Xin Chao Vietnam!

Good Morning, Vietnam!

from 7-13 Dec 2019

Hanoi-Trang An-Halong-Ninh Binh-Tam Coc 

7 Dec 2019. Saturday

Arrived at Changi Airport T2 at around 10.15am to collect Changi Wi-Fi router for $23.xx

Make a beeline to checkin luggage at T4. Unfortunately not yet check-in time. Head for Jewel next to T1 Arrival Hall early at 11.10am.

Make a beeline for Jewel coffee outlet. B1-K22.

Redeemed free coffee with Samsung Pay voucher. Disappointment. Small feeble outlet. Coffee not that fantastic.

Spent $29.90 at Shake Shake. Burgers are absolutely heaven though. Thanks to Mummy!

7 Dec 2019.Saturday 

Noi Bai Airport Hanoi

Xin Chao Vietnam!

Departed from T4 at 1455 hrs Singapore Time.

Landed at 1700 hrs Viet Time.

Singapore time already 1800 hours.

Surprisingly new quite clean modern airport. Took airport bus at the runway as there's no aero bridge. Money exchanges and sim card booths everywhere. Most profitable in airport. Chauffeurs are outsourced. They are private taxis. They don't speak English. They smoke a lot. Mostly men do the smoking unlike Singapore. 

8 Dec 2019.Sunday

Hanoi City Tour

At Night Market in Hanoi. Close to Hoem Kiem Lake. City centre.

Chaos reigned.

Cacaphony of bikes and people.

Close shave with motorbikes.

Incessant traffic flow. Swarms of motorbikes. Blaring of horns.

Navigating the traffic is a hair-raising experience.

Crossing roads are stressful moments. Traffic comes from all direction.

Full of Grab drivers in bikes. 

They also solicit for horny customers at night around 1030 thereafter.

Vice and massage 4 men are available and accessible.

At Hoam Kiem Lake. Motley crew of millennials. Vietnam is a young country.

Hang Gai

Hang Hom.

Red River.

0815 The Noble Swan Hotel

Tour guide picked us up punctually But minibus of18 verycramped

0950  Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is located in Ba Dinh Square, and is easily (and best) accessible via taxi. Admission into the Mausoleum is free.

Despite Ho Chin Minh’s desire that his cremated body’s ashes be distributed throughout Vietnam, the Vietnamese government had its own plans.

They sent his body to a lab in Moscow for embalming very much resembling those of Vladimir Lenin's. They subsequently erected a massive mausoleum 70 feet high and 135 feet wide to house his body. The Ho Chi Mini Mausoleum opened on August 29, 1975.

Unlike the rest of the mausoleum complex, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is free to visit.

1300 Hoang Restaurant

1400 The Temple of Literature is often cited as one of Hanoi’s most picturesque tourist attractions. 

Originally built as a university in 1070 dedicated to Confucius, scholars and sages, the building is extremely well preserved and is a superb example of traditional-style Vietnamese

1610 Thang Long Puppet Theater Tours .

9 Dec 2019. Monday

Ninh Binh Trang An Grottoes 

The day tour is included in the package. Mini-tour bus picked us up at the hotel. Nearly 2 hours drive to the rural outskirts. Near to the coastlines of Vietnam. Serene. Picturesque. So far quite rustic and un-modernised.

The whole landscape, the greeneries, streams, ponds, trees, planations are like Malaysian kampongs in the fifties.

Once back to Hanoi impressions were not so good at first. 

It is a super pollutive capital city.

Very pollutive in terms of noise and air. 

Terrible.

Too many motorbikes and human traffic.

Bikes everywhere. 

Horning everywhere. 

Impatient.

Bikers wear face masks. 

People were smoking everywhere as they traversed.

Hotels charged 3% bank fees. 

Massage places don't. 

There are

massages places 4 men only. 

10 Dec.Tuesday

Halong.

Chilled morning as usual. Easily 12 degrees and below.

Went for a quick recee after breakfast at 7am.

Terrible traffic. 

Mishmash of humans and motorbikes. Pollutive to mind body and senses. 

Incessant horning and motor vehicles.

Everybody in a rush and impatient.

Many at the Hoem Kiem Lake exercising and dancing singing. 

Elderlyfolks. 

Activities very much like in China.

Rushed back hotel to check out at 830am for Halong Bay.

Pleasantly surprised that luxury 10-seater came picked us up by La Regina cruise tour. Only 3 of us in the mini bus. Cool. Shiok.

Been driving for hours now. Great driver. Endless straight highways. Run for stretches for 2 hours pretty straight. No kidding. 

11Dec.Wednesday

HALONG.SKULL ISLAND.

Impeccable end-to-end service. La Regina Cruise's tour bus picked us at Arts De Noble hotel at 830am and dropped us back next day 1140am-145pm.

Mr Tim is a new 2 month-old program manager under probation. He has a four-year old girl at Hanoi. 

Mr Dai worked almost 1 year at La Regina Royal cruise and makes himself very friendly very nice. 

Ms Hua graduated graduated 4 months ago from university. Studied English major duty for 4 years. First job in cruise ship.

Group of 18 elderly Jap tourists with local and fat lady guide. Definitely unmarried and quite atas. Graduate at the very least.

Millions visit Halong Bay yearly. International tourists from all over. This is the most popular attractions of the country, located in the northern province of Quang Ninh. 

Being the UNESCO World Heritage site, Halong Bay promises to create the impeccable film segments that wow every audience who appreciates the emerald sea, enigmatic caves, natural beaches and uninhabited islands.

Nature in the majestic Halong Bay goes beyond expectation of any one, and in some aspects, the “Bay of the Descending Dragon” is supernatural and fairy. 

Dotted with over 1600 islands, we couldn’t imagine anywhere better for a giant gorilla to hide.

