MY VIETNAM TRIP: PART THREE

 

Hello my dear readers! Welcome back to the last part of my Vietnam series.

Picking up where we left off last time, it was 5^th of July, which was the 4^th day of our trip.

Now let’s move to the next day, i.e. 6^th July. Today also we were going to explore a little more of Da Nang. This time, we did not skip breakfast (phew!). We had brought some theplas from our country so we had those for breakfast. And then we booked a Grab and were on our way to this place called as An Bang beach. Another beautiful and spotlessly clean beach, this time with very little visitors. And the weirdest part was that the tide was so low that the sea felt like the lake. There were absolutely no waves at all. It was just one baby wave at the shore. Which in itself was so weak that it barely made a sound. I was truly amazed because I had never seen a sea at such calm. No noise, no waves, just you and the beach, on a sunny day in Vietnam. Beautiful. We decided to walk around a little bit but unfortunately for us, it was too sunny. So we just went to a nice shack and sat there for some juice. The whole vibe was so serene. Just imagine, pearl white sand, glistening under the hot sun, the water gently swaying around the shore, the seagulls cawing, and you’re sitting in a small and cozy shack having a chilled glass of juice. This is what we paid for. Exactly the kind of relaxation I wanted after a year of doing assignments and breaking my head in exams.

After that beautiful adventure, we decided to go to a place called as the Coconut forest. It was apparently a backwater forest surrounded by coconut trees where you could get into boat rides and explore the whole area. Honestly, I was more of a beach person and did not enjoy forests and hills all that much. But what I am about to tell you, may sound like it was written by a person who loves forests.

Out of everything that we’d done in Vietnam so far, the Coconut forest experience was the most underrated, and the one that I would implore everyone to do. For just around 80,000 Dong, we got a 50 minute boat ride around the whole forest. And you may think that the whole ride might have been boring because come on, one would get bored after the 15 minutes…But trust me, we never even realised how time flew.

Our boatman couldn’t speak much English even if his life depended on it, but somehow even in his broken Vietnamese-English accent, he made the boat ride fun for us. He explained coconuts and crabs along the way and told us when to take photos and videos. He even took us fishing, where I caught 2 crabs on my own (and released them back into the river). There were many different boats around us. It wasn’t exactly the main tourist hotspot, but it was just enough people to make it lively. There were people singing, there was a DJ, someone was doing tricks on the boat, all of this in the middle of the river. And the most famous part of the show was the spinning. So, our boats were made to look like coconut shells. Completely round and hollow. As a result, with enough practice you could, with sleight of hand, spin it around in the water. My friend opted for it and the boatman spun him for a good solid minute. He was super-talented and even did it with one hand and just one oar. And of course, the environment surrounding us was so beautiful that I almost felt like settling down there.

Later on we had homecooked lunch prepared by the locals which consisted of shrimp fried noodles and vegetable fried rice. At the end, we left the coconut forest with a lot of good memories and photos. I am really disappointed that not more people know about this place. In fact, if you’re reading this and planning a trip to Vietnam anytime soon, please do go and check out this forest. It is definitely worth your money and time.

Our next stop was the Hoi An ancient town. Now, after having been to Japan, the Hoi An town did not excite me much. Adding to that, we did not see it in its full glory because we went in the late afternoon. One is advised to go in the evening when they light up entire streets with lanterns and decorative ribbons and canopies. Regardless, it was still a pretty good adventure. By around 5 PM or so, we were really exhausted so we booked a Grab and went back to the hotel. This was our last day in Da Nang.

The next day we had a flight for Ho Chi Minh City at 7 AM. As a result we checked out of the hotel at 4 AM. Since it was so early in the morning, we had already asked Novotel to arrange transport for us to the airport. We reached on time, checked-in, gave our bags and got to know that our bags would reach directly to Mumbai. Actually, we had a connecting flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Mumbai but the layover was about 11 hours. I read online that we’d have to pick up our bags at the Ho Chi Minh airport and carry it around with us the whole time. But thankfully, Vietjet allowed us to send our luggage directly to Mumbai. So now we just had our 2 backpacks with us which we would have to carry around. It wasn’t really a burden but the reason why I am telling you this will be revealed in a little while.

