Viet Nam - 8D7N
Xin chào!
Instead of heading to Lombok for a 3D2N Rinjani trekking and some snorkelling by the Gili islands, Lnr and I made last minute cancellation to our flights and changed our destination to Viet Nam in early Sep after several powerful earthquake struck Lombok weeks before the trip. While I was a little disappointed and concerned about the change, the trip turned out to be very favourable and we had a really fond week there, fortunate enough to be showered by kindness and friendliness from the few local point of contact we had. We were highly recommended by my colleague to consider trekking the tallest mountain @ Viet Nam - Fansipan for its breathtaking above-the-clouds sunrise views, as well as visting areas near Ninh Binh for it's tranquillity and karst mountain/cave formations, nicknamed the inland 'halong bay'. We thereby planned our trip hastily to cover 3 places, namely Hanoi, Sapa and Ninh Binh.
We spent just half a day in the capital city Hanoi on our day of arrival and the night before our departure flight, which was quite adequate for me. Being a french colonial city during the late 1800s to mid 1900s, a part of the city was known as the French district with Catholic cathedrals and opera house that reflects its french colonel history, and the other part known as the Old quarter which reflects more of the history of Hanoi, with each street interestingly specialised in one specific type of trade. We engaged a free local guide who is currently an university student in hope to have a better understanding of the history and culture but at the end of the half day tour, I figured that she wasn't that much of a history enthusiast and her knowledge is probably only restricted to what she learnt/memorize about the places we went. But still, learnt one new thing or two while conversing with her and at the very least, we did not have to worried about getting lost in the chaotic city on the first day.
We visited the Hoa Lu prison where Vietnamese/American POWs were captivated during different periods of war. While such dark tourism places are usually disturbing and brutal, I always had a peculiar interest in these places. First there is a curiosity for what happened behind these walls, and when you saw them for your own eyes you wondered why and how can one human torture and dehumanise another being, to carry out cruel punishment on a routine basis, what was on their mind? Were they forced into doing by official orders and peer pressures? Did they live a guilt free life or haunted by nightmares after the war. These questions will always remain answered. (This suddenly reminds me of a good movie I've watched- The Railway Man, depicting the story of a former British army office and POW suffering from postwar trauma, he set out to confront the Japanese interpreter who tortured him after discovering that he is still alive.)
Moving away from the heavyhearted place. We visited their temple of literature (first university built 1000 years ago) and wrapped up our sightseeing with one of their specialisation - the egg coffee. While it sounds yucky, the egg is actually whisked to thick foam state so it tasted pretty much like cream. After a quick bowl of roadside Pho, we made our way back to the train station to catch out night train to Laocai, before taking a bus to Sapa town, which is the base for travellers trekking up Fansipan. It was much more convenient than I thought to get around Hanoi with Grab woohoo. To be honest I was very wary about everything in Viet Nam before the trip after numerous articles I read on common street scams. And Lnr and I had some bad experiences getting scammed here and there in Southeast Asia countries so I was trying to be extra cautious. But eventually things were so much better than I pessimistically assumed chey opps.
Oh and the cabin condition was lovely! Very clean and tidy, well we should have expected it for US$30/ pax but you know, anything could happen. The night ride would have been very comfortable if not for the bright ceiling light that night. Unlike Lnr who has no issue falling alseep anywhere, I find myself extremely difficult to sleep or even take naps unless I was extremely exhausted. We shared the 4 to 1 cabin with another elderly couple on our way to Sapa, who seemed displeased to realise that it was not a private cabin HAHAHA. And a young chatty couple from Netherlands on our return journey (which was made more enjoyable with their company heh. Though we never got to ask for their names) Also, my sleep back to Hanoi was so much better because we dashed in to off the ceiling light first thing first when we stepped into the cabin huehuehue.
The 2D1N Fansipan hiking was the highlight of our trip and it was so worth every step we climbed up woohoo! It was drizzling and foggy when we arrived Sapa the day before and unfortunately the rain did not stop there, we woke up to a heavy rainfall on the first day, and I was beyond shocked when our trekking guide Minh came to our hostel to fetch us and tried to persuade us to leave our fully equipped trekking boots in the office and change into rubber rain boots because our trekking shoes will be drenched during the trek. I was seriously contemplating to carry up my trekking boots for a moment but everything happened so quickly and the next moment we were sitting in the minivan with rain boots on the way up to the starting point lolol. The climb on the first day felt really tough with the continuous drizzle and the trek was in general steeper and tougher than I thought based on my last experience trekking Snow Mountain in Tai Wan. Despite being similar in peak height, the climb at Fansipan can get really steep at times and we were literally climbing vertically with the aid of man-made ladders and branches. As we ascent slowly in the rain, I also constantly stepped on my poncho agh. We commenced the climb at about 10am on day 1 and reached our base camp for the night at 4.30 ish, so thinking back it wasn't that a long climb actually.
