Preparation phase
No oversea travels for over 3 years, since the onslaught of COVID pandemic. Pent-up desire for travels is building up in almost everyone, particularly those used to take annual pilgrimage oversea pre-COVID era.
Passport renewed 2 months back. Travel restrictions (COVID testing pre-/post travel) lifted in most countries. Krisflyer miles expiring soon. Time to explore travels again!
Finally opted for sightseeing in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City popped up initially. But after doing a quick internet search, I felt that Hanoi with its grandiose picturesque tourists spots might be a better option. Made some inquiries, and voila, itinenary finalized, air ticket booked...now just waiting for the arrival of the days (24-30 Sep)!
21-9-2022: went to money changer in Lucky Plaza to change for VND for the trip. Also get ready some travel medicines just in case. The VN SIM cards (x2) valid for 7 days of travel that I ordered through Shopee had arrived two days ago.
Day 1 (24 Sept 2022)
CJ drove us to Terminal 1 Changi Airport to board our Scoot Airline around 7. 15 am. Auto checked in, cleared immigration, took our breakfast at SAT lounge, and finally boarded the plane! It has been almost 3 years since we last travelled and used the airport lounges!
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| Boarding gate |
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| The shy Scoot aeroplane hiding behind the connecting bridge |
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| Inside the plane, waiting for take-off; must wear mask in-flight |
Smooth flight. Cleared immigration. Had to walk around outside arrival hall to look for our pick up driver... He was sitting somewhere in the vicinity, holding placade with my name written on it.
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| Arrival Hall @ Hanoi International Airport |
Finally checked into our hotel around 2pm...struggled a while to get VN Sim card inserted and activated.
Free and easy for the day. Off we went to explore Hoàn Kiếm Lake 还剑湖 (Sword Lake) nearby. It rained heavily suddenly. Luckily we were equipped with umbrellas. The rain stopped after some time. We walked around the lake... It reminded me of 西湖 in China. Many local tourists around, snapping photos of the surrounding.
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| Motorbikes and more motorbikes. There were apparent 5 million motorbikes in Hanoi (out of 8 million population) |
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| Typical scene @ Old Quarter |
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| Hoan Kiem Lake Square... a bustling meeting place near Hoan Kiem Lake |
Visited the Ngoc Son Temple (Temple of Jade Mountain) located at northern end of Hoan Kiem Lake. The iconic Huc Bridge (bright red bridge) connects the temple to the lake bank.
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| Path leading to the temple |
Entrance into the temple.
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| The Huc Bridge |
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| Caught in the rain when visiting the temple |
Inside the temple...
View from the lake bank...
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| Turtle tower standing in the middle of the lake, for almost 150 years. |
Old quarters near the lake...
Hoan Kiem Lake Square ... it is converted into walking street from 7pm on Friday - Sunday...
Eating "Satay stick" along the street... sitting on the stool waiting for the food to be ready...
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| The Huc Bridge brightly lit up at night |
We wanted to visit Dong Xuan Market at night.... but discovered it was closed at night. Chanced upon the night street market on our way to Dong Xuan Market.
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| Right opposite Dong Xuan Market was a crowd sitting on stools, eating porridge. It was quite delicious! |
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| The Dong Xuan Market was closed for the day! |
Night market....
Day 2 (25 Sept 2022): Visiting Ha Long Bay
Boarded the tour bus at 7.30am from our hotel. After picking up a few more tourists, we travelled for over 2 hours to docking jetty @ Ha Long Bay.
Stopped at a pearl making show-house along the way - a toilet break at the same time. Learnt something about how pearl is being farmed from mussels.
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| Getting ready to board the tour bus |
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| Mussels used for pearl farming |
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| Demonstration of how pearl is being seeded, cultivated and extracted... |
Reached jetty (Ha Long Bay Pier), took a boat that brought us to our cruise ship...
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| Tourists boarding a boat that would bring them to cruise ship nearby |
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| Seated inside our boat |
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| The boat that brought us to our cruise ship |
Had our lunch (included in the trip).. was rather dismayed that the lunch did not include drinks. Luckily, we had 2 bottles of mineral water with us.
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| waiting for our lunch |
Exploring the cruise ship...
First stop (after our lunch) - visited Sung Sot (Surprise) Cave. Quite a huge cave, with colourful display of stalagtites and stalagmites.
