Ralph and Karen's Tours

We’ve been wanting to get to Vietnam for many years but the timing was just never right.

Well this year everything fell into place thanks to our friends at APT – so we spent the night before our flight at the Sydney Airport Rydges Hotel which is so very convenient. And with the rooftop bar, a great way to start your holiday.

At the outset I need to share the intense stress levels around getting our VISA organised before we left.

The Vietnamese VISA process is scary. One small error in your application and you’re not getting on that flight – simple as that. And right up to the last minute with airline staff scrutinising our visas at check in, it was a huge relief to get our boarding passes.

A tradition of having a celebratory farewell drink pre flight has become quite crazy. When is it ever appropriate to have a beer and a champagne at 7:30am or 8:00am? I’ll tell you when – at the airport.

$40 later and we boarded our first flight from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City where we went through customs and immigration, again stressing over the scrutiny of our visas before a connecting flight to Hanoi.

The immigration process was tedious – over an hour – and our connecting time was shrinking as we waited patiently in line.

Finally our bags were re-checked and we had to get a bus to the new domestic terminal. We exited to torrential and horrendous rain.

The transit took much longer than expected so if you’re doing this transfer allow three hours. Because you need it.

Vietnam airlines was great. Apart from a little turbulence, everything else was first rate. I recommend them for sure.

Arrival in Hanoi in the late evening was easy. And after collecting our luggage we had a fabulous driver waiting to whisk us to our Hanoi hotel where we arrived at around 10:30pm local time (1:30am Sydney time) so it had been quite a journey after waking up at 6:30am.

The Meritel Hotel in Hanoi is gorgeous. Quite old school but in a great central location. The staff are brilliant and the welcome was next level.

Our room was way better than expected and the recommendation from one of my work colleagues was greatly appreciated.

Even though we’d been travelling for 20 hours we had to (or rather I had to) explore the rooftop bar for a quick night cap – nothing better.

Our first full day was overcast and hot. 34degrees Celsius but felt like 40. After a fantastic breakfast we bought tickets online for a traditional Hop on Hop Off Bus experience. We walked down to Hoan Kiem Lake to meet the bus only to find out it wasn’t running today – and for good reason

It is 80 years since Vietnam gained independence from France on the 2nd September so the country is swathed in celebrations to commemorate this significant upcoming event.

And most roads are closed …

We cannot believe the manner in which the Vietnamese nationals have embraced this anniversary. Every street is festooned with flags, banners, and FLOWERS !

The majority of locals are wearing celebratory clothing – tee shirts, face paint, gorgeous dresses and are just getting right into it. It’s wonderful.

So we spent the day just exploring, getting lost and enjoying the festivities.

Hoan Kiem Lake is central to Hanoi and has been an important spot for centuries. It was originally called Luc Thuy Lake (Emerald Lake) and was changed in the 15th Century to Hoan Kiem which means Sword Lake in reference to the native turtles that lived in the lake.

Today, there are many references to the turtles in the lake and it’s a real eye opener to see the respect given to this history.

We then spent the rest of our day taking a leisurely walk back to our hotel and loving the sights, sounds and smells along the way (this means I got us lost ….)

But we got to see the gorgeous Opera House and listen to the preparation for the grand parades.

As mentioned before the streets are decorated like nothing I’ve seen and along with the restaurants and bars along every street it gives a surreal atmosphere.

We eventually found our way back to the hotel – it was never in doubt – and the rooftop swimming pool never looked more inviting.

Maybe a couple of beers ?

Speaking of which – after a short recovery session we headed out for dinner but before that we happened upon a Craft Brewery !

What?

Yep – right up the street from us we pulled up some chairs right on the roadway and people watched and closed our eyes as the millions if not billions of motor bikes did their very best to smash into each other. It was insane.

How good ! And the beers were top notch.

So good in fact that I needed another – bigger one …

So after a few beers and a pinapple mojito for Karen we found a rooftop restaurant called VIET that ticked all the boxes.