The living condition at the base camp was a lot better than what I was expecting! While in Tai Wan everyone was sharing a long stretch of wooden planks in a similar hut. Lnr and I get a small but spacious partitioned room to ourselves for the night. And the toilet was flushable and pretty clean for what you find in the middle of a mountain. We concussed almost immediately as we reached, felt like we were quite well prepared with a set of dry thermal wears to change out to (though it was because I was expecting it to be very cold at night, once again citing back to my night at Snow Montain when I was freezing ), felt like our trekking agency provided additional sleeping bags and inflatable mattress for us which most of the other trekkers don't get, but again could be because we paid more than the rest Idk. But in all I'm really satisfied with the agency's service heh. Dinner was cooked and served by Minh in the dark and we had quite an enjoyable chat together before we sleep in at 7? While I was contemplating to step out and gaze at the starry night sky, I eventually convinced myself that it is probably cold and foggy outside and it's better to hide in the hut HAHAHA.
We were told to wait for Minh to wake us up for our peak the next morning pending on the weather condition, unfortunately it was still very misty at 3am so we get to sleep in till 5am before Minh came with 2 hot bowl of Pho to kickstart the day. And it was really lucky of us, sky was cleared when we packed up and we got the witness the beauty of sun rise above the clouds as we commence the peak. To be honest we really didn't know what to expect at the peak given that it was drizzling all the day long since we arrived in Sapa, but waking up to a clear sky really excites us~ Though Minh told us that the last stretch of the climb is as tough and steep, Lnr and I felt more delighted than anything for the good weather and we actually managed to overtake a few other trekkers and reached the peak at 7.40ish in the morning~
We actually received a certification and medal from Minh when we reached the peak HAHAHA so kwet. Felt like this may be the better if not best views you can get at Fansipan because when it's foggy, you can see nothing but a vast piece of whiteness behind you. The weather at the peak was surprisingly comfortable as a few of us got the peak all to ourselves before the cable car starts to send other tourists up. Shortly after Minh started to feed us yet again with Banh mi (Vietnamese Baguette), felt like we were constantly eating and I might have gained a kg or two rather than losing anything HAHAHA. We enjoyed the trek a lot with the company of Minh who self-learnt English while he was serving the army so it was really convenient to strike a conversation, it was also eye opening when he shared with us about the monetary gift culture to the family of the bride, which is a lot similar to China. He started by asking Lnr 'how much money you give her father to marry?' & he was astound when Lnr replied that he didn't have to pay anything HAHAHAHA.
As the trek ends, we changed back into our tourist identity and rewarded ourselves with a good massage and great food before retrieving our backpacks and took a taxi to our next and last night of accommodation in Sapa - the Sapa Clay House. Initially, lnr and I were hesitant on how much to spend on the accommodations in Sapa, and we changed our accoms at least thrice before finally settling for the Clay house after a friend of mine's recommendation since she was at Sapa recently too. AND IT TURNS OUT TO BE THE BEST DECISION WE HAVE MADE FOR THE TRIP. ;') The view above was right outside our clay house, overlooking the rice terraces. The room was also neatly tidied up with a wooden bathtub. It's a small resort with only 8 bungalows so you are pretty much undisturbed the whole time. The entire setting of the resort was laidback and very ethnically decorated so it's a A+ for their marketing efforts lololol.
We made no plans for the day and practically spending a good 2D1N just laying around the resort, reading kindles/watching anime the whole time with the lush greenery views right in front of us. For a day or two, it was almost like complete getaway for me, I forget completely about work back in Singapore ( but again, I forget about work every single weekend when I'm in Singapore too HAHAHA) Anyway everything is slow paced there, just laying there and watch the family (who runs the place) ironing the bed-sheets were enjoyable. The family also owns 3 lovely dogs and a cat agh, how ideal to live in. No doubt they have their fair share of troubles I believe, but I was almost wondering how would things be like if Lnr and I were to buy a piece of land here and run a family run resort like this on our own Hahaha. Oh and just to mention the 'owner' is really young maybe in his early 30s? Woah I wonder how.
I remember while we were there I can't help but to kept repeating to Lnr that the view in front of us felt almost like a still painting. It's always amazing to step out from Singapore to realize how grand and enormous the world actually is, that you can afford to have such vast mountain landscapes around with small village houses loosely scattered around the valleys.
What surprised us more than the scenic beauty was how palatable the food served at the resort were. It's just so unexpected to find such appetising food presented so well in a remote place like this, and what's more selling at the price almost equivalent to what we have been paying in any other restaurant in the main Sapa town like woah. Every mouthful and every dish we ordered surprised us pleasantly and I cant imagine how anyone else would think otherwise HAHAHA totally got sold. We were really interested on where the chef came from and how did he learn such fusion style but unfortunately we never got to find out.
