Tag Archives: train

Travelinds, Vietnam

Vietnam Trains

17 August 2014

Vietnam TrainsLike the curious travellers we are, Travelinds had read all about the train travel in Vietnam and figured this would be a great way to see the country.

Vietnam is connected by train from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh city and the total trip between these two big cities spans about 36 hours. There are different types of trains, cabin classes and also differing prices, depending on how you buy tickets.

Our original plan was to do the backpacking thing and hop on-hop off whenever we wanted to stop (which sounded easy enough in theory, but in reality was quite time consuming and, due to the language barrier (and “tourist” tickets vs. “local” tickets), required slightly more advanced planning than just pitching up at the train station in time to catch a train).

We also didn’t have an ‘open’ ticket as we’d envisioned, but had to buy tickets for each specific trip (Hanoi to Hue, etc.).

The idea was to spend as many nights on the train as possible, to save time and money on hotels and not miss out on whole travel days (especially since trips were between eight and sixteen hours).

Vietnam Trains
Sleeper cabin (4 bunks)

There seems to be a lot of mixed information about the trains and purchasing tickets and we didn’t have enough time to figure it all out.

We had tried to read up a lot about it before we arrived, but each trip turned out slightly differently from the last and we still don’t actually know if half the stuff we read was true or relevant!

Train travel through Vietnam was an amazing experience, so much fun and definitely worth the extra effort and hours.

Prices for train travel were reasonable, it was comfortable, we felt safe even in the soft seats section and we didn’t get ripped off by any sneaky con men along the way.

I would definitely do this all again!

Travelinds, Vietnam

Hue, Vietnam

13 August 2014

Hue, Vietnam

Imperial Fortress
The Imperial Fortress is full of dragons, depicting power.

Hue, the epicenter of ancient Vietnam and previous capital city. Home to the Imperial Fortress, Royal residences, pagodas, tombs, the Perfume River and so much history of war and destruction.

Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to go and see the ‘garden houses’ and I’m sure this would have been a great place to see Hue’s historical beauty preserved by patriotic, caring citizens.

Hue was definitely one of the most interesting places that we visited in Vietnam.  The local cuisine is truly unique and delicious too; I would definitely consider the food as one of the main attractions in this city!

Bicycle Culture

Hue was well worth a trip, especially if you like historical and cultural aspects of travelling.

It is small enough to cycle around (we hired bicycles from our hotel for $2 per day) and there are so many little places to explore, including some local entrepreneurs at street stalls, quaint shops and interesting restaurants.

We stayed at The Canary Hotel ($18, big clean rooms, air-con, nice view higher up, lovely breakfast on the 7th floor overlooking the city).

The staff were really helpful here with planning activities and the rest of our trip to Hoi An.

There is a bus that comes right past the Canary hotel for $5 pp to take you to Hoi An (we made a day trip out of it rather for $12 pp and went on a private van through Lang Co, Hai Van pass, Marble Mountain Danang, to Hoi An).

Hue Night Market
The night market was fascinating. These handpainted pictures were one of the things we bought (for about $1)!The night market was fascinating. These handpainted pictures were one of the things we bought (for about $1)!

 

TIP #1: Ask your hotel about the night market (between the bridges) as this was a highlight for us (it was a Friday night, local market not aimed at tourists, great buys and interesting things to see and do).

 

TIP #2: The traffic is still a little crazy in parts but you get in to the swing of things and people seemed generally patient with tourists on bicycles and motorbikes. The Thien Mu Pagoda was 3 km out along the Perfume River road and it turned out to be an awesome cycle from the Imperial City to the Pagoda and back to our hotel (about 10 kilometers total).  Plus, Hue is relatively flat so cycling on creaking bicycles without gears is not too difficult.

 

TIP #3: When we visited the Imperial Fortress, we didn’t realise that we couldn’t cycle around inside the paid area (about 105,000 VND per person to enter the purple “forbidden” city), so be prepared for a lot of walking, in the hot sun! Take water, sunscreen and comfortable walking shoes here to make the most of the experience. The Purple city ticket also provides access to the museum just around the corner from the exit. There are places to park your bicycles close by, which the hotel can indicate on the map (only a small fee for a whole day’s parking).

Check out more information on Vietnamese Food, Vietnamese Trains and Hoi An.

Travelinds, Vietnam

Hanoi, Vietnam

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10 August 2014

From the moment we landed in Hanoi, we knew that it was something special. Crazy, but special. And granted, not as crazy as Ho Chi Minh City for the most part.  The atmosphere here seems to be one of relaxed oblivion with a side of hodgepodge cultural pride, a heaped dose of traffic chaos and of course, the ancient remnants of a thriving city that has survived many years of hurt but has managed to retain its unique flair.  Hanoi

Modern development springs up beside poverty and neglect and there is always an entrepreneurial focus to daily life for the general population – everything is for sale and everything is negotiable with the right attitude.

For example, our first introduction to a walk through the Old Quarter, was a very enterprising man who basically tripped my husband while we were taking a slow walk and then proceeded to squirt super-glue on his toe (“apparently” aiming for his shoe). He then demanded a dollar for ‘fixing’ the said shoe (even though it wasn’t broken), despite the fact that we had in no way asked for this service to be administered.  He followed us a long way down the street until he finally gave up trying to force us to pay him (we are a little stubborn about this sort of thing having had a lot of experience travelling in Asia and Africa).

Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi
Sunday night in Hanoi, at the square alongside Hoan Kiem Lake.

Entrepreneurial spirit is one thing and is gladly rewarded, but scams are just downright infuriating for usually careful travellers.

Other than that, Hanoi treated us very well indeed. It was fascinating to experience the extremes of modern development alongside the preservation of ancient customs and architecture.

The grand opulence of the Vincom Mega Mall (Royal City) seems strangely out of place among the rundown apartment buildings and multicoloured street sellers that wind their way between the cheeky motorbikes, crawling all over the streets and lined up on the sidewalks.

What to expect in Hanoi

…crazy traffic, motorbikes everywhere, amazing massages, persistent vendors, hundreds of restaurants, shops for anything you could ever possibly want, whole streets dedicated to particular products (silk, fans etc), resourceful entrepreneurs, beautiful architecture, interesting art, eclectic charm.

Favourite memory

Mangosteens are a real treat when travelling in South East Asia and we located a small Vietnamese lady, complete with conical woven hat, who was selling mangosteens and other fruit off her heavily loaded bicycle (somewhere on the edge of the Old Quarter). She weighed my purchase with an ancient, rusted scale (the kind that looks like it belongs in one of Vietnam’s museums) and placed the cash into her handwoven purse.  The mangosteens were delicious, but this memory will last long after the fruit has disappeared.

Read more reviews about Hanoi hotels and restaurants on TripAdvisor:
Hanoi Sweet Home, Hoan Kiem Lake, Minh Thuy’s Family Restaurant, Tasty Restaurant

Next up…

From Hanoi, we went up north to Sa Pa and then east to Halong Bay – both stunning locations in northern Vietnam.