It seems like every major city in Asia has shopping areas which all tend to be very similar. Cho Dong Xuan is no different. Like most streets in Hanoi the streets in the Dong Xuan area were narrow but the densely packed stores (along with the usual swarms of motorcycles traffic) made this area a little more crowded. It took only a few minutes to get to Dong Xuan from Hoan Kiem lake which is the primary lake in Hanoi.
The shops sold a wide variety of items from T-shirts to umbrellas, to fabrics to toys and everything you could think of. I would say a very large percentage of the shops were selling stuff most people would consider junk. The prices seemed to be a lot more fair than Saigon specifically Ben Thanh Market but again it obviously depends on what you’re looking. If you’re the type of shopper like me who is either looking to buy a specific item or not going to buy anything I would be willing to bet that you would likely buy nothing at Cho Dong Xuan.
Overall Impression
Since I live in Bangkok where I’m somewhat familiar to the process of shopping it seems kind of pointless to shop in Vietnam or anywhere else for that matter where I can get the sam stuff with less hassle. The areas
As I mentioned in the overview of Hanoi, the people were far friendlier, less annoying and more polite in Hanoi and it made shopping a lot more relaxing than in the hustle of Ho Chi Minh City. I would recommend Dong Xuan market and the area for anyone looking to buy cheap Vietnamese handicrafts, knock-0ffs and clothes but if you’re looking for something high-end, top quality or very nice you’re probably better off looking elsewhere.
Paris Hilton would not like the accommodations at the “Hanoi Hilton” which is what Hoa Lo prison has been referred to for dozens of years. Hoa Lo which translates to commonly translated as “fiery furnace” or even “Hell’s hole” and means “stove” is a prison was built by the French in 1886. Much of it was torn down but what is left serves as a museum and a reminder.
It was around 3pm I had a return flight to Bangkok at 8pm. I just had a coffee at a cafe with my friend and we saw an American traveler girl who was on the same boat with us in Halong Bay walk by! My caffeine buzz allowed me to spring up from my chair and run down the street to flag her down.
We got to chatting and she mentioned that the “Hanoi Hilton” was nearby which served as a reminder for me.
Getting There
I had all but given up on any more tourism opportunities and was just going to kill some time before I took a cab back to the airport but now I put Hanoi Hilton on the remaining itinerary.
After coffee I asked no less than 10 Vietnamese people including police, tourism shop owners and pedestrians where the Hao Lo prison before we actually found ourself’s at the entrance.
Touring Hoa Lo Prison
After paying the minuscule entrance fee you are pretty much free to walk where ever you like. There is a general direction but you are free to go from room to room and read them as well as the stuff inside them. The most noticeable things I saw were the actual French guillotine that used to behead Vietnamese prisoners and of course the actual jumpsuit and parachute of US senator John McCain the prison’s most famous inmate.
Some rooms had a LCD TV which was hooked up to a censor that was triggered by you walking in the room. The videos were a mix of mostly old footage, some new image and of course were laced with war-time propaganda. For example, the videos showed the US pilot prisoners playing badminton and sports like they were in a country club when in fact they were being beaten and tortured on a daily basis.
There was some artwork, stories, and setups like you see below of what life was like in the prison and they all painted a bleak picture of the former Vietnam. Overall the tour took less than an hour which was good because they were closing as we were trying to finish up the tour which would have been ironic if they forgot about us, closed and locked us in the Hanoi Hilton!
Example of Accommodations at the "Hanoi Hilton"
Overall Impression
Hoa Lo Prison is not the most exciting tour but it doesn’t need to be. It is a no-nonsense tour which costs almost nothing (20,000 Dong = $1.12USD). Taking your time and touring Hoa Lo prison takes around an hour and you are able to freely walk around and examine what you’re interested in. I would recommend anyone who finds themselves in Hanoi with some free time to check out the “Hanoi Hilton” but make sure to have a map printed out to avoid the troubles finding the building which is barely distinguishable from any other building in Hanoi.
If you read my overview of Hanoi Vietnam you will already know that a very popular area for tourists and the residents of Hanoi alike is the area surrounding Hoan Kiem Lake. For a short trip to Hanoi this area is surely the most convenient, best area to stay so after a night in Church Hotel which was a few minutes away we decided to move hotels to experience another.
Gia Bao Hotel was featured in (my friend’s) Hanoi Wallpaper Guide which showcases “a tightly edited discreetly packaged list of the best a location has to offer for the design conscious traveler.”
