We recently confirmed our love of the in-country travel hack, after booking a five-night holiday in Northern Vietnam. Having snagged the Cathay First Class Mistake fare, we knew we had to depart from Vietnam’s beach tourism hub, Da Nang. As a Sydneysider, it’s hard to get too excited about anyone else’s beaches. Instead, we decided to deep dive into Vietnamese history, culture and scenery.
Halong Hub tours did a fantastic job of organising the trip, both over the phone and online. To be fair I was sceptical at first. However ,the professionalism shone through. They were also persistent. We had not quite decided on the trip but they kept the contact up. Great marketing.
Payment was by credit card. This was comforting as it provides a certain level of consumer protection. A deposit of 30% was paid on a credit card and the rest in USD cash in Hanoi. We purchased the USD online with St George, giving us a good selection of notes (as an alternative, Milton recently got his USD from a Westpac ATM in Kent street).
In this post:
Same Same but Different
Julie is a big fan of Abercrombie and Kent tours, even though she has never been on one (I am too cheap). In Vietnam you can get copy clothes (North Face and Under Armour are popular for knock offs) and clothes copied (bring your own to Hoi An and the tailor will do the rest).
We copied an A&K tour! On our tour we had three must-see sights, all Unesco World Heritage listings: Halong Bay, Hue and Hoi An.
While there are limited direct flights to Hanoi from Sydney, lots of major airlines fly out of Hanoi. This is useful if you want to fly on to other Asian cities or beyond. We flew Qantas to Singapore, spent a couple of nights in Singapore and then flew Vietnam Airlines to Hanoi. Make sure you have a valid visa or you wont get on the plane.
Day One: Hanoi and Food tour
We arrived in Vietnam in the early afternoon. With the visa on arrival, you queue with the paperwork and a photo to have your visa processed. Instead, we paid a premium to have someone do it for us and were through in 10 minutes. I reckon the standard queue was closer to 30 minutes.
Bobby from Halong Hub met us as we walked out of Customs. It took around 30 minutes to get into town. I love Hanoi. It remains in a time warp with cars almost non existent and everything moving via motorbike.
The accommodation was at the Palmy Hotel and Spa in the old town. A fantastic three-star hotel with clean rooms and a lovely rooftop breakfast. Highly recommended.
We had 30 minutes to freshen up and were then met by the effervescent Mr Long for the food tasting tour of Hanoi. Both Mr Long and the food were fantastic. Mr Long also taught us how to cross roads. Look ahead, step out, walk slowly, be side-by-side and pray when you get to the other side. The other tip is to look for a local and stay very close to them.
All I can say is that the food is sensational and a must do. You will go into places you would normally walk by. Enjoy.
Tip: Trust me, the food tasting tour can have dire consequences. Make sure you pack your Lomotil!
Day 2: Halong Bay Azalea Cruise
We had a 9 am pick up for the two-hour drive to the Halong Bay “cruise terminal”. After checking our bags, it was around a 30-minute wait before we caught the tender to Azalea 2.
Azalea is one of the top-end ships that cruise Halong Bay. As we booked during shoulder period, our boat was barely half full. The staff were friendly and attentive, particularly Ellie and JC. All meals and activities were included. In 24 hours we visited the caves on Cat Ba island, went swimming, kayaking, attended a cooking class, had a private Tai Chi session, enjoyed a two-hour sunset happy hour and had dinner on the deck upstairs.
Of course the highlight were the islands of Halong Bay itself. Pictures don’t do them justice. Our room was superb, with a small deck on which you could relax, watching the islands and activities drift by.
When we stopped for the night, our boat was approached by local fisherwomen selling snacks and ice cold beer. I could not resist. After some haggling, I bought a beer. At first, my fisherwoman wanted to charge me more than the cost of the beer in the minibar! Money and beer were finally exchanged via a long pole and net.
When I do this again, I’ll stay an extra night on the boat. They do nearly identical two-day tours and the setting is so spectacular you need more time to absorb it.
