December 2022 – Offbeat Scribbles

Vietnam Itinerary – Day 8

There was a long wait to checkin at Noi Bai International airport. After what seemed liked hours, checkin was completed. We searched and found the lounge to which we had access via Tata Neu card and a priority pass. The lady at the lounge mention they were cleaning up the food, so we rushed and grabbed what we could. The lounge closes at 2 am.

We arrived at Kolkata airport in the morning. Here we had to collect our luggage and checkin again. Doing this in the early morning drove us nuts. Once checkin was done, we accessed the lounge here.

The lounge doesn’t have a restroom inside, so we just had an early breakfast and then walked out.

We reached Bangalore by 9.30 am and reached home by KIAL bus with sweet memories of Vietnam.

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Vietnam Itinerary – Day 7

Today we decided to explore Hanoi on the hop on hop off bus. After checking out from the hotel, we had the whole day to explore Hanoi.

We bought the ticket online, also available to buy at the boarding point. There are many operators and you cannot interchange. We had our bus starting at Opera House. Buses usually operate every 30 mins, but due to off season, our bus operated every 1 hour.

Earphones were provided on the bus plus the Vietnamese hat and a raincoat. As it started to drizzle, we took one whole round on the bus without hopping off. We visited Hoa Lu Prison, women’s museum etc which were close to Hoam kiem lake. In the evening, we took one last round on the bus. We had taken a 24 hour pass. Passes are available for no hop off, 4 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours.

After having a quick dinner at McD, we went to do some shopping for clothes and chocolates.

At 11.30 pm, our cab driver came to pick us up to take us to airport.

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Vietnam Itinerary – Day 6

After having breakfast at the hotel, we rented a motor bike for $5 from the hotel itself to explore Catba island. It’s possible to take a day/ night cruise from Catba, but since we didn’t have that much time, we decided on exploring the island itself. We literally covered whole of Catba on the motorbike. Riding motorbike at > 60kmph on well maintained roads with hardly any traffic – a dream come true for anyone who has endured traffic in Bangalore.

Cat Co 1 Beach – Many were taking a morning dip in the waters

We came back to hotel, checked out, kept our luggage at the security. We continued to explore the island, this time in the other direction. We drove until the end of the road. Excellent roads, some places were scarcely inhabited with forests on both sides and no gps.

Hoa Cương Cave – was closed when we went

Next we took the entry pass to Catba national park. The cost includes for Trung Trang cave also which is 1 km apart from here and has a separate entrance. The trek is around 1 hour, intense trek up the forest to see the entire island from above.

Trung Trang cave – well lit, walkable cave

It was around 3.10 pm by the time we were out of the cave. There was 1 more cave left but we had to catch the bus at 3.30 pm. There are limited buses leaving the island and at 3.30 pm, the last bus leaves. To add, we didn’t get any time for a lunch, just an icecream down the trek.

Our return was slightly different, it included 2 buses and 1 speedboat. So catba hotel to harbour, we were on bus 1. Then we carried out luggage onto a speedboat. On the other side, there was bus 2 which would take us to Hanoi.

At one of the stops, we grabbed a bite to eat. Bus 2 played Mr Bean throughout. We passed Haiphong on the way, a well developed city with lots of business buildings. It rained for a while.

We reached Hanoi at around 7 pm. We were the first to be dropped. We checked into the same Hanoi Boutique hotel who remembered us. We went out to have dinner at Xoi Yen restaurant, an affordable authentic place.

On the way back, we sat near the red bridge and did a video for a child’s assignment on women empowerment.

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Vietnam Itinerary – Day 5

After a good night sleep, we got up to look around where we were staying. There were around 20 cottages and we were the only occupants for the night.

We were offered some custom breakfast.

We got on our bicycles to explore the place. A flat countryside with no traffic made it very easy to cycle. An amazing experience, I was riding a bicycle after some 20 years.