The Wallpaper guide recommended two rooms in the Gia Bao Hanoi hotel which both happened to be available. The rooms it recommended were 504 and their biggest room on the top (7th) floor.
I took room 504 and my friend took the top floor which had a balcony. I liked room 504 which felt like home and had a nice feel as you could tell someone carefully decorated the room, not that I care about decor but it was definitely noticable.
My friend chose the top floor room which was more expensive and had a rather large outdoor deck with furniture on it. He found his room to be excessively loud as there was a construction project next door along with the honking Hanoi traffic which was loud on the top floor but rather quiet in room 504.
Across the Street from the Older 7 Story Gia Bao Hanoi Hotel
There are 2 Gia Bao Hotels!
The suite on the top floor was too loud for the tastes of my friend so he asked to be moved. It turned out they would move him to their other hotel which happened to be brand new. As you can see on the map, the 2nd Gia Bao location is very close to the older first one. He enjoyed his newer and quieter room in the 2nd Gia Bao location as I enjoyed my location. Even for two friends, one without a cell phone staying at separate locations the distance was not an issue at all.
Overall Impression
I thought the Gia Bao was the best hotel room I stayed at in Vietnam by far. Everything including the large Samsung LCD television was appreciated. The only thing which I can nitpick about was the bathroom was not as nice as I think every hotel’s bathroom should be. Not that I’m a “design-conscious traveler” but the Hanoi Wallpaper Guide really painted an accurate portrait of the hotel and the room. My room (below) #504 cost $50USD which was around the same price most mid-level hotels cost in Hanoi and Saigon but it was far nicer than all the other ones I stayed at. The service was friendly and helpful and the location was great. If I had to pick a hotel in Hanoi for a return visit, either Gia Bao location would be on the top of my list. Visit the Gia Bao Hotels website for booking and more info.
Towards the end of September, 2009 I took a trip to Vietnam from Bangkok where I live armed only with my Canon HG 10 high definition camcorder. I had been using the built-in still camera for the past few months after I lost my last point-and-shoot camera’s charging cradle which rendered it useless. It was actually very handy to have the still camera built in the camcorder because I love taking videos too. I think I got some good pictures of the Petronas Towers when I went to Kuala Lumpur with the HG10′s still camera but it wasn’t until I got back from Vietnam when I decided I needed to get a new camera.
I saw some beautiful scenery in Vietnam and thought I got some amazing photos by looking at the camcorders 3 inch viewfinder but when I finally uploaded them on my computer I was less than impressed. The pictures were always either washed out, too dark or too bright and even though I know if I knew the settings on the camcorder better I may have taken better pictures, but that wouldn’t fix the underling issues.
One of the problems with the camcorder’s built-in still camera (as with most point-and-shoots) is it takes a while for the camera to load and focus after each and every picture. Not to mention that the automated settings are usually unreliable and the manual settings are usually complicated and slow if not difficult to access. These two issues makes it difficult (with a point-and-shoot camera) to take enough shots of a subject to get one which is just what you are looking for and I thought a digital SLR would be the solution.
My Photography & Camera Lineage
My Pictures with Multiple Cameras
When I was a youngster my father was an amateur photographer who routinely had his photographs placed in exhibitions and won awards. One photograph of his was even displayed in the California governor’s mansion for a period of time. Naturally I wanted to take pictures and I remember using those square cameras with the plastic cartridges when I was little.
Fast forward to high school and I took photography class for a few quarters because it was fun and it let you leave campus and go anywhere to take pictures. There I learned about ISO, aperture and shutter speed as well as the chemical process of developing film and making prints. By the time I graduated high school in 1997 digital cameras were just coming out to the consumer market.
My first digital camera I purchased in college was a Fuji Finepix model which was mid-range at 2 megapixels at the time. For the occasional snapshots and Ebay auction photos the Fuji digital camera lasted me all the way up to around 2005 when it finally died from being old. It actually died just before I was supposed to leave on a trip to Costa Rica so I had to find a suitable replacement fast. I didn’t do much research so I just found the smallest, newest and most popular point-and-shoot camera which happened to be one of the first 10+ megapixel digital cameras the Casio Exilim.
The Casio lasted me numerous trips from Asia to South America to New York and back to Thailand. While I got some good pictures with the Casio Exilim, they were mostly when the lighting was perfect like in the bright sunlight. Even when I used the manual settings the pictures with the less-than-perfect lighting turned out to be grainy at best and sometimes just plain bad.
