It should have become my second trip to Vietnam. In 2016 I really did have a unique experience while traveling across Vietnam, by bus and night train. This time, we’d visit Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh and Hoi An. I was looking forward to visit Hoi An, as I missed it on my first Vietnamese adventure.
However it turned out as the worst start I ever had for trip.
VISA MADNESS.
Well, partially it could have been our fault, as we have been lazy with the VISA ON ARRIVAL procedure that you need to apply for, prior the departure. The official website says it wouldn’t last longer than 3 days to get the approval.
On Monday I filled out all the form for our family (3 visas), on Friday morning, the day of our departure, I still didn’t get any approval in my mailbox. After sending a mail already on Thursday, and not getting a reply, I decided to make a phone call to Vietnam, as we really needed these letter form to make it onto the plane.
Reaching a clerk on the line, I told them, that our visa hasn’t been approved yet, and that we would need them by tonight. “Sorry sir, it’s 5pm, too late. We can’t help you, change your flight”. I told them, that we couldn’t switch our flights, as our holidays had to end within a week, due to school holidays. Changing the schedule of our trip wasn’t an option. But they just didn’t mind and wouldn’t help.
So I tried several offices, and I always got the same response “weekend will start in one hour, sorry can’t help” (due to the time difference). Devastated about canceling our holidays, we tried every website or facebook account which could be helpful, so I made another phone call to a service we found on FB, which mentioned they would approve emergency visas within an hour. After telling our situation for the 10th time, same response “sorry it’s almost weekend, can’t help”. I replied that they mentioned on their website about the 24/24h service, and that we need the visas for tonight, however we would land on the following day in Vietnam, and that I would be willing pay any price. “Wait! Please get in touch with my supervisor”. So we managed with a LOT of luck to get emergency visas for 150$ per person. I was in touch with a young lady on whatsapp, and she helped us through the whole procedure. In the end, it worked out. It was a shit load of money, as we already had paid for the initial visas, but we didn’t want to cancel our holidays, so we agreed to pay the amount of 450$. In the end I gave her another 50$, as she was the only person among 10 contacts, who was willing to help us.
So the moral of the story… don’t believe what they say about the processing time. After this mess, I’d recommend to apply for the visa at least 10 days before your departure.
Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh, who used to go by the name of Saigon, was our city of arrival, as we planned to visit our friend Craig, who moved from Luxembourg to Vietnam two years ago. So it would be great to meet him again in person, while we’d be visiting Vietnam.
We were so glad that we’d made it and that in the end the whole visa thing turned out well.
As soon as we reached the hotel we headed out to get some street food, as it was already pretty late (10pm).
We should also mention that we got scammed by a taxi driver. Outside the airport, we just stood in line, to get onto an official yellow taxi, to avoid any kind of rip off. However, even while jumping on a so-called official taxi. The taxi meter rose pretty fast, and quickly reached the 25$ after only a few minutes driving. So I texted Craig, and he mentioned to never pay more than 12-15$ for a taxi. By then, we reached the 35$. I told the taxi to stop, as I wouldn’t pay the amount. He told us, that the gas prices went through the roof lately, and because of that, the prices were way more expensive than they used to be. We bargained for a set price of 35$, otherwise we would just drop us in the middle of the main road. Traveling with the baby, we agreed to pay. Later at the hotel, the staff told us to take a photo of the license in the windshield, and call the police, so the taxi driver would lose his job. Upon reaching the hotel, I handed over a money bill (worth 50$), and the driver tried to rip me off again, with turning back less money.
First the visa issues, now this… it all started so well. :)
Ho Chi Min was cleaner than I thought, but less “asian” than I expected. It just looked like a regular big city, with lots of tall concrete buildings. The street food, didn’t look very inviting. So our first dinner consisted of 2 grilled rice paper, with spring onions, some meat and french cheese on it. It wasn’t great.
On the second day, we started with some street markets, tourist shit that we love. And it felt great being back in Asia, as it was the first time after two years, due to the pandemic. We visited the main sights in HCM that we wanted to discover: the pink church, the book street, the old post office, and the 42 Nguyen Hue Coffee Apartment.
