4 months after coming back, here is the full tale of our World Trip! We used Polarsteps as our journal, writing down all our adventures for our friends and family. We now have printed a book (332 pages) with some photos and graphics. Just a small teaser:
(more…)Category: Vietnam
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Budget for a World Trip
We travelled for 14 months and gathered all the prices thanks to TravelSpend application: Here is the detail of how much did we pay the planes, accommodations, activities, transportations, food… You will know all about what you should expect to spend on a World Trip!
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Northern Vietnam in 15 days
With our free 15 days visa we decided to focus on the Northern part of Vietnam (I already visited the South in 2017). We arrived to Hanoï, went for a cruise on Ha Long bay, then to Sa Pa and its amazing ricefields, did a 3 days loop around Ha Giang, and finished our trip in Ninh Binh, the terrestrial Ha Long bay!
After travelling 8 months in Latin America, where everything was easy (I speak Spanish so it helps a lot) and the travel system is a bit like we know, our arrival to Vietnam after a 30h trip from Mexico was quite hard. So we mainly asked the information and fees to the hotels where we were, without knowing if it’s a good or regular price.
Also, because of our jetlag, we chose not to take night buses in the beginning, but we could have definitely get faster (with a nightbus between Hanoï and Sa Pa, and an other between Sa Pa and Ha Giang).
Looking back on this trip, the most relevant itinerary would have been Hanoi – Ha Long Bay – Ninh Binh – Ha Giang – Sapa and cross the border in the North of Laos.
Tip: You can use Bookaway to get the timetable and book your transportation.
Hanoï
Arrived by night at Hanoi, we visited the city in only a half day as it was raining as hell… We booked a tour in Halong Bay the day after (through our hotel).
Note: we paid 350k a taxi from the airport to our hotel
What to visit in Ha Noi:
- Imperial city, and don’t forget the exhibitions and the bunker to visit (entrance: 30k)
- Ho Chi Minh memorial (nearby you have Môt Côt pagoda – not really worth it)
- Train street (we sadly missed the train but it’s a fun stuff to do: take a coffee and wait for the train)
- Đền Thủy Trung Tiên temple on the lake (entrance: 30k)
- You also have a water Muppet show which looks fun but we didn’t have time to watch it
- National history museum (again no time but looks interesting)
To stay in Hanoi:
We chose to be in the center, for the amazing ambiance during the weekend and the proximity with all the sighseeings
– Gia Tinh (320k a double room)
– Rising Dragon (487k a double room)
Ha Long bay
Details of our 2 days 1 night tour in Halong Bay
- 8.30am: leaving from the hotel, did a 20min stop on the road at a shopping center
- 11.30 arrived in the Harbour where we took a small boat to get to our 3 stars boat. We had a welcome drink, did the check-in, and had lunch while the boat was entering into the bay
- 2.30pm visit of Surprise cave
- 3.30 small island with a very nice point of view (400 steps) and a small beach where you can swim
- 5pm way back at the boat stationed for the night. Happy hour (1$ off on any cocktail)
- 7pm small cooking lesson, Diner and then karaoke until 10.30!
2nd day:
- 6.15am the boat started a small cruise to an other bay where you can use kayak to visit the Skall cave
- 7am kayak tour all alone
- 8am breakfast while the boat was taking the way back
- 10.45am lunch at the harbour
- 12.30 we left the boat and get back to Hanoi
- We arrived in Hanoi at 5pm.
How much is a cruise on Halong Bay?
We paid 115$usd for a 3stars cruise (not included the beers, 30k and cocktails 50k).
You can also take a 5 stars for a bit more but I guess the only difference is the confort in the cabin, not the program.
I also have seen agencies in the street proposing 75$ for the same 2d/1n but I don’t have the details.We could have taken a night bus to Sa Pa, as there are plenty leaving at 10pm (but arriving at 4am). We chose to take a hotel in Hanoi and a bus in the morning (ours was at 8am with Sa Pa Express from the city center but you have many other agencies starting earlier).