View ✅

Fresh air ✅

Amazing food ✅

A brilliant end to our first very full day in Hanoi.

DAY 2 dawned with the same weather expectation – hot, humid and rain predicted. And so it was.

We reckon they have the same weather forecast stored each day and just roll it out with a new date.

The breakfasts at The Meritel are a fantastic mix of Asian and Western giving everyone the opportunity to get the day off to a great start.

Nothing beats getting your day off on the right foot with a bowl of Coco Pops, a Vietnamese Cappuccino, some jackfruit and watermelon, some mini rice paper rolls, some ham and salami cold cuts, cheese and a plate of rice noodles with kung pow chicken with a side of tomato anchovy sauce. Maybe a couple of Vietnamese/French pastries just because. Too much? Probably. But it was bloody good.

“Train Street” is one of the wilder experiences we’ve experienced when travelling for a long time. The north/south train line runs right through the middle of Hanoi’s Old Quarter several times a day.

The narrow corridor through which it runs has houses either side of the train line so close that the place rumbles.

The “street” was closed to pedestrians about 15 years ago due to safety concerns but in 2017 some entrepreneurial bloke decided to open the front of his house up onto the railway line, and offer visitors (tourists) coffee, tea and snacks.

Well – now ! It is the most amazingly successful gig in town. The train runs between 3 and 7 times per day and each time thousands of visitors flock to the myriad of cafes to sit and wait for this crazy event to unfold.

The cafe – let’s be clear here, these are bars that also serve coffee. We got there pretty early because of the confusion about what time the train actually was due to come through town. We found a cafe and sat and people watched for an hour or so, enjoying ice cold beers and fantastic conversation with the owner.

The train was due at 11:30am and by 11:20am there wasn’t a spare seat available in any bar or cafe.

Then a bell sounds and people are yelled at to get off the tracks and next minute this train comes hurtling along literally centimetres from where you sit.

I nearly shit myself ! the train takes about 80 seconds to pass. And it’s wild.

The bloke that owned the cafe we visited was a crack up. He just took the Mickey out of me from the moment we arrived. He thought it was hilarious to whisper conspiratorially every known swear word I’d ever heard and then laughed hysterically and hugged me and slapped me around.

I also thought it was hilarious. Then …. When the people exited as quickly as they came, he came up to me again waving all of his money around that he had made through his customers. “You can’t take money to heaven” he told me 😂

What a great start to the day.

We wandered off back down to Hoan Kiem lake to pick up where we left off yesterday with a trip on the Hop On Hop Off bus. On the way I had my first experience of a traditional Banh Mi.

Wow. Toasty warm fresh baguette, home made pate, bbq chicken, coriander, cucumber, chilli. That’s it. The variety of filling options is endless.

And that’s all it needed. One of life’s great pleasures and for the princely sum of $1.80 I reckon I’ll have a few more in the days ahead.

The HOHO bus is generally one of our fave things to do in a new city or town. This one wasn’t so great. I’m saying that purely due to the traffic congestion which meant we sat still more often than we were moving.

The other bit is the fact that the really interesting areas to visit are just not suitable for a big red bus to go through. It was ok. Just ok.

So wandering around the Old Quarter and the French quarter are amazingly interesting with a great mix of old and new architecture with remnants of the French era very prominent.

The city is amazingly “green” with beautiful parks, gardens and tree lined streets everywhere you look.

And motor scooters.

Another arvo swim and refreshments before we headed out on a crazy busy Friday night in Hanoi to explore the Weekend Food and Junk Markets.

Very much the same products for sale as every other Asian market but it seems the quality is much better.

Genuine 100% Fakes/copies of all the major high end clothing brands – Ralph Lauren, Gucci, North Fave, Patagonia, Adidas. No idea how they can sell $250 shirts for $6 !

Great fun people watching but quite stressful avoiding being bowled over by a million scooters who obviously have colour blindness in regard to red lights. What lights ?

