Finally. The long waited trip to Vietnam come to fulfillment. My trip, together with my parents, had many first times: 1st time on Air Asia, 1st time visit to SEA other than Spore, 1st time overnight on boat/ship, and 1st time waking up before dawn to catch a flight.
Day1: Woke up at 2am. Getting ready. Left the house at 3am. Arrived LCCT at 4.30am. Checked in. Flight scheduled at 6:20am, was delayed 40 minutes due to no show of checked-in passengers. The flight was full, more than half were Vietnamese, whom, I think, first time taking a flight, perhaps out of their country. They clapped their hands when the flight took off and landed, and kept using their handphones throughout despite the warning from air stewardess. Narrow leg room and stiff chair back. Gosh, one nasi lemak costs RM8, and teh tarik RM4. While filling up the immigration form, I noticed that Vietnamese has a lot of similarity with Chinese. It sounds like a mixture of Quang Xi, Teo Chew, Mandarin and Hakka. Immigration=Hai Quan. Thank you=Xim Gan Ern. At the arrival hall, lots of ppl, holding bouquet of flowers to welcome back their relatives and friends. Apparent it is command over there. Tour guide picked us up at airport. We boarded the 8 seater MPV, with the tour guide and driver. Very personal. Went for a short city tour, had a chinese lunch, and ended the day with a short city tour. At night, we went out scouting for food on our own. But realised that English is not very widely used in there. We ended up eating at a seafood restaurant. Making order, we had to wait for a waitress who could speak English. A plate of seafood fried noodle costed RM8. Not cheap at all. Inflation indeed at Vietnam. Currency conversion is about RM1=VDN 5000. The notes had some many zeros at the back. Really had to be careful. We stayed in Hoa Binh Hotel, an old colonel 3 star hotel. Clean, well maintained and good service. Like the touch of classic. Motorbikers are terrible in Hanoi. 3 million bikers. Many who don't stop at traffic lights and dashed across despite the change of lights.
Day2: Had breakfast. Pick up arrived at 8am to go to Halong Bay. We joined some other tourists as well, and we were the only Asian! 3.5 hours drive from Hanoi. We boarded the dragon junk, checked in our luggage to the cabins on board of dragon junk and cruised Halong Bay. Spectacular scenery. Visited one of the largest caves. Flooded by mostly european tourists. Short visit to a fishing village and then went back to the cabin for shower, while the rest of the tour members went for a swim round the junk and kayaking. My tour members are from UK, Australia, Holand and Poland. Has dinner on board. Nice sun set. At the night, our junk were surrounded by other junks as well. The night were lighted by lights shined out from the junks, while the stars twinkled above.
Day3: Had lunch on board. Headed back to Hanoi. Reach Hanoi around 4pm. After checking into hotel, we went out to scout for dinner. Took a taxi to a foodcourt where lots of tourists and locals visited. Food was moderate but price was not that cheap. After that, we went for a walk at Hang Gai Pho. Bought moon cake and chinese tea pot. Then, we took a cab back to hotel. The cab meter jumped very fast. By the time we reached the hotel, the charges doubled what we paid earlier on. We complained, but the driver didn't seem to understand. So, we had to pay. Then, we complained to our hotel. We were ripped off. Was advised we should have insisted not paying and make a complain to the hotel reception. And we should have taken down the details of the cab, which the hotel could help to file a complain. What an experience. The thought that only Malaysian taxi will do that.
Day4: Had breakfast at 6am. Pick up at 6:30am to airport.
Overall, nice scenery, especially Halong Bay. I like the Old Quarters area at Hanoi as well. City with 18 lakes and history behind. Historical buildings were rebuilt and well maintained. Applaud the efforts. Don't like the dangerous bikers. I find communication difficulties there, as English is not as widely used as Malaysia. Understand that they learn English in school, but not widely used in day-to-day life. PETRONAS had lots of investment in Vietnam, and as part of their CSR effort, since 3 years back, they offers yearly scholarship to students in their final year at university to be part of their English Training Programme to boost their employability upon graduation. Buildings and houses in Hanoi are narrow and low rised. But I like the city. Lots of green, esp the city centre and outskirt. Imagine having lakes in the city centre! If you look down from the aeroplane before landing, you will see lots of padi fields and green fields...orderly planted. A great experience for a short trip.
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