Hanoi – Sa Pa: 6h (we paid 18$usd)
Sa Pa
6h from Hanoï (with 2 stops of 20min), Sa Pa is located in the mountains with amazing rice fields terrasses. We arrived at 1pm, had lunch and went in our Homestay: Mintu. From there we did a small trekking to Cat Cat the first day. It was Sunday and this village was full of beautiful people wearing traditional dresses, a paradise for Instagramers!
Note: Moto taxi from Sa Pa to Cat Cat is between 20k and 50k. The entrance to Cat Cat was 90k and I heard you also need to pay for the other villages, but as we passed by the rice fields I guess we avoided it.
The second day we walked to Lào Chai and Tavan. With MapsMe you can easily do it by yourself. It’s totally ok to walk without a guide there. We started at 7am, avoiding all the tourists groups who start later and from Cat Cat. We took a coffee at Family H’Mong where we met Mimi who told us a lot of stories in a perfect English. She invited us to visit her home without asking any money while an other woman who started following us insisted A LOT to sale us stuff…
We also crossed a lot of children who almost cryed asking to buy them their bracelets. We arrived in Lào Chai around 11am and stopped for a lunch while again a group of woman was harassing us (but not so long and nothing crazy).
After a total 18km walking around this beautiful countryside, we went back to our hotel by moto taxi (60k).Note: If you prefer to take a guide instead of walking alone, please contact a H’Mong woman guide (like Soon Yang or Chai trekking on Facebook) as the community doesn’t profit from the Tourism when you book tour with Vietnamese. It will be between 20$ and 50$ per day per person with accommodation and food.
OCHAO means thank you in H’Mong
Ha Giang loop
Ha Giang was a start of a 3 days roadtrip we made with a semi automatic scooter. Here is our program:
First day
- 6.45am we left the hotel to avoid the cops posted 9km from Ha Giang (they might ask for your international moto driving licence but are supposed to be there only from 7am to 11am). After 45min it started to rain and we stopped 1h in a house of very friendly vietnamese people who offered us “happy water”…
- 9.45 we stopped to take a coffee with the view on the Heaven gate
- 12h30 we had lunch in Yen Minh
- 14h we’ve been stuck 1h by the rain
- 16h we arrived in Dong Van and took the North road until Lung Cu
- 18h30 we arrived at Ma Pi Leng homestay where we were all alone! We shared the diner with this nice family but didn’t sleep well as some neighbour put music at 3am…
Second day
- We left at 7.30 am and went back to take a coffee at Happiness museum (no breakfast as they only had shrimp noodles) and went to the skypath road (only if you are good driver without vertigo)
- 10h30 we took a breakfast in Meo Vac before starting the “hard” part: bumpy road during 1h (nothing to be afraid of, if you need you can just push the moto)
- 15h we arrived at Du Gia where we had lunch at Du Gia Garden and took rest in the beautiful Du Gia Panorama homestay (we were dead!)
Third day
- 9.30 we left Du Gia after a great breakfast and after visiting the waterfall nearby the hotel (not crazy but if you want to swim there it’s ok) to go back to Ha Giang
- After Tung Nun we took the road on the left to cross beautiful mountains
- 12h45 we had lunch at Quan Bia Chum Vang nearby Ha Giang
- We finished our trip in Thanh Thuy close to chinese border and went back to the hotel at 3pm
Semi Automatic moto rent: we paid 180k per day + 5$ per day for full insurance via our hostel, Lila Inn (very nice, they let you us take a shower and arrange the bus to Ninh Binh)
Gazoline: between 200k and 250k for the whole trip
Ma Pi Leng homestay: 150k a single room for 2, 80k per person for dinner
Du Gia Panorama homestay: 300k with breakfast, 120k dinner per person (to go there ask Du Gia Homestay nearby the river in the city center)
Ninh Binh
Our night bus took us directly from the hotel in Ha Giang (400k) and took 9h to arrive to Ninh Binh. The bus left us at 5am in the middle of nowhere but only 4 km from our hotel. Taxi was here to pick up us offering 200k (way to expensive: we prefered to walk).