I had purchased the Canon HG 10 high definition camcorderf for my website’s exercise videos and I had not used it for still pictures until I moved to a new apartment in Bangkok and lost the charging cradle which was a flaw of the Casio Exilim model I had, because without the cradle, the camera was useless. Instead of immediately buying a replacement cradle I transitioned into using my camcorder’s still camera. Finally as I described at the top of this post, I was disappointed with the quality of the pictures I got in relation to the scenery I tried to capture so I decided it was time for a digital SLR.
Help Along the Way
A professional photographer friend of mine who helped do the pictures for the redesign of my San Francisco Personal Trainers website FitSF.com recommended I get the Nikon D90 the week before I left to Thailand. I was amazed at the pictures he took as they showed me how great photos can look when taken with an SLR. Since he recommended the D90 it was always on the top of my list even though the price tag was pretty hefty.
I wanted to get the best camera for the money so I spent the most part of two or three days shopping around for the right digital SLR for me. I did some research online then went to every camera shop in MBK to check out my options on 3 separate occasions. I had narrowed down my camera to 4 models including the Nikon D90 and D5000, the Canon Rebel T1i and the Pentax K20D which was weatherproofed. They were all mid-range Digital SLR cameras.
How did I know they were mid-range Digital SLR cameras? I used this wonderful website called CameraLabs.com The website had great videos reviewing all major camera models explaining everything you needed to know. CameraLabs has very comprehensive reviews and all the information you could want to help you. The editor/narrator Gordon Lange explains everything in very understandable terms and give you the option to decide.
Making a Decision
I never have an easy time making a decision especially when it comes to buying something Like I said before, CameraLabs.com gave all the helpful information but they didn’t make a decision for you. There were four primary models I was considering and it really was between the Nikon D90 and the Canon because I’ve used a friend’s Canon SLR before and love my Canon camcorder. I still had to find a place to buy it and bargain hunting is not as easy as it is in the USA. Most high-end consumer electronics are just as expensive as retail products in the USA and mail order involves a lot of extra charges.
I made my decision that I wanted a digital SLR and I wanted it soon. I wasn’t willing to order it or have a friend buy it in the states and bring it here to Thailand. After tons of research and debating I was leaning towards getting the Nikon D90 which was my first choice but the Canon was still on my mind until I was finally influenced by the oddest of things. I was watching Fashion TV which is this channel where they play 1/3 fashion shows, 1/3 fashion parties, and 1/3 fashion photo shoots 24/7 to house music when I noticed that every photographer was using a Nikon. Not that Canon have inferior optics or just because the photographers on Fashion TV use Nikons means that the D90 will be a good camera for me, but it was a spur of the moment thing and I was going to the mall the next day and buying that camera!
After returning from Vung Tau to Ho Chi Minh City on an early morning hydrofoil trip we barely made it to the Saigon airport in time to catch our flight but of course our Jetstar Pacific flight was delayed. Once we got in the air the flight was only around 2 hours and touching down in North Vietnam had me thinking if Hanoi would be a repeat of Saigon which I found to be nerve racking and not very enjoyable.
After the flight landed at around 4pm I really wanted to head to Halong Bay right away. I asked a booth about the trip to Halong Bay and the packages they offered were pretty consistent with what we actually paid. We decided to book the 2 day excursion to Halong Bay the next morning from our hotel in Hanoi. We easily found the legitimate taxi (so we thought) and started off for the hour or so long drive into Hanoi.
Taxi Driver Hotel Scam
I saw two things that interested me during the taxi ride from the airport. First of all, the air was completely filled with smoke. I couldn’t tell if it was from a celebration or just a bunch of farmers. The date was September 20th, 2009 so if anyone reading this knows do tell. Secondly I noticed the very large presence of foreign companies. Almost every billboard which were plentiful were from Korean and Japanese companies.
Chalk up another victory to the Lonely Planet Guide for warning us about the taxi driver scam. We asked the taxi driver to take us to Church Hotel which was recommended by another guide book, the Hanoi Wallpaper Guide. The Lonely Planet warned about taxi drivers taking you to the wrong hotel, or in our case he took us to a random room above a shop. I know the language barrier is significant, but this guy was obviously trying to make some extra bucks. I was not surprised because of my experience with the rip-off and scam artists in Ho Chi Minh City which were also in the Lonely Planet. This taxi driver hotel scam had me thinking again that Hanoi was going to be a repeat of Saigon.
Hanoi is Nothing Like Ho Chi Minh City!
