Nice pictures. Looking forward to my trip (currently planning to visit Hanoi, Sapa and Halong Bay).
Thanks. Have a great trip.
We didn’t have time for Sapa on this visit, but I’ve been there before and it was really cool too: mountain tribes people who farm the land, live without cars, motorbikes, tv, radio, telephone, etc., and dress in beautiful, colorful, handmade clothes. Of course they’re fully aware of the outside world, and walk into town to buy and sell in the market (they also speak good english), but I believe their colorful outfits are genuine and their lives really are very simple and uncluttered by modernity.
One week for Hanoi, Halong Bay and Sapa sounds perfect to me. Aside from all of the above, you’ll want to rent a motorbike and cruise around the countryside one day, past the scenic rice fields. And you’ll want at least a day for shopping in the Old Quarter and checking out the many nice art galleries.
How was the trip? Lets see some pics.
Was in Vietnam last week. I love the place. (Second time this year, and another trip in July…)
Travellers might like to check out pacificairlines.com.vn/
I picked up a single TPE-SGN for $40 including taxes - booked about a month in advance. Afternoon departure. You’d be lucky to get that fare now, but they often do specials that make a short trip to SGN practical. (You need a visa of course.)
(Pacific Airlines is a little crappy… but the plane was only about 10% full. Came back with EVA in First ha ha ha)
By the way, getting EVA tickets in Vietnam can be very cost effective. Current price over the counter at EVA’s office in Saigon for SGN-TPE-CDG/LHR/VIE/AMS-TPE-SGN in deluxe (elite) class is US$1006 + TAX. That’s a 12 month ticket with stopovers in Taipei. If you want to go to London in elite class, it can almost work out cheaper to go to Saigon just to come back. (Agents will discount the ticket a little, but will charge something on top for credit card.) You cannot get this fare in Taiwan - it must be issued in Vietnam and you must fly SGN-TPE first. The fare to the US from SGN is also good value, but they charge an extra fee for stopovers in TPE.
If anyone is interested in “trying this”, I’d suggest you PM me for further advice.
It was great! Initially I got a bit annoyed in Hanoi as traffic is worst than in Taiwan and the constant honking irritated me. But somehow I managed to cope and things got much better when we (friend and myself) took a two-day trip to Halong Bay. Weather wasn’t great but still enjoyable, stayed on Cat Ba island for the night.
After that we went to Sapa by over-night train, beautiful scenery and cooler up there, just to my liking. It was interesting to see the different tribes and how they integrate or rather interact with Vietnamese and tourists. We also took a daytrip to Bac Ha market on Sunday (small group tour by mini-bus) but we were told that there were not many tribes present since it was still Tet season. Still it was interesting, and we were surprised that a guided tour through a H’mong village was part of the program, including a visit to a traditonal house. We already did a tour in Sapa but that was just walking through the villages. And it didn’t include the drinking, the old man in the house offered us rice-wine and the men couldn’t escape. Took a peek at China from Lao Cai before we headed back by train to Hanoi to catch our flights back (the following day).
I will post some pics later maybe, have to sift through hundreds of them that we took.
Check out dude’s pics. They are great.