Day 3: Hoi An
The day started with waking up to the sunrise over Halong Bay. I enjoyed a Tai Chi with JC on the deck and then spent the rest of the morning kayaking. After early lunch on board it was soon time to say goodbye.
We spent a short time in Hanoi before being driven to the airport for the flight to Da Nang. We visited the Priority Pass lounge which was pleasant.
The transfer to the Royal Riverside Hotel Hoi An was efficient. We arrived quite late but Bobby had asked them to keep dinner for us.
The Royal Riverside is a friendly three-star hotel that is an easy walk to Hoi An city itself. At breakfast we discovered it was popular with polite Australian-school tour groups from the Central Coast.
Day 4: The Imperial City of Hue
The next day had a rather early start at 8 am. We met Jenny our private tour guide for the day. She was a fantastic guide and is highly recommended. While the drive from Hoi An to Hue is not far, it does take a while, around three hours. The driver provided by Halong was good and the ride comfortable. We also got to see the sights en route, including paddy fields, fishing villages and water buffalo.
Hue itself was impressive, a walled city built on the Perfume River. Much of it was destroyed during the American Vietnam war. What remains shows how large and spectacular it would have been.
Lunch was provided. We had an excellent Vietnamese meal in a restaurant that specialized in private tour groups like ours. The location in a garden villa was superb.
After lunch we went on a short river cruise, visited a pagoda and a mausoleum (see map for details).
Our tour guides were great. They even took us home the long way through Da Nang and then to a tailor in Hoi Ann to get some dresses copied.
Hoi An is famous for the number of tailors who can make low cost, quality clothing. We had a tailor recommendation, BeBe’s, from Adara. a colleague of mine at work. Julie had brought some clothes that she wanted copied. Nothing was a problem.
I am not the best bargainer. We paid around USD160 for two dresses. Julie assures me it was a bargain. The dresses were ready for pickup the next day.
The driver and guide were very patient with the addition of this unscheduled stop to our itinerary. All up, a long ten-hour day but worth every minute.
We were able to freshen up and then hit the streets of Hoi An. After dinner in the old town, we went to see the amazing light show on the river. One of the big benefits of staying at the three-star hotel in Hoi An over the branded hotels of Da Nang is the extra time you can spend visiting the night markets and the lantern display.
Day 5: Hoi An
A tip for Hoi An is to do the touring early before the busloads of tourists arrive. You are supposed to have a ticket to visit Hoi An which we only realised on day two. We bought a ticket with five coupons that we had used to visit some of the original merchant houses. This seems to double as the entry ticket.
At night Hoi An comes alive. The river is transformed with water-born candles and sampans carrying lanterns. We had heard about it but until you see it first hand, you don’t appreciate the beauty.
The Food in Hoi An was a highlight
We found three great places to eat:
- MS Khans, outside the old town, is famous for Bahn Mi. At 25,000 VND ($1.60), it was the best value meal of trip and so worthwhile. Its also just up the road from our tailor BeBe’s
- TamTam Cafe, 110 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, was a great coffee shop near the Japanese Bridge, set above a crafts shop. We bought the traditional Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk. We enjoyed the coffee and ambience so much we bought a second!
- Brothers Cafe, 27-29 Phan Boi Chau Street, was the surprise meal. From the outside it looks like a faded French villa. Once through the front door, it opens up to gardens and views of the river. Set under the trees and with a cooling sea breeze, it was a great place to recharge in the heat of the day. Our tour guide recommended we try the local noodle dish and chrysanthemum dumpling. They were both excellent.
The next day we were driven for about 40 minutes to Da Nang where we started the next part of our adventure.
The great thing about Halong Hub is that they were able to assemble a trip to meet our needs, based on some research we had done. Now that I know how easy it is, I will add more time and visit more places on our next trip.
Vietnam is very affordable. Enjoy it while you can.
Summary: Consider using a local guide to organise your trip. Vietnam is a great place to visit whether it is a short 5-night trip or longer.