After the taxi driver started driving to the real Church Hotel I had a chance to sit back and observe Hanoi. It was even apparent on the highway from the airport that Hanoi was a lot more friendly than Saigon. In Hanoi I noticed a presence of young, smiling faced people. It seemed that every time I turned my head in Hanoi I would see an attractive 20-something girl or a beautiful 30 something woman doing her thing. I
thought Hanoi really had a small town atmosphere, especially when compared to Saigon. Most of the streets were narrow and while the traffic was hectic, there was nowhere near the volume of Ho Chi Minh City. We finally got to Church Hotel and incoincidentally was located right next to this big Catholic church. We had a chance to get our rooms and relax for a little bit then it was time to head out in Hanoi for the first time.
Places to Stay in Hanoi: Church Hotel: -Coming soon
Hanoi is a city with many lakes but the Hoàn Kiếm Lake is seemingly right in the center of the city. Both hotels we stayed at were located a very close walk from Hoàn Kiếm Lake. all around the lake was a very peaceful and relaxing place even though it was surrounded by the normal swarm of motorcycle traffic. The noise of the traffic somehow disappeared when I was walking around the lake.
During the day the lake was a place for people who were just getting off work to sit and rest for lunch and by night time it was a place for couples and friends to go and just relax. I would estimate the circumference around the lake to be around 1.5 miles and there is plenty of shops and restaurants across the street from the lake and one restaurant actually outside alongside the lake called Hapro Bon Mua. I met a guy selling Lonely Planet guides and post cards walking around the lake. I first gave him the usual cold shoulder but ran into him again a short while later and started talking.
He said he was a student and explained his life story and we chatted for around 3o minutes. He told me that he knew some good karaoke places and gave me his phone number and offered to show and my friend around. He insisted I go across the street from the lake where there was a large group dancing. It turned out the dancing they were doing was very far from traditional Vietnamese dancing.
Looking Across Hoàn Kiếm Lake at Night
More Rip-Offs
My friend who I was traveling with told me about the Lonely Planet warning about the English speaking people around the lake, I decided not to call back the guy who I spoke with at the lake. I can usually tell if people I meet are good natured but the Lonely Planet had been 100% so I decided to not take the risk of getting ripped off. Unlike Saigon there were very few cyclo drivers and other annoying people on the streets trying to sell you something or provide a service.
Taxi drivers seemingly drove around the lakes multiple times for no apparent reason which lead to large taxi bills. They even did this when we were with our Vietnamese guide who we asked to show us some night venues when he was our tour guide at Halong Bay. We asked him to show us around since he spoke English well but his guidance led to more rip-offs as he definitely brought us to less than spectacular places because he was going to get a commission. This wasn’t necessarily a rip-off but an annoyance nonetheless.
Since my less than optimally planned trip to Halong Bay cost 3 days I only had the chance to visit Hanoi for 1 full day and a couple nights. I had the chance to stay longer I just booked my return ticket too soon. At the time I felt it was time to head home to Bangkok but I definitely want to return to Hanoi as I missed out on a few tourist attractions as well as the city away from the lake. Since Hanoi is close to China I’m thinking I may try to obtain a visa for mainland china and start my journey in Hanoi to see what I missed.
If you missed it, Halong Bay Part I covered most of the first day of my 2 day excursion from Hanoi Vietnam. I stayed and took some pictures and took a nap while everyone else was swimming. I was awaken by a woman’s voice announcing “buy something” and I had to investigate.
Just like Benh Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City vendors were trying to sell you stuff even in the middle of the bay! At first, buying bottles of beer, water and snacks from the floating vendors was interesting, and felt kind of like feeding the pigeons but after a while it just got annoying as the relentless vendors and their calls of “buy something” and “cold beer” just got annoying. I found it interesting that even after midnight, these women most who were young and pretty were still on the bay, some sleeping and some on their cell phones which I could see lit in the distance.
Floating Vendor Ladies that Swarm the Boat
Dinner, Conversation & Partying?
When everyone came back from swimming they announced that dinner would be in an hour or so as it was just getting dark. You wouldn’t expect anything less than a fun, unique bunch of international tourists at a world-renowned tourist destination and that is what we had. Spending almost a whole day with our shipmates let everyone learn about each other. Almost 3 weeks after visiting Halong Bay I can still remember everyone who I shared the White Dolphin with.
Our group consisted of a single divorced mother from New Zealand with her teenage daughter and son who had been in China for months. There was an Australian husband and wife who were bankers living in Singapore. There were two presumably gay guy friends from Australia who have been traveling the world for a year together. Another lone traveler was a Dutch guy who also had been traveling the world for a year. There was also 2 solo female travelers, an in-between jobs Filipina woman from Australia and a very cool mid-20s American girl who just graduated school who we actually randomly ran into in Hanoi 2 days later. Last but not least there was me, an American living in Bangkok and my buddy Jae, a Korean American, living in San Francisco.