We rented a bicycle and went to Mua Cave, Bich Dong pagoda and Thung Nam (didn’t visited the bird parc but it was 150k entrance including a boat tour). We also asked in Thung Nang how much was a tour: 150k for 30min cruise). We preferred to do the Tam Coc boat tour: 120k each + 150k a boat for 2, 1h40 cruise.
Note: The paddlers often ask for tips so keep some cash in your pocket (around 50k).Second day we rented other bicycles to go to Hoa Lu (20k entrance). You can also do a boat tour in Trang An: 250k for 3h cruise.
Rental: 40k bike, 100k motorbike
Bicycle parking: 5k
To sleep: Cherry homestay (330k per night for 2)
To eat: Bambou homestay (around 70k a meal)
To book bus tickets or get information: Review Ninh Binh
We left Vietnam to go directly to Ventiane, Laos (990k per person a night bus). One advise: be sure to have your visa before your arrival.
Summary:
– 2 nights in Hanoï
– 2 days boat trip in Ha Long bay
– 1 night in Hanoï
– 2 nights in Sa Pa
– 1 night in Ha Giang
– 3 days 2 night on the Ha Giang loop
– 1 night bus to Ninh Binh
– 3 nights in Ninh BinhUsual prices:
– Water: between 10k and 15k (sometimes small bottle, sometimes big…)
– Beers: between 15k and 25k
– Juice or smoothie: around 50k
– Coffee: between 20k and 25k
– Food: between 40k and 90k a meal
– Cigarets: 15k local cigarets, 30k a Marlboro
– Laundry: 40k per kg (in Cherry Hostel Ninh Binh)
Note: Hotels often take 3% charges when paying by credit card -
New book!
In 2007/2008, while I was travelling through Asia, I wrote to my mom every single day of my journey. With the current CoVid and quarantine situation, I decided to look back again to those old emails and to turn it into a book.
Two years after the photo exhibition, I’m proud having edited those memories, to protect it from disappearance!
The first pages are available only here:
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![[VIDEO] Best of Asian trip](https://lookbackpacker.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Capture-d’écran-2018-12-20-à-20.31.54.png)
[VIDEO] Best of Asian trip
Some images of the beautiful landscapes, the amazing people, and the crazy experiences I lived for 6 months during my trip « alone » through South East Asia. (more…)
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South of Vietnam in 2 weeks
Arriving from Laos, Vietnam is the 6th country of my Asian trip, and I really felt there for the first time in the border between South East Asia and China. Sadly I didn’t have time to visit the whole country (included Hanoi Bay) but I experienced in two weeks a lot of great times with amazing and very different landscapes.
GO TO:
Hué, palace and tombs
We (me and my friend Rafica I met on the Mekong 2 weeks ago) decided to go south as soon as possible to avoid mass of people but also the bad weather! So we just had a half day to visit this city full of sightseeings…We asked to our hotel what was the best to do, and he selected for us the Imperial City, the tomb of Khải Định and the tomb of Tự Đức.
You can easily pass 3 hours in the Citadel (UNESCO World Heritage Site), but we made it in 1h30, arriving for the opening! Then we found a taxi and negociated with him to wait for us while we were visiting the tombs.
Khải Định Tomb (approx. 20min from the city center) is really impressive but fast to visit (30min). Tự Đức tomb stay in a bigger site and takes around 1 hour to visit everything. It took 15min to arrive from the other tomb, and around 30min to go back to our hotel in the center.
Hué has been a perfect start to visit Vietnam, with a big mix between modernity and tradition. You can find there a walking street by night with a lot of international restaurants and big bars full of lights and music!
Hotel in Hué: FA Backpackers, 70.000 dongs in a dorm
Entrance in the emperial city: 150.000
Taxi to the tombs: 100.000 with return!