Down to a food street in the Old quarter where we had our first bowl of pho for this trip. And it was probably the best I’ve ever had – without doubt. And the price was appealing – a huge bowl of beef and chicken pho, a good size plate of Vietnamese rice, 2 Beers and a 7 up for $12 something. Really? Come here for the food and stay here for the prices.

Back to the hotel reasonably early as we have a big long day tomorrow down at a gorgeous region called Ninh Binh. Can’t wait.

OK – Change of plans !

We had a sensational day at Ninh Binh – see the story here Our Day in Ninh Binh – a super last night dinner in Hanoi and ready for our two days on Halong Bay

Alas ! A rapidly approaching weather event known as “Storm Number 5” or better known as “Typhoon Kanjiki” meant that all cruises were cancelled indefinitely. We found this out about a half hour after we were supposed to be picked up.

As you can imagine, there was a lobby full of disappointed and/or disgruntled punters now all squabbling over extending their accommodation options.

Karen and I were obviously disappointed but it’s the weather – what can you do about it? And better to be safe than sorry.

This typhoon is a fast moving event with winds on the Bay/Coast up to 185kms/hr and the prediction of up to 700ml of rain being dumped.

Who wants to be in a small boat cruise in that?

Fortunately I had booked directly with the hotel management and had received a significant industry rate for our stay. And they looked after us from the moment we arrived like Royalty. so I wasn’t really surprised when they “found” us a room for the extra night. And surprise me when it was our same room. God bless them.

So now we had two extra days in Hanoi – not the worst outcome but the rain was starting to come in from the coast but nothing that would stop us doing anything.

We headed off to explore the one part of town we had t visited much, the French Quarter. And it was super. Lots of stylish cafe, quality brand shops, large open spaces (for Hanoi anyway). It was a joy to explore.

We wanted to visit the “Vietnam Women’s Museum” which was brilliant.

Located on the oldest street in Hanoi and surrounded by French Colonial buildings the museum is a tribute to the role women have played in this ever changing country – family life, working, farming, clothing, political and their significant role during both the French resistance and the Vietnam wars. It was fascinating.

With the 80th Anniversary of independence approaching in the next week or so, as we’ve mentioned previously the whole city is absolutely caught up in the hype.

So much so, the city has arranged three “practice parades” so they get it right in the night.

Roads closed, traffic chaos and millions (literally) of people Como g out dressed in their merch sitting all day for the parade to begin.

It awesome until you can’t get through the crown nor cross the road ! This was at 2pm and the practice was scheduled for 8:00pm!

I also love how their Government buildings are honoured and given respect

A quick beer on the way back to the hotel and to watch the local past time of motor scooter mayhem before visiting a lovely Bietnamese/French fusion restaurant run by three ladies whose names are all Linh called Mesdames Linh Cuisine. And it was superb.

We had another full day to enjoy Hanoi before our transfer to the airport for our flight tonight to Da Nang and then onto Hoi An.

And the rain had set in. The typhoon had crossed the coast and it was solid rain.

After a leisurely breakfast we chose to visit the Hao Lo prison otherwise known as the “Hanoi Hilton” during the Vietnam war – which was about ten minutes walk away.

The prison was built in 1896 by the French colonists and names it Hao Lo which colloquially means “Hell Hole”. I know why.

It was initially to house political dissidents during the French era.

It changed through the years until the North Vietnamese used it to keep American prisoners of war, predominately pilots.

It’s a hellish place, with a Guillotine used for executions and other tortuous methods of prisoner treatment in the early days.

What a fascinating place holding over 2000 prisoners at its peak.

It was finally demolished as recently as 1993.

We exited to the first signs of the typhoon approaching with wild rain like nothing I’ve seen for a while.

And as we write this we are on the way to the airport to (hopefully) get on our flight through the storm to Da Nang and onto Hoi An wish us luck.