South to North Vietnam

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

Paces to Stay in Hanoi:  Gia Bao Hanoi Hotel

The Lake

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.

Thinks I did in Hanoi

Hoa Lo Prison (Hanoi Hilton)

Shopping at Cho Dong Xuan

Overall Impression

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.

Go to Hanoi and Have a Seat!

Get There; Beware!

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.