When we reached Ho Chi Minh City, we weren’t really sure if we’d be allowed to actually leave the airport or not. We had a connecting flight to Mumbai and essentially this was just a layover. But we landed on the domestic terminal and to get to the international terminal you anyways would be required to get out of the airport gates. That confirmed it. We went outside with a fresh mind and were ready to explore another city!

Ho Chi Minh City was a delight. Even though we did not really get enough time, we made the most out of it. First off, we decided to go to the famous War Remnants Museum. It stored all the artifacts and pieces from the American-Vietnam War. And this experience was just like the one I had at the Hiroshima Museum. As I walked around the hallways, read about the struggles and horrors, saw the pictures, I was reminded about Hiroshima. Unlike Hiroshima, when I had to get out of the museum because it was too much to handle, this time I decided to put on a brave face and go through everything.

It was harrowing. Especially the pictures of the Agent Orange section. All of it. I went through every photo, read every single line. And after a while my stomach felt sick. It was too much to handle. Too much death, too much destruction. I now realised why so many Hollywood movies made references to ‘Vietnam war vet’. So many protagonists of the 70s who said, “I’ve been to ‘Nam.” Imagine the soldiers, who inflicted so much pain on the Vietnamese people, saw so much death, that they had life-long trauma. Trauma that no amount of therapy sessions could ever fix it. They saw bodies; men, women, children alike. They killed and they killed as if the civillians were just lifeless ragdolls. To make you understand the depth of the situation, let me take an excerpt from the museum itself.

 

I don’t remember the exact story, so if any Vietnamese audience are reading this, please pardon my memory. But this was a boy who was attacked by an American soldier. And this photo was taken because the boy was not completely dead. His body, especially his legs were twitching. And as I read that and saw the photo, all hairs on my neck stood up. I pictured myself as the photographer. Seeing a young child’s body twitch, as the life goes out of him slowly, knowing he can’t scream, he can’t control anything, no matter how much he tries. You can only ease his pain by killing him completely. I understand now, why so many American soldiers who came back home, were never the same.

And now imagine the condition of the victims. The people who had to suffer it all. And I am not even going to describe the Agent Orange victims to you. That was probably the most harrowing amount of stuff I’d ever seen in my entire life.

I am not taking sides, neither am I going to rant about “war sucks” or anything. But truly, as a human being, when I saw all of that, an intense fear took over my body. We are the most dangerous species alive, because we’re a threat to our own selves. In that moment, I was afraid of myself.

Later on, we sat down a bit and had some water. After seeing so much death and destruction, we needed a moment to recalibrate ourselves.

A while later, we decided it was time for some shopping. But before that, I wanted to see Ho Chi Minh City from above. So we booked a Grab to the Bitexco Financial Tower. That tower had a viewing gallery on one of its top floors. Of course the entry fees was a bomb, but the view was worth it. And after going up there, I was reminded of the Tokyo Sky Tree. Coincidentally I was wearing the same top that I had worn in Tokyo that day. A mesmerizing view from the top for sure.

After that, we decided to go to the famous Ben Thanh Market. To all the Mumbaikars reading this, Ben Thanh was just like Crawford market. It had almost everything there. And the best part was that you could negotiate the price and get it almost halved at some places.

Now, the funny part of the story starts. While we were walking around the place, my friend (who doesn’t even smoke), saw a very cool lighter. It only costed about a thousand rupees so he decided to buy it. It had a green coloured flame and an ace of spades on the front, which spun like a compass. A great lighter for sure. But there was one teensy thing we were forgetting: lighters are not allowed in the cabin. Especially not a lighter with filled gas.

We walked out the market merrily, went and had lunch in the famous café building. But on the way, the thought suddenly hit us. My friend was distraught. A 1000 rupees lighter, gone to waste. I implored him to throw it then and there in the dustbin, but he decided to keep it. He clang some hope that maybe the airport security would allow it. He called his mom and she gave a brilliant idea that we should go back to Ben Thanh market and get the gas removed. Thankfully we hadn’t walked too far. So we took a u-turn and were back inside the Vietnam version of Crawford market. We found ourselves roaming around trying to find the exact shop we bought it from. Thankfully, the shop owner saw us and said hello in an ecstatic voice. We instantly recognized her face and went with our tails between our legs. We first asked her if she’d take the lighter and give us our money back. But obviously no vendor would do that. So instead she took out the gas and said, “Don’t worry, many people do this” in her broken accent.