Dan Bau – single string musical instrument

By 10.30 am, we returned to the bungalow, checked out and waited for our pickup. We were given extra water bottles for our travel ahead. We were surprised to see 2 bikers coming to pick us up. We rode pillion in 2 shared bikes with the luggage kept in the front. We were transferred to a bus to Catba island from Tam Coc.

To reach Catba island, we had to go on a ferry. Our bus was loaded on to the ferry. It was my first time on an island.

We checked into catba swan hotel.

We walked around the place, had a coffee at Like Coffee, withdrew some money from the only ATM on the island (Agribank) and had a good dinner at Quiri Pub.

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Vietnam Itinerary – Day 4

After having buffet breakfast at Hanoi Boutique hotel, we checked out from the hotel and got on the group tour bus for Ninh Binh. We were to visit 3 places as part of the tour.

Our first location was Bai Dinh pagoda. We had almost an hour here, but to really cover the entire place end to end without rushing would definitely take half a day. We had an electric vehicle to take us from the entrance until the pagoda. The structure is huge with lots of steps and multiple sites to cover. We ended up spending less time for pictures and more time to run through.

Statues with varied hand and face postures

By the time we finished here and got back on the bus, it was lunch time. Buffet lunch was arranged at Trang An bungalow.

Our next stop was at Trang An for boating. A relaxing boat ride in row boats that goes through multiple caves and have beautiful temples. We were 4 on a boat and the boats were all operated by women.

Our next stop was Hang Mua. This is a slightly strenuous trek up a hill having around 500 steps on top of which you will see a dragon.

After we descended from Hang Mua, our luggage was transferred to a private vehicle to take us to our stay for the night, Tam Coc Valley bungalow. The bus we came in was taking the people back to Hanoi.

Our stay was at a very welcoming family run place. It was around 7pm by the time we checked in. Our host gave us free bicycles to explore the place and also to get dinner from Tam Coc. There was no restaurant at the hotel. Cycling was fun especially around Tam Coc lake.

We had Banh mi, a Vietnamese baguette, a slightly light dinner. The dinner turned out to be pretty lighter than what I wanted, i was hungry by night. We had to adjust with a fruit and some chips which we had handy. Then we had a sound sleep.

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Vietnam Itinerary – Day 3

After reaching Ga Ha noi (Hanoi railway station) at around 5.30 am, we walked to our hotel. It was around 2 kms away but the streets were empty in the morning and we pulled out trolleys on the roads. We checked into Hanoi Boutique hotel.

They had laundry services by the kilo so we gave clothes to be washed in the morning itself. Laundry services are available outside the hotel too, we didn’t explore this due to time shortage. After a buffet breakfast, we stepped out to explore Hanoi.

Right outside the hotel, there is an ATM. Hanoi has so many streets to explore. Google maps are pretty handy.

Note coffee – The walls, ceilings and tables of this 5 storeyed cafe are stuck with sticky notes of visitors all around the world. We also added a few sticky notes on the table on 2nd floor.

More than as a church, we felt people were using St Joseph’s cathedral as an art studio posing for varied pictures. Many women wore Ao Dai, traditional silk dress of Vietnam that can easily be rented. Pictures were taken on rented motor bikes and even on a millitary jeep, the photographers took great efforts including lying on the ground to get the perfect shot. I hope they did!

At the currently infamous train street, foreigners were not allowed to walk when a train was approaching but a few cafes were open to sit and watch the train pass by.

For lunch, we explored Vietnamese KFC menu. The shrimp burger and fish fingers were unique. Rest tasted similar. Pespi seemed nicer, could be due to exhaustion too.

We took tickets for the 4 pm water puppet show. It’s a unique show, not to be missed. The entire place was fully occupied, the show is in Vietnamese but enjoyable by all.

Egg coffee is said to have been invented at Cafe Giang, so we had to definitely visit this place. The egg coffee was good and very creamy.