Thus, here is lnr and I having a very enjoyable and romantic dinner with good local wine for the night, such fond memories for the trip ah I'm missing those time already. Good moments like this made me feel how fortunate we are to be able to afford such lifestyle, to be able to just cancel our flights and change our destination away from the disaster-struck places while the locals had to stay there and rebuild from the scraps left; to be able to pay a hundred bucks and take the cable car ride down while the guides turned back to walk down the mountain and repeat the whole trekking the day after; to enjoy the well cropped rice terraces from a distance on our sun beds which the back breaking villagers spent weeks ploughing through.. Really there is not equity of treatment on Earth and we are just sheer lucky sometimes.
Anyhow, after recharging ourselves fully with the 2D1N clay house getaway, we also bid goodbye to Sapa with lots of fond memories and took the 9 hours night train followed by a 2 hours limousine bus ride to our next and last destination - 2 small villages near Ninh Binh city in the river delta of Northern Vietnam.
After enjoying the cooling breeze at Sapa, it felt like Ninh Binh has sent us straight to the hottest place on Earth. The change from 10 degree to 39 degree was no kidding and I was just melting away every single second since our arrival. Unlike Sapa which was on a high mountainous plains, Ninh Binh just felt like a big sauna enclosed by the karst mountains. We stayed right beside one of them at the other end of Tam Coc lake. The hut was clean and tidy, but there was a stuffy smell to it and we tried to leave the door/windows open as much to ventilate the room.
We rented the bicycles from the homestay and travelled out northward in the morning. GOD I WAS ON FIRE. There was no shelter and we were cycling in the middle of paddy field like this with a clear blue sky right above us HAHAHA. While the view was scenic and tranquil, to be honest I would have enjoyed the ride a lot more if the sun could show a little more mercy. Well at least our new shades bought just before the trip were put into good use!
500 steps up the uneven limestone steps at Hang Mua cave later, we were greeted by a panoramic view of the villages/paddy field/lakes. Like your typical imagined laid back peaceful villages, I might have mentioned this already but the trip gave me a lot of China vibes interestingly, be it their temples, pagodas and any other sites we have visited. There were status of the journey to the west characters and white tiger caves along the way up to the top. I suggested to retreat back to our homestay after lunch because the sun really show no mercy and we napped till evening time before continuing our journey on bicycle. Quite a chillax day I would say and we wrapped up the day after visiting the Bich Dong pagoda just before the place closes for the day. The ride back to our homestay was much cooler as the sun sets and we managed stopped by the roadside to watch the sun set behind the layers of mountains in the distant.
On our second day in Ninh Binh we hired a private driver to bring us to two places before catching an early afternoon coach back to Hanoi. Tam coc and Trang an are both popular for their 3 hours long boat cave tours, we opted for Trang an for we researched that there is less forceful-purchases by the locals and also less commercialised, or so we read online. As a UNESCO world heritage site, the place was well maintained and systematic with paddlers in uniforms waiting at the banks. I think reading too much reviews became toxic sometimes that made me constantly wary about getting scammed or having bad experiences like those described in the reviews. But overall our trip wasn't really that bad, yes we fell into parking trap when there were public free parking 200m away, we got 'targeted' by locals who tailed us during our trek, 'made friends' and sold us souvenirs at the end of the trekking. But..I guess everyone is just out to make a living..well. But still there are times I got stubborn and refuse to pay unauthorised 'entrance fees' to the locals at places HAHAHA. Double standard.
Back to the boat ride, we opted in for the 2 hours shorter ride because we were quite time-tight to catch the 1pm coach back to Hanoi but it stretched into 3 hours when our friendly and pretty Saigon girls who shared the boat with us probably took their own sweet time to take tons of insta photos everywhere we stopped by HAHAHA. We chose the Skull island route where the King Kong movie was filmed, and the organiser tired to recreate the movie tribes set ups on the island. It feels... inauthentic? But again the movie is fictional it self so what am I talking about here Opps. The boat ride was pretty tranquil (except that again it was very hot) to paddle slowly surrounded by the limestone formations. Subsequently, we made a brief stop to Hoa Lu ancient capital - the old capital of Vietnam during the 10th and 11th century. The place was a lot small in scale than we imagined and we left within half an hour. It really wasn't an in-depth visit and all I remember now was the stone bed that the emperor slept in, hmm I would have preferred my own bed at home.
We manage to make some last minute shopping at the night market in Hanoi on our last night before flying back to Singapore. I would like to conclude that the northern Vietnam is a beautiful scenic place that I would definitely love to go back to if given a chance, and that Vietnamese food can actually be really tasty (tho nothing beats Thai in Southeast Asian so far), it was a very enjoyable trip with Lnr and I am really proud of ourselves for going to the Fansipan summit (not to mention how lucky we were to get such a perfect weather at the peak). While it may be a little far fetched, I am also grateful for my job that pays me well enough to enjoy such oversea trips every now and then. I remember an interesting conversation with Lnr while we were eating in a restaurant in Sapa one night on how wealthy the locals presumed we are, if they know that just like them, we hold ordinary jobs in where we came from, leading a 9-6 job and all. But on second thought from the information we gathered, we actually have enough savings to buy a plot of land and develop there lolol.
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