Dinner was a great 5 course meal which included very tasty crab. I forgot the rest of the courses but I remember everything being very good. We spent about an hour eating dinner and when it was finished everyone with the exception of the mother and two children went to the roof deck of the boat for conversation.
As our group of about 10 people sat and chatted over drinks we noticed the boat off in the distance was making a lot of noise. It sounded like they were singing karaoke and drinking heavily. Our group consisted almost entirely of mid to late 30 somethings so I would guess the loud boat in the distance had the group of British backpackers who I sat next to on the ride to Halong Bay. Keep this in mind if you do the tour. If you want to party hard, it may be a good idea to get a bunch of young people at a backpacker hotel or hostel to go with or you may get stuck sipping wine and chatting with us old folk. At around 12:30 or 1:00am our conversation turned to the awkward silence that signals bedtime.
Early Rise
Picture Courtesy of gibtach.blogspot.com
Every guidebook, tour guide and previous visitor to Halong Bay raves about the early morning scenery with the beautiful fog covered limestone rock formations. Our tour guide stressed that everyone should get up early to view the beautiful scenery.
I was all about getting some good photographs of what would probably be a once in a lifetime experience but when the guide said we were supposed to get up at 5:30am there was a collective groan from myself and the others.
Even though getting up at 5:30am is not something I ever like doing, I set my Nokia cell phone alarm for 5:30am. I thought the bed was very comfortable in the room and I slept very soundly. I really didn’t know what to expect but I now know that being in the middle of a shielded bay is pretty quiet at night.
I know it is anticlimactic but when I woke up at 5:30 and looked outside there was no fog at all. The day was clear and it looked exactly like the day before. Back to sleep.
Kayaking
After breakfast, which I unfortunately slept through it was time to kayak. We put on our life vests and got in one of the little transfer boats and it took 10 minutes to get to the pier with all the kayaks.
The kayaks were the open kind where your sitting at the same level as your feet. There were 2 people per each kayak and then we were set free to explore the bay. The kayaking was great because you could go through some of the giant limestone rock formation’s caves.
I didn’t bring my HD Canon camcorder because I didn’t want it to get wet, but I was lucky enough to have my picture taken by one of my shipmates.
Saying Goodbye to the White Dolphin
Leaving
After returning from a little longer than an hour of kayaking around Halong Bay it was time to return to the boat for lunch.
I was tired from kayaking and really welcomed the food which never disappointed while on the White Dolphin. Right after lunch it was time for checkout. Just like any hotel, we packed our belongings and payed the bill for drinks and the mini bar.
We then loaded up all our baggage to the smaller boat and waved goodbye to the White Dolphin and soon Halong Bay. We actually got a bigger, spacious, more comfortable bus/van on the way back which made the 4 hour trip seem a lot shorter.
Overall Impression of Halong Bay
Everything met and/or exceeded my expectations including the great on-board service, fellow shipmates, food, tours and the facilities on the boat itself. I haven’t mentioned the price of this 2-day Halong Bay excursion from Hanoi on purpose. I myself didn’t know what to expect when they told me how much it cost.
The entire 2-day trip including everything I have mentioned except drinks only cost 1,600,000 Vietnam Dong or $90! Considering most of the hotels I stayed at in Vietnam cost around $50 a night, the all inclusive excursion was one of the best bargains I have ever experienced while traveling. I did go during “rainy season” (didn’t rain a drop) so the price I paid may be lower than someone would pay during peak travel time in December or January.
Since the flight from Saigon to Hanoi was only around 2 hours I thought it would be a good idea to try to get to Halong Bay the same day. Halong Bay is a good 4 hour van/bus ride from Hanoi so I figured if you could take the flight and then drive straight from the airport to Halong bay it would save a day of travel. If you read about my experience with flying Jetstar Pacific Airlines you will already know a flight cancellation and the associated delays cost me at least 3 hours of travel.
For anyone reading this who wants to go to Halong Bay, there are booths selling sleeping boat tours (for fair prices) at the airport so it still may be a possibility. The moral of the story is, if you want to get from Saigon to Halong Bay in a single day, make sure you take the earliest flight from Saigon to Hanoi and book in advance. I never book in advance so I ended up having to spend a night in Hanoi which wasn’t a bad thing but sometimes it just feels better to get the bulk travel done all in one shot.