As it was a weekend, there were too many tourists and was very crowded. Vehicles were stopped from entering few of the streets around Hoam kiem lake. Lots of activities were happening including street shows, blood donations etc. There was not even an inch to put leg in Beer street.

Huc Bridge is very pretty at night. This was the first image of Vietnam that actually inspired our trip. Could spend hours sitting around the lake and munching into some food.

We picked a quiet area for dinner before we retired to the hotel room.

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Vietnam Itinerary – Day 2

A bowl of pho, Vietnamese national dish, a cup of Vietnamese coffee and a view of Ham Rong mountains – a breakfast with the best ambience. The breakfast was custom made at Sapa Melody hotel and not a buffet as we wanted breakfast slightly earlier.

Ham Rong Mountains – through hotel windows

By 7.45 am, our local guide Lala had already arrived. We checked out from the hotel and kept our luggage for safekeeping at the reception. We were taken in an MUV to Cat Cat Village. We explored this village and the adjoining Y Linh Ho village by foot.

Dried Meat – most forms of food are dried here

There are many shops in Cat Cat Village where you can do shopping, many are hand made by Black Hmongs including bags, dresses etc. Most of the ethnic dresses are black as Indigo is used as the dye. This is a highly commercialized village.

Y Linh Ho village is a countryside village less explored. There’s chicken, duck, pig, buffalo. Some part of the mud road was slightly slippery. It drizzled a bit during the walk. We could see many other groups as big as 20 being accompanied by Black Hmongs. Here, only women do the tours, men are ‘shy’ as per Lala. The terraced rice farms are done by hand with the help of buffaloes. Houses are separated by fields. Most people were on motorbikes as cars aren’t best for the terrain/ not affordable.

At 12.30 pm, we finished our walking tour and got back to our hotel. After lunch, we explored Sapa market, Mau Son temple and Sapa museum.

Sapa Market seemed as a single place catering to all needs be it cooked food, raw vegetables, meat, clothing, shoes etc.

Around 5.30 pm, we had a cab that took us to Lao Cai Railway station from where we boarded Sapaly Express train to Hanoi. There is no railway station at Sapa, only buses and cabs are available. It takes almost an hour to reach Lao Cai. It was pretty dark by then, sun sets pretty early around 5.15 pm.

On the train, we got a free upgrade. Though we were in a 4 sharing coach, no one else came throughout the night. On the train, snacks and water are served. The train reaches Hanoi at around 5.30 am, so no disturbances to sleep. A pretty neat train.

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Vietnam Itinerary – Day 1

After reaching early in the morning at Noi Bai International airport, quickly finished the immigration check and collected luggage. The airport was empty with no other flights landing at the same time.

Next was buying a SIM and getting VND, both are available at the airport. Money exchange and ATMs are available. We felt one SIM was sufficient for 2 of us.

From the airport, we had the hotel pickup to Paragon hotel where we got some time to nap and freshen up.

Around 7.30 am, the limousine guy came to pick us up for our journey to Sapa. Sapa is located in the northern part of Vietnam and it takes approximately 5.5 hours by road including breaks. We were provided with packed food and a bottle of water once we entered the limousine. Additionally there were 2 stops on the way for restroom and quick snacks. A drinks coupon was also provided, on the house.

After reaching Sapa by afternoon, we checked into Sapa Melody hotel. Rest of the day, walk around, explore the place, eat good food and try to escape from Hmongs!

Lunch – pumpkin soup, sticky rice, a chicken and a deer item

Sapa Station – closed due to maintainence

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Vietnam Itinerary – Day 0

1) Based on wherever you are located in Bangalore, plan and start well in advance. For my 4.30 pm flight, I took the 9.30 am KIA bus. I just made it on time😉

2) Research on available lounges at each airport and get suitable credit/ debit cards. For Rs 2, good food and relaxation. There are 2 lounges at Blr domestic, 080 is a premium lounge. Not all cards work here, for me only Niyo card worked here. The other lounge seemed to be accessible for most cards. Lounge access was available for 3 hours prior to flight departure. I planned for my lunch at the lounge.