Bus to Hoi An: 110.000 (3h)Hoi An, asian romantism
Hoi An was really close from Hué, we arrived in the afternoon, and the majority of the hotels were full but we found one close by the old city center. We passed our evening there, enjoying like children the beauty of the lanterns. We went out even if it was complicated to find a place open after 10pm, and enjoyed our hangover on the beach the day after!We wanted to visit the places around (Marble Mountain and Mi Son temple) but it was raining too much to rent a moto, and we didn’t want to be in a tour full of tourists. So we took a night bus to look for the sun in the south…
Informations:
– Hotels: Lucky Hotel, 700.000 double room, then 300.000 Hoi Pho hotel
– Bus to Dalat: 350.000 (14h)
– Taxi to go to the beach: 70.000› More pictures on Facebook!Da Lat Pagoda
We stopped at Dalat just to check the cherrytrees (but already dead mainly), and the Truc Lam Pagoda. It’s famous for its active monastery, its amazing garden and bonzais, and the view of the forest and lake from the quiet stroll, best way to access on the Pagoda!
Informations:
– Cable car: 150.000 (careful: closed between 11.30 and 1pm)
– Bus to Bao Loc: 90.000 (3h)Bao Loc and Dambri waterfalls
We already visited a lot of amazing waterfalls in Laos, but here is an other level: the entrance include the elevator to the main waterfall, an alpine coaster and a pedalo tour on the lake. We also wanted to check the view on the mountains from Linh Quy Phap An temple, but didn’t have enough time, and we really wanted to go to the beach!
Informations:
– Hotel in Bao Loc: Huynh Gia Bao, 200.000 double room
– Entrance to the Waterfalls: 100.000
– Price of the taxi: 150.000 (with a hard negociation!)
– To Mui Né: 100.000 a van to Phang Thien, then a local bus to Mui Né:15.000/pers + 20.000 for the bag pack!Mui Né: beach, dunes and fairy
This small city hide a very nice heart, behind all the resorts and the tourists…
The first day we only enjoyed the beach all along Mui Né, between the city center and the port to enjoy a nice sunset.
The second day we rented a scooter to visit the White Dunes and have an amazing tour in Quad. We took rest enjoying a lunch and a nice walk into the fairy stream. You need to go in the end of the road to access to the best part, walking in a small river in a colourful canyon. We finished this magic day in the red dunes, to enjoy the sunset (full of tourists).
Corruption:
We’ve been arrested by the cops on the road to the white dunes. They had a picture of us in the city at 50km/h speed (the max you can go is 40!), and I forget my driving licence in the hotel… They had a very clear book with the infractions and the prices traduced in every languages. Total: 1 million something, but as they “wanted to help us” they accepted 400.000 cash…Informations:
Hotel: Bien Dua, 330.000 a double room with sea view!
Scooter: 60.000 a day + 75.000 gaz for 2 days
White dunes: 15.000 entrance and 50.000 for the quad
Night bus to Saigon: 110.000 (6h)
Ho Chi Minh, fiesta and war tunnels
The capital of Vietnam received us with lights and music all around the streets, at 5am! We found a 24h bar/cafe to wait for our hotel to open. We finished our night we passed in the bus (way to short), and went in District 5, to see the Vietnam loose the final of the asian cup of -23yo! The party this night was equivalent to a World cup celebration.
The day after we were anable to do nothing. We just enjoyed the walking street, that’s it. The day after we took a tour to Cu Chi Tunnel, with a friendly guide who explained us every thing you need to know.
Cuchi Informations:
– Hotel in Saigon: Lee Hostel, 100.000 in a dorm
– Tour for Cu Chi: 90.000 + 110.000 entrance fee
– Bus to My Tho: 60.000 (3h)My Tho and the mangroves canals
After our Cu Chi tour, we took directly a bus to My Tho to enjoy one last time the Mekong. We found an hotel and walked up early to take a boat before the tourists bus arrivals! At 10am you will cross the first boats. We negociated the price and reduced the price from 750.000 per person (with the transfert to Can Tho included), to 400.000 for 2 people! We did the traditional tour: you arrive on Unicorn island, take a carriage to arrive to a port full of small embarcations. You do a 15 minutes tour inside a canal, enjoying the view on fishermen houses. Then you are welcome in a bee farm to try the honey tea and buy (or not) some homemade sweets, and you finish in a big canal with mangroves.