Booking & Bus Ride from Hanoi to Halong Bay
Halong Bay is one of Vietnam’s biggest tourist attractions so finding sleeping boat tours is very easy in Hanoi. Most hotels and all tourist information centers had multiple types of Halong Bay excursions to offer. Myself and a friend chose a 2 day package which included 1 night on a sleeping boat. They told us the itinerary which included swimming, kayaking and of course sight seeing and one night sleeping on the boat. There are also tours that include hiking.
Before you can go on the exciting nautical adventure you need to get there. I read you can take an hour helicopter flight for around $100/hr which I would have considered due to the fact I have never been in a chopper before and it would shave 3 hours off the trip. The all inclusive cost for our Halong Bay sleeping boat exrursion included included the 4 hour bus/van trip so why not.
The good part about van trips to excursions like this is you get to meet a lot of interesting people. Getting stuffed like a sardine to fit 13 or so people in an extended air conditioned van or short bus gives you the opportunity to get up close and personal with your possible shipmates. Our group included a bunch of different characters on different points of their travel which I will talk about later. Needless to say, the 4 hour ride which stopped once for a restroom and food break allowed us to get acquainted with some interesting travelers and is a blessing in disguise.
Once we crossed the bridge we knew it wasn’t too long before we boarded our temporary home on the water. They separated the people in the van into groups depending on whether you were on the 2 or 3 day trip which meant we lost some of our bus companions for people in another bus. After getting off the bus it took about 30 minutes to all board a small boat to take us to the large sleeping boat. In a couple minutes we got to the sleeping boat and set sail (not literally) for the middle of Halong Bay where we would anchor down for the first and in our case only night in Halong Bay Vietnam.
Just Boarded Sleeping Boat, Heading for Middle of Bay
Welcome Aboard
When we first boarded our sleeping boat which was called the White Dolphin we were given choices of rooms. I was with a friend so we shared a room which had twin beds, nice washroom, mini bar and most importantly air conditioning. For anyone who travels alone keep in mind you will likely be sharing a room with a complete stranger. If the thought of this bothers you, it’s probably a good idea to make prior arrangements to avoid this situation.
The White Dolphin had 3 levels. The bottom level had all rooms. Our room happened to be the last one on the bottom level towards the back of the boat (sorry for not using the correct nautical terms) so the water was right outside our window. The mid level had the dining room, bar and more rooms and top level had a bunch of lounge chairs and outdoor tables and furniture. We barely got a chance to explore the boat after we got our rooms when we were called up to the main deck for lunch.
Lunch & Conversation
Food was included not surprisingly drinks were not. They served the first meal in 3 courses of pretty good food. The dining room was very nice with tablecloths and the whole nine yards. Most of the tables had 4 seats which allowed us to chat with 2 people who happened to be two friends from Australia who have been traveling the world this year. The conversation was interesting but as soon as we were close to finished we were told that we would leave the White Dolphin via small boat to explore a large cave in 15 minutes.
The Cave & Swimming
We were all shuttled to a big cave which was famous for having several rock formations which looked like objects from a lion to Buddha to the infamous pink genitals! After the boat landed there was a decent hike up a bunch of stairs to get to the entrance of the cave. By that time I was very hot and sweating profusely but it came as a relief to find out it had to have been 10 degrees cooler in the cave.
It was unexpected and surprising to me that the first thing we saw upon entering the cave was this very obvious pink penis with scrotum. Our guide spent a good 5 minutes talking about this pink penis and seemed genuinely excited to talk about the pink phallus which I think was lit up for show.
The rest of the cave wasn’t nearly exciting as the pink phallus. There was a basic 10 minute walk looping around the cave and then it was time for pictures. After leaving the cave there are some great picture opportunities which allowed me to take the one at the top of this post. After leaving the cave everyone got the chance to go to a nearby beach and swim, swim of of the boat or stay on the boat and relax which is what I did. Most of the people in our tour opted to swim on the beach while a couple others were content to jump off the top deck of the boat. Everyone seemed like they burned a lot of energy swimming and after I took a nap it was beginning to get dark…
To get from Ben Thanh Market from anywhere in the backpacker’s district near Pham Ngu Lao Street you can walk in less than 15 minutes. I was staying at Elios Hotel on Pham Ngu Lao Street and I decided to go for a morning errand run and got to Ben Thanh Market by accident just by following the park and NOT following the advice of cyclo drivers, moto taxi drivers and various other people trying to make some money off a Saigon first timer.