Then, it was time to go to the airport. My friend’s heart was beating fast. I was laughing at him non stop. I told him that he’d have to stay back and that the customs officers were super strict. We inquired at the check-in lounge whether the lighter would be allowed or not. Moment of truth: the attendant did not know. So she suggested that we put it in one of the backpacks and give it off as extra luggage. We still had a capacity of few kilograms left to our names. So my friend put the lighter in his backpack and gave it off. Problem solved, moving on. But wait!

We were standing in the immigration line and saw the tv in front of us. In there was written in bold caps lock: “BAGGAGE INSPECTION. PLEASE REPORT TO CHECK IN COUNTER” with my friend’s name written below. I laughed even harder at that. As my friend went out of the line I sarcastically waved goodbye to him.

Thankfully, the customs officers were not very troublesome. They just told my friend to take his lighter with him inside the cabin. So, thinking that the issue was solved, my friend came back into the line. Problem solved, moving on. But wait!

We saw the tv and my friend’s name was still written there in bold caps lock, for everyone to see. Now my laughter echoed around the entire airport. He was freaking out and I was milking it all the way through. He went back to the customs officer and they clarified that the tv takes a few minutes to refresh.

Again he came back in the line. We finally reached the most dangerous part, Security check. I stepped ahead of my mate and said that I’d get myself cleared before him so that if the authorities detain him, at least I will be safe. All of this was just in jest, but he was still in panic mode. With great difficulty he got ahead of me and said, “If I go down you go down.” At this point I was half expecting the security guy to stop me instead because I was laughing too much.

Thankfully nothing happened. No one noticed anything and we were free to go. We celebrated that proud moment. We had finally cleared the most dangerous obstacle. Now, it was time to go back home! Problem solved, moving on. But wait!

When we finally landed back in Mumbai (home sweet home), my friend was again stopped by the Indian Customs Officer. This was a never ending cycle and by this time we had tired ourselves out for buying this cursed lighter. Thankfully, the officer did not probe much and quickly realised that we were, in fact, not terrorists and just 2 idiot tourists. So finally, Problem solved, moving on.

All in all, Vietnam was a blast. The 2 best things were:

1.  Cost: Very cheap, very effective. Good ROI. You get to do a whole lot of stuff for very little money

2.  People: The Vietnamese people are extremely friendly. They may not be able to speak English but you’ll still understand them. We were never scammed, we never felt unsafe, we never were frustrated.

The only bad thing was the transport. There is no concept of public transport. All you can do is book a Grab.

In the end I leave you all with this: Vietnam is a great country with a lot of things to do, eat, and experience. Definitely do plan a trip there. Be nice to the locals, respect their culture, and don’t forget to have fun!

 

MY VIETNAM TRIP: PART TWO 

Hello readers! So let’s pick up where we left off eh?

So this is the 3^rd day of our trip, i.e. the fourth of July. In the morning before breakfast we decided to go use the swimming pool. So we woke up at around 7 A.M. and changed to our pool clothes and headed down. To our surprise it was totally empty even though the hotel was filled with guests. We enjoyed a good half an hour in the pool and caught a cold. Later on we had a proper 5 star breakfast (for which we paid 7,00,000 Dong) on the 4^th floor of our hotel.

After getting ready we headed out to explore Da Nang. Our first stop was the famous My Khe beach near the edge of the city. It wasn’t too far from our hotel so we booked a bike from Grab. Pro tip: If you’re in Vietnam and you want to go somewhere that’s less than 3 kilometres away, book a bike from Grab. It’s much cheaper and much faster.

My Khe beach was really beautiful. Spick and span cleanliness. Beautiful sand, clean waters, and a lot of water sports activities. My friend even went for para-sailing and came back on the jet ski. And the good part was that at every single corner, there were sunloungers available to rent for the entire day. They were completely shaded and cost only about 40,000 Dong per person.

