan boat by himself to visit
the floating markets and monkey bridges without tourists.
Phu Quoc Island (I didn't visit, report from another traveller)
Minibus from Can Tho to Rachgia (2 Dollars) and then ferry to Phu Quoc
(4 hrs-3 Dollars).
Despite the beautiful beaches the tourism shouldn´t flourish
there (yet). Rainy season is from July to November and it is should be
very hot there. There are also military bases and Nuoc Mam (fish sauce)
factories that should provide for nice smells. In the Northwest there is
a nice authentical fishing village Recommended was Than Loi Ressort
(phu-quoc.de) for swimming and relaxing
(small bungalow 12 Dollars).
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