If you’ve visited Hanoi before, Ho Chi Minh, might look less appealing, because it’s more modern, less sketchy, and people seem to have a higher standard of living. It just wasn’t like the Vietnam that I had in mind after my last trip.
Ho Chi Min people, however were the nicest I had met in Vietnam. They were kinda talkative, and trying to socialize with us. So many locals wanted to take a photo with our daughter. All the people we got in touch with, were very helpful and welcoming.
Foodwise, it wasn’t as great as Hanoi for example. You really had to know where to look for a good restaurant. Streetfood didn’t seem that appealing to us. Everything was super cheap though, you never had to care about money.
A surprisingly cool evening happened to take place right in front of our hotel, as Vietnam was playing against Thailand (soccer game). Guess who won? Vietnam of course… the hell broke loose! Suddenly after the end of the game, millions of scooters were cruising through the city center, chanting, screaming, pushing the horn, singing… it was just a huge party all over Ho Chi Minh. And still they all celebrated with the biggest respect towards pedestrians, and the police force. No fights, no dangerous speeding. It was pretty unique moment, to be part of it.
During the day we walked through the Bui Vien avenue, which is comparable to Bangkok’s Khao San Road. Quiet during the day, but crazy lively at night. The party road of the city. As we were traveling with a 1 year old daughter, we thought that we should skip this part. However I can imagine, that we would have loved it on our early trips.
Meeting our friend Craig was kind of the nicest part of our Ho Chi Minh experience. We met up twice and had dinner with him in places where we might haven’t found by ourselves. The pho (vietnamese soup) was the best we had for only 3-4$. His neighbourhood was fancy, and quite different to the city center. We were glad to get invited for a drink at his place, just before he would leave it for his next destination Indonesia in the upcoming months.
Hoi An.
We took two inland flights within 7 days in Vietnam, and all these went flawless. Traveling by plane was so easy and stress-less. And the tickets were crazy cheap as well (25€ per flight).
Hoi An was the next stop. Our friend Craig warned us, that Hoi An would be super touristic. We didn’t mind, as we really wanted to witness all the things we knew from google or Instagram : colorful lanterns, boat rides on the river, great Vietnamese dinners in the evening, traditional colorful clothing… we wanted the whole experience.
Hoi An, already offered what we were missing in Ho Chi Minh. The rural life, the locals, tiny street markets, all kind of street food, open air bars… it just seemed more authentic to western tourists who wanted to experience Asia.
It took us 10 minutes walking to reach the old town of Hoi An, which was the most famous part of the city, we all the tourists were gathering together. Despite being touristic it was crazy beautiful, and so photogenic. Especially during evening hours when the lanterns were lit.
The Old Town feels like a maze, because it’s divided in so many tiny alleys which all look alike after a while, and it’s hard to not get lost. In between the alleys you will find street markets, services for boat rides, colorful lanterns hanging all over the city. As soon as you start getting out of Old Town, you will bump into a row of tailors hunting for tourists to make them buy tailored clothes for a super cheap price. First we tried to avoid them, however on our last day we figured out how cheap a suit would be, and that they could have it done within 3 hours. Just before leaving for the airport, two different shops brought us 2 complete men suits, 4 men shirts, 3 women dresses (all hand made) for 350$. Their service was insane… they were working super fast, and the tissues we used were completely different to what we are used in Europe. Getting something done by a tailor, will be a must on our future trips to Asia.
Besides the city center and appreciating our fancy hotel Hoi An, we didn’t do that much. We enjoyed the sights and colors of the Old Town, fueled up the sunshine, and tasted some Vietnamese food. It was a beautiful experience visiting Hoi An.
The gentleman (pictured on the middle photo above) was selling black&white photoprints on rice paper in the city center of Hoi An. The smell of antique wooden furniture in his shop, the black&white prints all over the entrance and his walls inside the shop, gave this whole place a special vibe, and many people were stopping by to watch these photos of war. The shopkeeper told me his story about the war versus the U.S., as he was navy soldier during war times. He showed me his bullet wounds on this legs, when he get shot by the Americans. This conversation was very deep and interesting at the same time. As I bought a couple of photos, he allowed me to take a portrait of him.