So we took 2 sunloungers, kept our stuff down and explored the beach end to end. After about an hour or so we decided to go for lunch to a café on the hills nearby called as Sơn Trà Marina. We thought it would be a nice cozy café on the sea-side with a nice place to sit along the breeze. But unfortunately it was packed with tourists and it only offered snacks and drinks. So we just had 2 mango juices and left. By the time we left it was already around 3 PM. And I had read online that during our stay, we’d get to experience the famous Da Nang International Fireworks Festivals. But silly me had not googled the dates properly and we thought that the fireworks would happen every Saturday and Sunday. And as far as we had read online, apparently on the day of the fireworks, the whole city would gather together on the roads. At around 4 PM onwards road closures and public services would all stop. The DIFF was a big thing for them. So we were back at the hotel thinking that in the evening we’d go near the Dragon bridge and see the fireworks. But unfortunately, we later found out that 4^th was not scheduled as a fireworks day. So instead we went back to the pool in the evening and spent some time there.

The next day would be really fun. Because today we were gonna go to Bà Nà Hills. The Bà Nà Hills were the heart and soul of Da Nang if I may. It was made and managed by Sun World and there were tons of things to do there. In the morning we left our hotel early on without having any breakfast. We booked a Grab car and would reach there within 40 to 50 minutes or so. On the way, the driver asked us if we had purchased a ticket already or not. Since we hadn’t known about a ticket of any sorts we were visibly confused. So the driver, in his broken English, told us he’d help us get the tickets. We mostly brushed off his claims and thought he meant he’d point out to the ticket window.

Then, when we were about to reach the Hills, he stopped at a nearby shop on the road. He introduced us to a salesman who offered us the tickets for 13,52,000 Dong per person. Very obviously we were taken aback as 13 lakh Dong was genuinely a big amount. We weren’t carrying that much cash so we were really hesitant. Then my friend looked up online and the tickets available there were almost the same price. Plus, the salesman was offering us lunch in Bharata restaurant on the Hills. It was a part of our ticket. Ultimately we decided to bite the bullet and paid the salesman for the ticket. Needless to say, we were still on high alert. There was even a customer service number on the ticket. Half of my mind thought we’d get stopped at the entrance and find out we just paid for a ticket illegally.

But thankfully nothing like that happened. We entered the Hills without any issues. Now, the best part about Bà Nà Hills was that it was really tourist friendly. They had kept a free bus service that would take you from the car park/drop-off point to the entrance.

Then at the entrance too, there were multiple places you could buy tickets, take a rest stop, eat something, etc. So far so good.

Our first attraction was going to be the cable car. And oh boy, was it a long and ardous attraction. The cable car that took us to the top was at least a 10-15 minute ride. So when you think about it, in the morning when I woke up (I was already feeling acidity in my stomach), we skipped breakfast, took a 50 minute cab ride, then hopped on a bus and then took the lengthiest looking cable car ride ever! By the time we reached to the top, my stomach gave away and I was almost gagging. I had to stop at the restroom and vomit last night’s dinner. But thankfully, after that ordeal I felt much better and activated. When we entered the Hills, it was magnificent. Completely surrounded by lush greenery, extreme winds blowing everywhere, clouds almost touching our faces! We were in for a treat. We stopped at a small café to have some banana bread. And then we went out to explore the whole thing.

So, just to give you an idea. What is Bà Nà Hills? Well, it is basically a small hill station near Da Nang which has been completely transformed into a theme park of sorts. Imagine Disney World, but on the top of a mountain. And yes, as impossible as that sounds, Sun World actually did it. There were adventure rides, cable cars, hotels, restaurants, bridges, etc. To new travellers, please spend the entire day at Bà Nà Hills. Totally worth it.

There was so much to do here that we actually got lost. First off we decided to finish Vietnam’s iconic Golden Bridge.

As expected this was a tourist hotspot so there was a lot of rush here. Barely any space to stand, much less take a photo. Still, a tick mark off the bucket list.