3) Check-in for international flights can be done at airport for domestic connection. See that you have all needed documents in place like itinerary plan, vaccination certificate, evisa and passport ofcourse. The documents will be read through multiple times and some notes will be written into a book at check-in counter.

4) Atleast for Indigo, a single check-in at Bangalore was enough for luggage.

5) Kolkata airport seemed pretty confusing to me. Lots of walking to find the International transfer. Once security is done, use the lounge facility. International lounge seemed pretty small here with no washrooms inside the lounge. I took my dinner at this lounge.

6) Carrying a neck pillow would help to sleep and remove fatigue. Eye patch also if needed.

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Vietnam Itinerary – Pre-planning

The below planning is for a trip from Bangalore to Hanoi, however most points can be reused for a trip from anywhere in India.

Trip Itinerary – 1) Make a rough itinerary of places you would like to cover and the must sees, use recent YouTube videos to help here. 2) Once this is done, estimate number of days needed at each location, take into consideration travel time between destinations if you are covering multiple locations. 3) Keep in mind everyone’s interest and general health conditions are different, a single itinerary doesn’t fit all. 4) Research on areas, modes of transport between locations, food etc. The more you know, the better. A few Vietnamese words really helped. 5) Once a rough itinerary is made, use any online tour agency to refine the itinerary free of charge. Look for the ones that offers to accommodate changes and customisations. Also find one which fits your budget. I used designer journeys where you don’t pay until the entire itinerary is prepared to the last dot. Go for multiple edits here, ask for changes, ask for different modes of transport, the earlier research will help here. You can then decide if you want to pay or do the trip on your own using the above plan. 6) Keep some time for yourself in the itinerary. It becomes very hectic if entire trip is working on a schedule. So in my itinerary, I had all hotels, transfers between locations and just 2 day activities booked through designer journeys, rest all was planned separately.

Flight booking – 1) Book flights atleast 2-3 months in advance to get the best pricing, do different commutations and permutations if you are not particular about which date to travel. Indigo and AirAsia seems to have the least transfer time and lowest pricing. Costing from BLR to HAN is anywhere between 10k-16k one way, round trip could make it lower. 2) Not all flights run on every day, find the days where the transfer time is significantly less.

Visa – 1) Get evisa worth $25 by applying directly. Pretty straightforward site, you would need to provide approx travel dates so by now you should have made some plans around the date. 2) You can book flight first and then apply for evisa or the other way round, visa is got in 3-4 working days, they usually give a few days extra.

Passport – Valid password with atleast 6 months until expiry is needed.

Vaccination certificate – download the international travel copy from cowin before travel.

Cards and Cash – 1) If you are planning to carry cash, take USD, many places including airport offer money exchange to VND (Vietnamese dongs). 2) Load 1 or 2 cards with sufficient money. I had taken a forex card from bookmyforex and I had a Niyo card for backup, get this Niyo Card, very helpful. 3) Most places accept only VND so better to have sufficient amount in hand. 4) ATMs charge transaction charges, so pull out sufficient money for atleast 2-3 days in one go. Few banks charge more, I had used agribank ATMs that charged 22000 VND per transaction ~RS 70 5) Learn the different denominations and the conversions. VND by 300 is approx equivalent to value in rupees.

Weather – Research the weather and take ideal clothing. We had carried sweaters, ponchos and umbrella none of which we had to use. It drizzled on just one day and it was not cold enough to wear a sweater. Weather is also unpredictable, so make your best guesses here.

Mobile Sim – Sim is available for purchase at the airport with different plans. Took Viettel, which had excellent network coverage throughout. Excellent internet services. Most places like cafes, hotels, restuarants, provide free wifi.