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| The "choppy" ripples formation on the roof of the cave |
Then, visited Ti Top Island... Climbed up 400 steep steps to the top of the island, to have bird eye view of surrounding scenery. I had to stop several times to catch my breath along the way... the view was simply superb!
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| Statue of Russian cosmonaut Gherman Titov. The island was named after him by Uncle Ho in 1962, |
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| Steep 400 steps ascent up the slope, to the peak of the island |
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| View from the top of Ti Top Island |
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| Selfie from the top |
Some tourists were swimming in the beach as well.
Went back to our cruise around 5pm ... learnt how to make Vietnamese spring rolls, then took our dinner.
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| Our cruise ship |
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| Posing outside our cabin |
Enjoyed sunset view of Ha Long Bay.
After dinner, there was some Karaoke session. We took our leave earlier, after I had done my share of singing (月亮代表我的心).
Stayed overnight at Ha Long Bay.
Day 3 (26 Sept 2022): Day 2 of Ha Long Bay
Highlight for the day was kayaking at Luon Cave.
For those who are not keen on kayaking, they could opt for a ride on bamboo boat (peddled by a boat man). Kayaking is free (included in the tour package), but a ride on bamboo boat cost USD 2/ person.
We went for kayaking (2 person sharing one kayak), of course.
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| The boat brought us from our cruise ship to kayaking venue |
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| Life jacket - paddles - took off shoes - sat on kayak - off we went |
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| The cave we kayak underneath... to encircle lagoon beyond |
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| Warthop.. |
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| After finishing our kayaking trip, waiting to board our boat back to cruise ship. |
After kayaking, we were brought back to our cruise boat. Washed ourselves and changed into new clothers, checked out from our room, and took our lunch. By the time we finished our lunch, we had arrived at the jetty.
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Check-out our luggage
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Arrived at Ha Long Bay Pier
Reached Hanoi around 2pm --> dropped off at Lily Travel Agency, paid the remaining amount of our travel fees (some hiccup in the credit card machine in the travel agency initially, finally settled in the evening). Went for a short walking tour - visited the Catholic chapel nearby, and walked a short distance to nearby Hoan Kiem Lake and Opera House... took our dinner (noodles) --> walked back to Lily Travel Agency -> showered in the office, and waited for travel via sleeping coach to Sapa.
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| Ice cream shop |
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| Opera House |
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| Frog fountain, built in 1901 by the French |
The sleeping coach was quite an experience - we slept at the upper deck. It stopped twice along the way for toilet breaks (no toilet in the bus). The ride was slightly bumpy (acceptable and expected for ride in coach). The bed was fairly comfortable.
Day 4 (27 Sept 2022) : Sapa (visited Fansipan aka Sun World Fansipan Legend in the morning, and Cat Cat Village in the afternoon)
The sleeping coach reached Sapa around 4am, we disembarked from the coach around 5pm. Our tour guide picked us up at 6am, and brought us for early check in to our hotel (AIRA boutique Sapa Hotel & Spa).
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| Arrived very early in the morning, the sky was still dark |
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| Waiting for our guide... |
Our hotel for the night...
The view from our room was simply amazing. The room was quite spacious and comfy as well.
Went for breakfast, then off we went to Sun World Fansipan Legend.
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| The gateway before cable car station |
Ascended via cable car, and walked for a few hundred meters, took a funicular train up steep slope to Fansipan peak.
Snapped a few photos from the peak.
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| view from cable care |
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| View before the entrance into cable car station |
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| View from cable care |
After Fansipan mountain, we were brought back to our hotel for a short 3 hours' rest.
Then we resumed our journey - visiting Cat Cat Village.
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| Entering into CAT CAT village |
Cat Cat Village is a rather touristy/commercialised area. If you were thinking of seeing/experiencing traditional living condition of the natives, you would be disappointed. The areas are purpose built to cater for tourism.
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| After paying for the entrance fees, we walked down the paved road down to various tourist spots in CAT CAT village |
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| Items sold along the road |
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| First stop - tree house for Instagram shots |
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| The HAND |
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| fortunately, the view was quite good. |
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| The WINGS |
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| The HEART |
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| The EYE |
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| The NEST |
Nevertheless, the waterfall, windmill, and the meandering river more than make-up for the inadequacy. These are the highlights of the trip. (It really reminded me of 古龙， 金庸武侠场景）。
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| The tribal seniors were engaged in photoshot session |
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| Cultural performance |
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| Preparing food |
Was dropped off at Quang Truong Square after Cat Cat Village.