Then we went to explore the French village via tram. Basically, Bà Nà Hills was divided into 3 sections. You could go in and around those sections via cable cars. There’s a lot of walking and a lot of figuring out you might have to do. But I can promise you that each attraction is different from the other. Explore one section first fully, then move to the other. Each spot is picturesque and beautiful. They also have an app which will help you in figuring out where everything is. But by far the best thing in Bà Nà Hills was the Fantasy Park. Located near the famous Alpine coaster, Fantasy Park is a multilevel indoor gaming zone cum theme park. There was a mini theatre, a Jurassic Park exhibit, 4D theatre, rock climbing, arcade games and so much more. Fantasy Park in itself took us around an hour and a half to explore. And we did not even sit in all the rides! And the best part? Almost everything was free entry. That was in fact the best thing about Bà Nà Hills. Once you got in, you can very easily explore the whole area without paying a single Dong. Finally, when it was time for lunch, we were a little concerned. First off, on the app we could not find Bharata restaurant at all. We tried searching for signs nearby too, but nothing. I was almost sure that we had been scammed.

But thankfully, after a little searching we found the restaurant hidden in some corner of the Hills. And to be honest, this was the best restaurant ever. First off, it was massive. There were so many places to sit and eat. The restaurant was absolutely full with people. Yet, many spaces were completely empty. Secondly, there were tons of food options. As many options as Novotel if I may. And as a matter of fact, the food was actually really very tasty. We had a good and satisfying lunch. After that, we explored the area a little more but by around 3:30 or 4 PM, we were exhausted. So, we decided to head back to our hotel.

Overall, Bà Nà Hills was a really good experience. Definitely worth the 13,52,000 Dong for sure.

The rest of our trip will be covered in my next article, the final one in the Vietnam series. Thank you for reading.

MY VIETNAM TRIP: PART ONE

Hello readers. I am glad to announce that I am back with another series on my Travel blog. This time I went to the beautiful country of Vietnam with a good friend of mine. We went to 3 cities in total over a span of 7 days. This series will be, as usual, divided into 3 parts. In case you, or anyone you know is planning a trip to Vietnam soon, then do read this blog. I have included a lot of tips and personal opinions that might be helpful.

We booked our flights and hotels around a month in advance so our entire trip was done in under 90 thousand rupees (per person). All of our flights were VietJet. Online, we had heard tons of bad reviews about VietJet and how they keep their check-in counters closed so you’re forced to pay extra money in case you don’t want to miss your flight. As a result, after seeing so many reels on Instagram titled “WORST EXPERIENCE”, we were visibly concerned. For all of our flights we decided to reach a minimum of 4 hours before the departure time. In all honesty, the reviews online felt exaggerated. We did not have a bad experience with VietJet at all. Sure, it isn’t the best airline out there but you get what you pay for. Their food sucked and there were no screens on the airplane. In the domestic flight they charged us for the meal too. And yes, web check-in is not available for their flights. But all of those were just secondary concerns. We had gotten all of our tickets for a relatively cheap price. As far as I remember, 30 to 40 thousand rupees for one domestic and 2 international flights. Ultimately, a good deal I must say.

Our first stop in Vietnam was the city of Hanoi. We landed there on 2^nd July in the early morning. We were gonna stay in the Hanoi Emerald Waters Hotel near the Old Quarters. Around 1k to 2k rupees per person for a stay of one night and 2 days. Again, not a bad deal. And their hotel was clean, neat and well-maintained. The staff were friendly and the hotel room was also big enough for 2 people. Our check-in was scheduled for 2 PM so naturally, we left our luggage at the hotel and went out to explore the city.

Now, as a well-travelled person, I must say one thing: Hanoi requires only one day and not more than that. There isn’t much to do in the city that you won’t find anywhere else. The only experience in Hanoi that was genuinely novel was the Train street.

In the morning we explored the famous Hoàn Kiếm Lake. There was a temple and a small bridge that was built in the middle of the lake. It personified the city’s history in a graceful manner. The temple’s structure and architecture was intricately designed. It paid homage to Vietnam’s ancient history and had murals and idols decorated everywhere. Of course, to see the temple and the bridge there is a ticket of 50,000 Dong. Now this might come as a shock to you but 50,000 Dong is not as big an amount as it looks like. In fact, 1 Dong is just a mere 0.000038 USD. For my Indian audience, 1 Indian Rupee equals 275 Dong. So 50,000 Dong was just 181 rupees.

