Northern Vietnam (5th Sep-18th Sep 07) Part 3

13th Sep 07 – Lao Chai and Ta Van Village
A visit to the Hmong village in Lao Chai and Ta Van was our last itinerary in Sapa. We transferred by minibus to from Sapa town to Lao Chai. Once we got down from the minibus, the Hmong women and children approached us to sell the walking sticks, handmade bag etc. We ignored them and trekked down to the valley. But they were not easily gave up, followed us for quite a long journey and bug us with the phrase “You buy from me?” .

We trekked through the rice terraces. The landscape is quite impressive. We visited the primary school and having lunch at one of the Homestay in Ta Van. Besides Hmong, we also met other hill tribe in Ta Van, eg: Red Dzao. I will recommend those that interested to visit Sapa to trek at Lao Chai and Ta Van village. The trekking took us about 4 hours including the lunch time. But the scenery it offered is definitely worth the visit. The trip ended around 3pm. We took the train from Lao Cai back to Hanoi at night.

14th-16th Sep 07 – Halong Bay – Cat Ba Island – Hanoi
The train reached Hanoi at 5am. We took the taxi from train station to the agent office. The office is not yet opened. We took our breakfast at the stall beside the road, and then sat beside the road from 6am – 9am, watching streets from quiet become very busy. 套用海波的一句话- 我们看着河内渐渐苏醒.

We board the minibus to Halong bay at 9am. Halong bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site which consists of around 2000 islands. Halong bay has become a “must go” destination for tourist that visited Hanoi. We get on the boat and enjoyed the cruise. In the afternoon, we visited the Sung Sot Cave – the largest cave in Halong bay. Then, we stopped at one of the island for swimming. I did not swim but trekked up to the island to get the view from the top. We stayed overnight at the boat.

The next day, we pack our things and move to a smaller boat that will take us to Cat Ba Island. On the way to Cat Ba island, we stopped for kayaking. Halong bay is very suitable for kayaking. We didn’t feel it’s in the ocean because the water is very calm. I didn’t know how to kayak but luckily I have Lai as my partner. She loves kayaking. So, due to my laziness, she did the kayaking most of the time. I am just resting and enjoying the scenery. :p

We reached Cat Ba island at noon. After lunch, we went for a short, relaxing hiking trip and visited a cave in the island. After the trip ended, we rented the bicycle to explore the island. We went to the beach, the pier and red light district of the island. I enjoyed the day very much.

We left Cat Ba and Halong bay the next day. Accommodation is the first thing that we need to settle once we back to Hanoi. A young man approached us, gave us a hotel brochure and offered the room at his hotel for USD 5 per person. So, Tack, Liow, Karen, Lai and I followed that young man to check out his hotel. The hotel is located inside the small street, different from the brochure stated. Then we found out what he offered is different from our expectation. He only gave us 2 double rooms and 1 triple room for 10 persons. We spent a lot of time to bargain with him. Just before we would like to give up and find other hotel, he agreed to give us 5 double rooms includes breakfast with USD 5 per person.

At night, we went to watch the water puppet show. I think all of us doze off during the show. Well…..what I can remember about the show is some puppets moving in the water, with the Vietnamese traditional music as background. I don’t know what the story is behind and slept most of the time. For anyone of you that would like to visit Hanoi, I will advise don’t waste the money to watch the water puppet show unless you really know how to appreciate the art.


17th Sep 07 – Perfume Pagoda
Perfume pagoda is located 70km from Hanoi. We walked in a tour agency and booked a private tour for perfume pagoda day trip. The package costs USD 11 per person which include the transport, guide, entrance fee and lunch. Perfume pagoda is not only one temple but a cluster of temples located on the limestone rock of Huong Son Mountain. We were surprised by the golden-yellow paddy fields along the way. It’s the harvest season. The villagers stacked the harvested paddy beside the road. They still use the traditional way to harvest the paddy.

About 11.30am, we reached a small village where we have to sit into a boat and row by the locals to the perfume pagoda. The weather is not too hot, which made the boat journey very nice. After about 1 hour and 15 minutes boat ride, we were told to get down from the boat. There is cable car service to take the tourist to visit the pagodas uphill. But we decided to trek up instead of sitting in the cable car. We visited few pagodas on our way up. It took us about 1 hour to reach the highest pagoda. To our surprise, we met Yeap – one of our hiking friends at the highest pagoda. He was traveled with his family. I knew that he is traveling to Vietnam but it’s such a co-incidence to see him there.

We didn’t spend much time there and decided to trek down to have our lunch. After lunch, we visited the Thien Chu pagoda before took the boat back to the village. The perfume pagoda is not special but the journey is remarkable. The boat ride and the golden paddy fields had made the trip memorable.

September is the raining season but I never expect to experience the flood at Hanoi at the last night of my trip. Rains started to pour when we walked back to hotel after dinner. The rain was getting heavy. Ah Ming, Tuck Seng, Liow and I were having bia-hoi at the street, seeing the water rise up to the knee level within an hour time. We wait until the rain was getting smaller, then wade through the water along the flooded street to go back to our hotel.

18th Sep 07 – Back to Malaysia
Tuck Seng and Foong Kiew took the morning flight back to Malaysia. The rest of us took the night flight. So, we have more than half a day to go for shopping. We went to Dong Xuan market. Dong Xuan market is mainly for the wholesalers to get their supply. So, not all of the shops will entertain us as they only sell to wholesalers. We had quite a bad experience of shopping in Hanoi. The sellers are not friendly and scold us when we did not buy from them after take a look. Actually I had a bad impression of the Vietnamese attitude. From the 2nd day until the last day of the trip, we had encountered quite a number of rude treatments from the hotel staff, tour guide, post office staff and the sellers. I don’t like Hanoi and also don’t have the intention to visit it again.

However, the trip is still full of laughter, especially the drama between Hai Poh and Karen which had given us lots of fun. I appreciate the travel moments with you all. Hope all of you enjoyed it as well. ;)