(View from Elios Hotel Roof Restaurant) Park along Pham Ngu Lao St. Leads to Ben Thanh Market
Rip – Offs: Getting There
Cyclo are Everywhere near Pham Ngu Lao
If you walk to Ben Thanh Market you will be under constant pressure from people trying to sell you services. As mentioned in the overview of Ho Chi Minh City the best (and only) way to deal with the people who try to talk to you is to completely ignore their existence. Yes, it does sound rude and against the mantra of most travelers but it is absolutely necessary dealing with the following skilled and very persistent characters roaming around district 1.
First and foremost you have cyclo drivers. Cyclos are everywhere and while you want to ride in them the drivers have a horrible reputation for taking you to places you don’t ask to be taken and charging too much. You also have motorcycle taxi drivers who will constantly be telling you that the Cyclo drivers will rip you off but they won’t. They seem a little more trustworthy than the cyclo drivers and even provide testimonial books but seem pretty shady. One thing they all have in common is they will tell you that Ben Thanh Market is expensive and they can take you somewhere cheaper, usually Chinatown.
Secondly you have shoe shine boys. These kids who seem to be very poor and/or addicted to meth walk around and try to shine or brush your shoes with tooth brushes. They are very very persistent and will follow you for blocks and if you talk to one, you’re likely to have a group surrounding you. If you make the mistake of talking to them, they will likely demand several hundred thousand dong.
Lastly I ran into the Filipina women. I was actually warned by a cyclo driver about the women and it was just in time. I already had talked to 2 Filipina women in the park who asked where I was from in perfect English (as most Filipinos speak) and coincidentally she knew people there. Next was talking about where you live and they gave me their phone number and asked to have lunch later. Evidently they get tourists to trust them and somehow get them involved in gambling which can cost a lot of money.
I wouldn’t have thought twice about it at first, but I ran into 2 or 3 Filipina women on the walk who all said the same thing, “Hello, where you from? …. Oh my sister lives there…. “ It seemed to me that all the scam artists were working against each other. I know it sucks having to suspect everyone being a scam artist but unfortunately in Saigon it seems to be the norm. I guess you would expect this in a developing, communist country which has only been open for tourism around 25 years.
Rip – Offs: At Ben Thanh Market
Before going over what is actually available at Ben Thanh Market you should know that you have to bargain very hard at Ben Thanh. Not a rip-off per say but you can learn from my mistakes. I bought some designer underwear (which I assume was knock-off) and nice Abercrombie cargo shorts and some T-shirts and I paid around 2,500,000 or more dong (around $140).
When I told this to my 2 expat friends over lunch, I received the dreaded double face palm as they painfully explained that the starting negotiating point for anything at Ben Thanh Market is 20% of the asking price!
Shop for Everything under the Sun Roof
You can literally find anything under the roof of Ben Thanh Market. It is very big and crammed together like most markets in Asia. There seemed to be no real organization of goods. You could find clothes on one stall which was next to a stall selling mystery food (see picture below). Vendors (especially young women) were often grabby when I expressed interest. I found some pretty high quality (what I assumed to be) knock-off clothes and other products.
Name that Food
Recommendation
If you go to Ben Thanh Market take your time and bargain very hard. You are no doubt going to visit another shopping area so compare prices and you can always come back if you don’t find what you want in Chinatown or another shopping area in Saigon or anywhere in Vietnam.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the geography of Vietnam (like I was) , Ho Chi Minh City is pretty far from Hanoi. I thought it would be a hop, skip and jump in a bus or train but in fact it is 3 day train trip.
Most people will tell you that the best parts of Vietnam are in between the 2 large cities in the north and the south. Taking the train over a few days is probably the best way to explore Vietnam but a 2 hour flight is a lot easier, or is it?
Booking the Ticket
When booking a domestic flight in Vietnam the usual suspect websites such as Expedia, Kayak an Orbitz do absolutely no good. You have a choice between Vietnam Airlines, Indochina Airlines and Jetstar Pacific which is the cheapest and offers almost 10 flights a day. The price for a one way ticket to Hanoi from Saigon was around 880,000 Vietnamese Dong($50USD).
Saigon, we have a Problem
As we boarded the relic of an airplane I noticed what I thought were patches on the side of the plane. It reminded me of when I used to patch up the inner tubes of my bicycles when I was a kid. My friend argued that it was a compartment or hatch but I think this old plane was patched up like a sinking ship (see for yourself below).
Patch or Hatch? You be the Judge
Just as the plane finished boarding the pilot who happened to be from New Zeleand announced over the intercom in English before Vietnamese, “This plane’s wing is broken and it cannot fly.” After the collective groan as they made the announcement in Vietnamese everyone got off the plane and went back to the terminal.