The first day we did not go for the bridge and temple. Instead we just took photos around the lake and then went to have a little breakfast in an Indian restaurant in the Old Quarters. We then explored the Old Quarters a little bit and then went back to our hotel to check in.

Then in the evening we stepped out to really explore Hanoi. We first went to St. Joseph’s Cathedral. Beautiful architecture. We even saw a painting of Mother Teresa there. Took some photos and then left. Then we stopped at a European style café and had coconut water and green tea. Took some more photos and left. Then it was time to go to Vietnam’s most prized possession for tourists i.e. Train Street. Mind you, in all of our escapades so far, we did not use public transportation. We walked. Sure, not everything was close but we regularly took stops so as to not drain ourselves out.

Now the Train Street was really something. So far, Hanoi seemed just like any other city. There was nothing new. But this place genuinely surprised me. I was satisfied because I saw something that I had never seen before. The street in itself was actually not very big. And we’d read online that there would be barricades everywhere and police would check our bags. In fact we even read somewhere that entry is not allowed unless you have a café owner with you, walking you safely to your café. Naturally, when we reached there, we expected the place to be packed and were ready for chaos. But to our surprise, everything was really chill. There were barely any tourists, no police officers, and no café owners trying to get us to buy something from their outlet. We only found one woman who kept nagging us to sit in her place. We tried telling her, “Later” but she would not budge. In the end we gave in and followed her back to her restaurant. Initially we decided to order just one French fries and then leave. But somehow after seeing very few tourists, we decided to stay there for dinner.

For first-time travellers, let me also tell you that in Train Street, the frequency of trains is actually not very high. In one day maybe 10 or 11 trains will pass by in total. They have a fixed timing so it’s best to go 10 minutes before that and secure a spot. Of course, the best time would be evenings, but it is totally up to you.

When it was actually time for the train to arrive, we were pretty excited. All the locals were ushering us to step back and not stand too close to the tracks. Rightfully so, because when the train actually passed, it passed by dangerously close to our faces. Just extend your hand out a little and you’d get injured. But keeping that aside, it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. If you are going to Vietnam, do not miss out on Train Street.

 

The next day we had our flight in the evening at around 5 PM or so. So, in the morning we decided to go back to Hoàn Kiếm Lake and actually go inside the temple this time. Honestly, if you are belonging to that particular religion then I would definitely urge you to go inside. But if you’re not interested in temples and deities then feel free to skip the tickets. Later on we went for some shopping in the Old Quarters, had lunch in a café and headed back to the hotel to checkout. We had booked a cab from the hotel itself. Ironically, they sent a minibus just for 2 people whose driver was an introvert and did not speak an ounce of English. When he dropped us off at the airport, he charged us way more than what the receptionist had originally offered. We politely explained to him about our deal with the receptionist and he gave back the remaining change.

Inside the airport, we did a web check in through VietJet’s kiosks and stood in the ‘Luggage Drop for Web Check In’ section. Sure enough the lines were long and by the time we were done with security, only about half an hour was left for our plane. So if you opt for a domestic flight in Vietnam via VietJet, please reach 3 to 4 hours before your flight.

Our next stop was the city of Da Nang. We were much more excited for Da Nang than for Hanoi because from the photos it looked cooler and also, beaches!

When we landed in Da Nang it was almost around 7:30 PM. When we booked a Grab from the airport, we found out that things were slightly different around these parts. You book a Grab and then you won’t be alotted a driver like usual. Instead you have to go to the Grab pick-up area. There the Grab drivers will ask you where you want to go and then decide if they want to take you as passenger or not. Basically like Mumbai. Thankfully we did not have to wait around too long. In Da Nang we had booked the Novotel Premier Han River. And boy was that the best decision we took.

When we reached our hotel we were stupefied. It was a giant skyscraper with so many amenities such as a rooftop bar, swimming pool, fountains, etc. Unfortunately our breakfast was not included. So we decided to pay for one day’s breakfast (which cost us 7,00,000 Dong!). And our room was located on the nineteenth floor with a view of the entire city. Check out the photo below.

 

We were absolutely mesmerized. Such a beautiful view! Consequently, we were really excited to explore Da Nang and something told me that this would be much better than Hanoi. (Spoiler alert: It was). Catch the rest of my story in the next part!