It last 2 hours and really worth it, especially for us to say goodbye to the Mekong we met in Laos!
Informations:
– Hotel: Tan Loc 2, 320.000 a double room
– Bus to Can Tho: 100.000 (4h)
– Tour Arroyos: 400.000 for 2 people
Can Tho and the Floating Markets
Arrived at midday, we decided to buy ourself a luxurious hotel with swimming pool and rooftop bar, for 35€! We had diner on a nice balcony in front of the floating market pier, with a live show in the street, and walked up early to see the famous floating market. The tours from our hotel and in the pier were expensive, so we decided to go there by ourselves and took a taxi… and a bad direction! We lost time, and we had our bus to Phu Quoc at 8am, so we negociated a 30min tour which left us on the other side of the river, where it’s easy and surely cheaper to take a tour. We found two moto taxi to leave us to the bus station, and took the one of 9am. This one arrive right on time at the Ferry of 1pm (10 minutes more and we would have miss it).
Tip: best way for a cheap tour is to go by taxi (or moto taxi even cheaper) to Cai Rang and pass through a restaurant to get a boat.
Hotel: TTC Hotel, 500.000/night double room
Market tour: 130.000 for 2 people
To go to Phu Quoc:Bus to Rach Gia 110.000 (4h) + 350.000 the fast ferry
Phu Quoc, paradise island
Phu Quoc Informations:
– Hotel: 300.000/night for a bungalow
– Scooter: 350.000/day + 70.000 the oil
– Laundry: 20.000/kg
– Trip to Kep (Cambodia): 16$USDPhu Quoc is known to have one of the most beautiful beaches in the World. Well, it’s right, but the most beautiful and fully cleans are owned by huge resorts where you pay three time the local food prices, and the rooms between 200 and 600$ a night. Well we found a cheap hostel close to the Sky Bar on the main road in the south of the main city. The only way to fully appreciate the island is to rent a scooter. For 2 days we had a nice Honda one, but you can find Yamahas cheaper I guess.
First we visited the North, and found a nice resort where we had lunch but also where the deck chair were booked by the clients of the hotel (160$ per night, I can understand). So we’ve been a bit further on the right and found a bar where you can enjoy a fresh juice on their deck chair all day (they also have food, and a swimming pool you can maybe use, if the transparent and warm sea is too salty for you…).
We’ve been to the north were we heard there was a nice sunset, but we couldn’t see the sun, so we went to a very new and very high level hotel! Same way: “where is the restaurant please?” And you land on a bar with fires around you, an amazing swimming pool, a bar with foot on the white sand, peace and happyness.
The second day we tryed our famous restaurant technic, but this time it didn’t work: to enter to the beach of Marriot resort, you need to buy at the entrance a voucher of 500.000 to use in the bar or restaurant. We didn’t want to pay so expensive to do nothing on a beach, so we’ve been a bit further, to Sao beach. We stopped at Coconut prison, a weird and a bit savage demo of the tortures made on communist prisoners… Not for children! There is two side for this Sao beach: on the right the wild part, and cheap deck chairs but a bit of garbage and sand not so so white. And on the left lot of people in different resorts’ restaurants.
Our 15 free touristic visa was ending, so we took a tour which organize the trip by boat and van, to cross the border at Ha Tien.
Summary:Day 1/2: Hué
Day 3/4: Hoi An
Day 5: Da Lat
Day 6: Bao Loc
Day 7/8/9: Mui Né
Day 9/10: Ho Chi Minh
Day 10: My Tho
Day 11/12: Can Tho
Day 13/14/15: Phu QuocLooking back…
– First I want to talk about what I heard about vietnamese people: Very friendly! They talk more english than their neighbours, and sometimes even french.
– We’ve lost time because of the few buses from Bao Loc to Mui Né… There is a lot of buses from an to Saigon, and I think it’s not really necessary to visit Da Lat and Bao Loc.
– Hoi An is really nice, and if you have time I think you should visit the old houses (paying a general ticket).Our best moments…