At the terminal I noticed there were at least 4 Jetstar pacific flights that were canceled. I took it in stride as I wouldn’t want to be flying a plane with a defective wing so we waited. Less than 2 hours later after a bunch of junk food consumption we boarded an equally old, but working aircraft.
Definition of Budget Airline
If you want an inch of spare legroom or a free meal on your 2 hour flight to somewhere in Vietnam Jetstar Pacific is not going to help you. If you want the new LCD screen on the back of the seat in front of you with video games, internet and movies Jetstar Pacific is not your airline.
If you do want to spend around $50USD one way and don’t mind being herded around like cattle in a smoke smelling aluminum tube with a bunch of people with hacking coughs Jetstar Pacific is right up your alley.
After spending 4 days in Ho Chi Minh City we desperately needed to go somewhere less nerve racking and the closest beach was Vung Tau. While driving to Vung Tau was possible a boat was recommended. The boat was actually a Russian made hydrofoil which zoomed very fast along the river.
The seats were comfortable enough for the smooth 90 minute trip. Take note: If you have large baggage and long legs, try to get to the front of the boat as there is far more room than the rest of the seats.
Kids Selling Stuff at Buddhist Shrine
Scooting Around Vung Tau
From the map handed out by the scooter rental, you can tell it is very easy to get around in Vung Tau. From the ferry terminal you can go either left or right. The left leads you to the main city while the right leads you to most of the resorts including a 10km beach called Back Beach which leads to another part of the city.
We chose to stay near Back Beach so we took a taxi to hunt for places to stay. We ended up finding a place called Vung Tau Entourco which was located right on Back Beach and had bungalows. As soon as we checked in and got our bungalows we head to the front desk and rented scooters which cost around $15USD per day.
The traffic was non-existent compared to Saigon so driving the moped (which happened to be my virgin ride) was not a problem at all. It felt great to ride throughout Vung Tau looking at some beautiful natural and man-made scenery. The moped was great because it gave us the ability to stop at our own pace to see the Buddhist and Christian shrines throughout Vung Tau.
The people we met seemed to be a lot friendlier than Saigon. Thankfully there was a complete lack of hustlers trying to get you to buy junk or services you did not need which was a breath of fresh air.
More than Just a Beach
If you make it off the beach, plenty of physical activity awaits in Vung Tau. There are 2 main hills you will notice with Christian statues which you can hike up. Be warned: To get to the top of the cross at the top of the hill (picture below) it took a lot of effort and was very hot so bring water and sun block. Another hill has a Jesus statue which reminded me of Rio De Janeiro as I walked along Back Beach looking up at it. You can also climb to the top of Jesus’ shoulders which I did not do because I had mild heat exhaustion from climbing to the top of the (below) hill on a low water tank, idiotically wearing a black T-shirt.
Many Many Steps to get to the Cross on the Top of the Hill
See Seafood
Since fishing is obviously Vung Tau’s bread and butter so to speak you can expect to find some great seafood restaurants which we did. We saw a large parking lot filled with cars and mopeds which attracted us to this restaurant which I forgot the name of. As you walk down the stairs you see the live menu items in pools on either side. I saw everything from fish, lobsters, sea snakes and turtles which also appeared on the menu.
The dining area which is literally 1 meter from the sea and was shielded from the wind via sideways umbrellas. The place was packed with Vietnamese people and the food (especially the fish) was delicious and fair priced. I apologize for the vague details but I think it still deserves a mention.
Turtles and Sea Snakes = Yum
Hit the Beach
Back Beach was very long and big. The sand was fine with few rocks and the surf was very mild. To my surprise there were very few western tourists on Back Beach. It appeared to me that the beach which was crowded all the way to dusk was filled with mostly Vietnamese people.
Back Beach was a very swimmer friendly beach with thousands of people swimming in the calm waters. If you want to surf, unless there is a tsunami, Back Beach is not your spot. I did see some people on jet skis. A beach is a beach and the only thing I noticed different about Back Beach was all the spiral sea shells which were on the menu at a Saigon restaurant were inhabited by hermit crabs.
Back Beach with Jesus Statue on Hill
Overall Thoughts
Being in Saigon for me was like torture so I would have been happy if Vung Tau only marginally sucked but I actually liked it quite a bit. We only stayed there one night because we had our flight booked from Saigon to Hanoi the next afternoon but I would think most people would enjoy 2 days in Vung Tau, 3 days max. There are plenty of seafood restaurants, Buddhist and Christian shrines as well as nightlife and entertainment to keep most tourists happy for a couple of days.