Hanoi.
After 6 years have passed, I was curious about getting back to Hanoi. On the way from the airport to the hotel, so many memories popped up, that I had forgotten about, however seeing the buildings and the streets, the memories felt like it would have been only a year appart.
As we arrived very late at night, we decided to start our exploring of the city on the next morning. Hanoi just felt like the complete opposite of Ho Chi Minh. It’s more chaotic, it’s dirtier, it smells bad in some areas, however it’s definitely how I had Vietnam in mind… authentic.
Around Hoan Kiem Lake, most streets are covered with trees, they are super lively due to the high traffic, and the endless shops and foodstalls along the road. You mostly just walk on the road, as there’s no space on the sidewalk due to the parked motorbikes.
Hanoi is a big city, however if you plan your daytrips well enough, you can see most of it within 2 days. That’s what we had, 2 nights. As it was the first time for my girlfriend in the city, I wanted to show her what I had found most fascinating in and around the city: the Hoan Kiem Lake, Long Bien Bridge, Ho Chi Minh-Mausoleum (which wasn’t accessible due to road blocks), the crashed B52 bomber, and its worn down neighborhood.
We definitely loved the area around Hoan Kiem Lake. It’s the right place to watch people. The red bridge on the lake always looks appealing while walking by. The shops around the lake, and the coffee places nearby makes it an enjoyable place throughout the day. Especially on weekends, where they will close the main roads, children are allowed to play on the streets, and it’s even more lively.
Walking towards Long Bien Bridge, you do walk through some smelly and rough blocks. It doesn’t make Hanoi really appealing. However I do love walking upon the bridge, seeing the crazy motorbike traffic passing by, getting a view over endless fields, and just seeing that old rusty bridge in front of you. It felt as intriguing as the first time.
The small pond where the B52 bomber had crashed, was just a mess, the water is filled up with trash and seaweed. I wouldn’t even take a photo. The walk towards Quang An, took us almost 90 minutes. In the end it wasn’t fun anymore, as the sun was burning our skin, and we just wouldn’t find any water on the stretch that leaded along the Ho Tay lake. Quang An just felt like the westerner’s area, where you would find many fancy dining options, and designer shops, however without any Vietnamese customers. It just didn’t feel right. Obviously the restaurants looked promising, however the vibe wasn’t right. A place were rich folks loved to hang out. There was absolutely nothing interesting in the neighborhood, even though Quang An was praised online, to have become to new hangout place for the hip folks. I prefer the run down places, that seem more authentic, and they come with a communist vibe. Well we enjoyed our ramen never the less.
On our last day (our departure back home was around midnight) I visited the surroundings of the Nhà Thờ Lớn Hà Nội cathedral, as I was looking for a poster-shop that used to sell communist propaganda posters printed on rice paper. Back then, when I was visiting Hanoi for the first time, I was amazed by the graphic design of those vintage prints. Sadly the shop didn’t exist anymore. But luckily a new one opened in the same street. The artshop “Collective Memory - The House of Curios” had opened next-door, and it was way more arty than the mentioned poster shop. I was welcomed by the nicest shop-holders I had met in Hanoi. After a little chat about the world, they recommended me a unique dining experience on our last night at Chả Cá Thăng Long, to get a proper typical Vietnamese dish before jumping into the airplane. It was quite an experience, as it felt like a hidden place. The restaurant was a big beautiful villa hidden among palm trees in a private entrance. We were sat outside among the locals. Without any big talks, they started asking for drinks, while setting up our table. They only offered one fish dish, quick and simple. The fish gets served with greens, that you cook all together in a wok, right on your table. The food was excellent! The location was beautiful, and it was relatively cheap compared to what it looks from the outside.
Definitely the perfect farewell dinner for this beautiful one week trip in Vietnam.