The stunning scenery of sheer cliffs is the perfect backdrop for water-based activities. Halong Bay offers travelers a comprehensive experience: staying on a junk-style boat for one or two nights, trying tai chi, swimming, kayaking, cooking classes and squid fishing, fresh seafood - not really.

12 Dec. Thursday 

Tam Coc. Am Tien Caves.

The aura of tranquility engulfs oneself. 

The serenity and calmness of Ninh Binh invokes a deep sense peacefulness. 

The rustic villages in Trang An, Hoa Lu and Tam Coc reminses of a scene from The Lost World. 

Out-of-world experiences with Tommy Thi our local guide in the day tour at Ninh Binh.

Synomous with Hoa Lu in Ninh Binh. Trang An. Tam Coc. Utopia. Shangrila. Xanadu. A realm of its own.

Scenic pictureque caves lakes in between karats formations. Breath-taking.

A scene from the Lost World.

I'm thoroughly impressed. Crystal clear green jaded laked the Am Tien Cave attraction.

A tunnel have to be bored through before one can reach the lake surrounded by sky high mountain-like kasrst formations shaped millions of years ago simply by water and air. 

Shangrila-like. A world of it's own. Utopian existence. A Xanadu-like world.

13 Dec. Fri.

Home Sweet Home.

Didn't realise airport was so far away from the city centre in Hanoi . Easily a 50-minute ride away from hotel.

A little 'long-distanced' due to peak hours traffic in the morning but majority of ride on expressway. Long stretches of highway on the wayto airport. Across a big man-made structure hanging bridge over Hanoi.

Fogging and misty in the morning at 7am. 

Not able to see the big wide river of Hanoi as we cross the Hanging bridge.

Not sure if it is the Red River. 

Left hotel 643am. 

Arrived at Noi Bai airport at 726am. 

Crowds already formed at VietJet check-in counters.

There are tonnes of Chinese tourists. Aunties. Quite orderly. Finally we see them. 

There's Koreans, indians, Japanese, Australians tourists that checked in Old Quarters but never met tourists from China. 

Obviously they stayed in bigger hotels such as Pan Pacific or Lotte or Hilton in the city fringes.

A quiet affair during check-out as Ms Giang only report to work at 730am. Breakfast at 6.15 am is a rushed one as it's usually served after 630am.

Finally seen the last of the Soured Face Manager. She might even be the boss of this little Jade Kitchen Restaurant in the hotel for all you know.

On the VietJet plane took pictures of air stewardesses with thick long sleeves uniform and short bermudas. 

Top heavy uniform that is. 

Started the journey and ended in light name with the same song.

Played continuously throughout the flight. 

Quite catchy tune. Pulled at heart strings.

"Hello Vietnam" by Quynh Aah.

Xin Chao Vietnam!!

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Itinerary Arranged by Hotel 

Day 1: Airport pickup service by 7 seater car & free day:  VN916 from Singapore arrives at 17:25 on 07/12/2019

Overnight in our Family room (35m2, no view).

No meal included.

Day 2: Group city tour from 8:30am – 16:00 plus: water puppet show (1 hour – it is possible to switch this show to last day) or 1 hour on cyclo-tour around the town.

Overnight in our Family room.

Breakfast & lunch included.

Day 3: Join Ninh Binh 1 day tour from 7:30am – 19:00 (visit Hoa Lu ancient capital-Trang An-Mua Cave)

Then overnight in our Family room

Breakfast & lunch included

Day 4: Join Halong Bay 2 days 1 night tour with La Regina Royal 5* cruise

All meals included

Day 5: Trip finishes and get back to our hotel around 14:30-15:00. Overnight in our Family room

Day 6: Free day

Breakfast included. Overnight in our Family room

Day 7: Get airport drop off service by private car.

Breakfast included

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Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Opening hours

Opening days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday

Closing days: Monday, Friday

+ Hot season (from 1st April to 31st October): from 7:30 AM to 10:30 AM(Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays: from 7:30 AM to 11:00 AM

+ Cold season (from November 1 to March 31 of the following year): from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Entrance fee: Free (Address: 25 Hung Vuong street)

Ho Chi Minh Museum

Entrance fee: 40.000VND(Address: 25 Hung Vuong street)

One Pillar Pagoda

Entrance fee: Free

Ho Chi Minh’s house

Stilts House And The House No.54

Total Tickets: 40.000VND/Adult

II.Complex Dress code and Tips:

Short shorts, mini-skirts, sleeveless shirts, tank tops and so on are not allowed.

Cameras, mobile phones and day packs can’t be taken inside. The guards will collect those things before you enter the mausoleum.

No shooting, video recording in restricted areas, especially inside the mausoleum.

Putting your hands in your pockets and taking photograph is prohibited.

Does Ho Chi Min Mausoleum just open at 7.30 until 11.00, not open at the afternoon (14.00 – 16.30) likely the museum ?

How about One Pillar Pagoda ?

Is Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum open this morning only?

What time is the changing of the guard please?

and is the flag ceremony worth seeing…is it 9pm daily?

What time do you recommend arriving at mausoleum to get the least queue? It will be on a Wednesday.

II.Complex Dress code and Tips:

Children under 3 are not allowed to enter.

Not true. Babies in prams are allowed. 

Seen it with own eyes. 

TripAdvisor feedback postings are Highly Valued in Vietnam.

In Vietnam services and infrastructure, mini buses hotel not that fantastic.

But I do not want to break people's rice bowl. 

Hence...here goes my feedback

A good hotel with excellent location and staff catering to flexible arrangement. 

Special mention to the following staff Ms Giang, Mr Tung, Mr Trung, Victor, Mr Long, Ms Aah and Mr Vi for making our 5-day stay a memorable one.