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| This seems to be a favourite spot for tourists to take photo/selfie |
Walked around the town, took our dinner (local pho), then walked back to our hotel.
Day 5 (28 Sept 2022): visited two local villages (Lao Cai and Ta Van)
Left hotel around 8am.
Trekking along the paved mountain roads to the two local villages. The main attraction is the terraced rice fields in the vicinity.
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| Locals at work.. picking up rice harvest |
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| Trekking through a unpaved path... kind of a short cut through the woods |
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| A pleasant surprise to see a cow being guided by its companion |
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| Our tour guide with her two relatives |
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| making roast meat |
The highlight of the trip is trekking through the 2 villages, and enjoying the fantastic natures / terrace fields. Met some natives who were going through their daily tasks.
It was fortunate that there was no rain on that day. Otherwise, it would be difficult to do the trekking.
Due to COVID travel restrictions, quite a number of Homestay facilities in the two villages had been shut down/left vacant.
Completed our trekking by 12 noon. Went for lunch, and returned to our hotel for check-out.
Took sleeping coach back to Hanoi (2pm - 7pm).
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| Our sleeping coach |
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| on the way to Hanoi |
Lily Travel Agency arranged for taxi to pick us up from bus station -> brought us to our hotel.
Day 6 (29 Sept 2022): Day trip to Ninh Binh
It rained the entire morning, with sporadic heavy shower in early afternoon.
The drive to Ninh Binh 陆龙湾 took about 2 hours.
First stop - Hoa Lu 华闾 Ancient Capital
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| Entrance to the ancient city... It was raining heavily. Our shoes were all soaked wet under the rain |
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| Not sure why the farmer brought the cow here... don't be mistaken, it was not paddy field |
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| Entrance to the temple honouring one of the emperors |
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| The Dragon Bed on the extreme left |
Then cycled in the rain for short sightseeing trip of nearby village, followed by lunch.
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| Bicycle garage next to the restaurant where we took our lunch |
My wife was not confident of cycling in the rain - she became my pillion rider. The ride was smooth, except for when negotiating the slope up the bridge... she had to alight from my bicycle (otherwise it would be impossible to move forward!).
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| Photos courtesy of our tour guide; the rain was quite heavy. Our pants /shoes were all drenched |
2nd stop: Trang An 长安 Boat Tour (almost 2.5 hours boat ride, passing through 3 caves). Sporadic showers on-off.
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| Walking underground to docking area for paddle boat ride |
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| Entering a cave.... there were three caves to negotiate. |
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| Some ancient temples along the river |
It was truly Ha Long Bay of the Land! The scenery was fantastic... but the 2.5 hours ride was a bit too long for my butt!
3rd stop: Hang Mu 卧龙山 (Dancing Caves) - climbed up 500 steps to a view point, and enjoyed the picturesque view of the valley and meandering river below. Fortunately, the rain had stopped by then.
Chanced upon 4 mountain goats scavenging food in the slope.
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| 骏马图 |
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| Before climbing the 500 steps... |
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| The ascent to the top... for 360' view of the scenery |
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| Mountain goat |
Departed from Ninh Binh around 5.50pm. Reached Honoi around 7pm +.
Walked around nearby streets - took dinner (spring rolls, porridge, beef salads).
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| Do what the locals do... dined while sitting on the low stool. |
Day 7 (30 Sept 2022): Final day, back to Singapore
Took breakfast - went to Dong Xuan Market, the largest indoor wholesale market in Hanoi.
Walked around the various streets in Old Quarter. Bought some wind breaker pants and winter jacket.
Retired to our hotel, getting ready for transport to Hanoi International Airport.
Finally reached Singapore near 6pm.
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| Reaching Singapore |
Final thoughts:
1. it was truly fortunate that the weather was good during our Ha Long Bay and Sapa trips.
It was raining, we would not be able to see the heavenly view of the Fansipan peak, or visited the two villages. We learnt that a typhoon hit central Vietnam on 28 Sept.... we were safe in the north!
2. be warned that the meals included in the tour package do not include drinks!
3. the so-called traditional villages in Sapa are very artificial and commercialised - don't carry high expectation of seeing something authentic/untouched by modern lifestyles.
4. despite the some short comings, Vietnam is a vast country. There are still many places worth exploring.
