VIETNAM RECAP

Before we headed to Vietnam, we spent a few days in Tokyo. TOKYO RECAP

We would then go on to Thailand after Vietnam.

Click on photos to enlarge.

LINKS

FLIGHT MILES

FLIGHT HOURS

PLANES

LOUNGES

DRIVE MILES

STEPS

BOATS

CABS

WEATHER Celsius

Nov 26 Tokyo - Hanoi
Nov 27 Hanoi						8,000		Hop On	27
Nov 28 Hanoi						13,500			25
Nov 29 Hanoi	TOUR START					13,000			25
Nov 30 Hanoi						9,000			26
Dec 1 Hanoi - Halong Bay					104	5,000	Tender/overnight boat	Bus	25
Dec 2 Halong Bay - Hanoi - Hue	354	1	1	No time	104	5,000	speed boat	2 bus	26
Dec 3 Hue Vietnam						6,000		4 bus	RAIN
Dec 4 Hue - Danang - Hoi An					75	11,000			27
Dec 5 Hoi An						7,600			26
Dec 6 - Hoi An						4,500			27
Dec 7 - Hoi An - Danang - Ho Chi Minh City	777	2	1	No time		11,000			32
Dec 8 - Ho Chi Minh City						7,500			31
Dec 9 - Ho Chi Minh - Can Tho					94	6,700	Boat/row boat	2 bus	26
Dec 10 - Can Tho - Cai Rang - Ho Chi Minh					94	6,300	Boat	bus	Rain
Dec 11 - Ho Chi Minh - Bangkok	445	1.5	1	Closed		8,000		van/cab	29
NIGHTS - 15	1,576	4.5	3		471	122,100

PHOTOS - 1,868

Moving from Tokyo to Hanoi is a transition from calculated order to organic energy. While Tokyo is often described as a "forest of people" where millions move in silent, synchronized harmony, Hanoi is a sensory explosion where chaos is the primary rhythm.

Tokyo's "Calm" Crowds: Even in the busiest hubs like Shibuya, Tokyo maintains a surprising lack of noise. Public spaces are governed by clear rules and logical systems, making the city feel predictable and structured.

Hanoi's "Crazy" Energy: Hanoi is characterized by a "mayhem of motorcycles" and a constant cacophony of horns and bartering. Life spills directly onto the sidewalks, where people eat, work, and socialize amidst the traffic.

We spent some days on our own before joining a tour of 19-20 people. There were 40 in total but we were divided into 2 buses of 40 for the entire time.

The tour, in general, was good, although I think we would have managed better on our own. We find tours to be slow, always waiting for people, tour guides tend to drag excursions out. And then there's those shopping expeditions disguised as factory tours, that we would never have any interest in doing. This time it was pearls in one place, then silk and bamboo.

There were more group lunches than we like, thank goodness there were no group dinners! The lunches tend to drag out, although the food was always very quick to come out. Some places did a good job, there were a couple of mediocre meals. 

HOTELS - with our ranking in bold

Hanoi at Thang Long Opera 4* hotel in a deluxe room 2 great bar/restaurant

Halong Bay on a traditional 4* wooden junk in a deluxe cabin 

Hue at the Cherish 4* hotel in a deluxe room wish we had another night 3

Hoi An at the Thanh Binh Riverside 4* hotel in a deluxe room  1

Can Tho at the TTC Premium 4* hotel in a deluxe room wish we had another night 3

Ho Chi Minh City at the Paragon Saigon 4* hotel in a deluxe room 3 terrible restaurant

The Vietnamese hotels were great, but again, we are paying double the price and we could probably have stayed in higher end establishments for the same price. Locations were generally good in Vietnam, we could easily walk most places. 

Breakfasts were included in all hotels, unlike Japan. Always buffets with great selections, Asian as well as Western.

We loved everything about Vietnam, except, for me, crossing the street! We didn't feel any issues with language, unlike Japan. 

Food was delicious.

MONEY

It was no issue, we occasionally found an ATM that was out of cash, but in general, we had no problems.

Our currency calculation - 500,000 dong = $26 CAD. So in my simple mind - divide by 2 and drop the last 4 zeros!!

HANOI VIETNAM

Nov 27 Hanoi Tokyo - Hanoi on our own

Nov 28 Hanoi on our own
Nov 29 Hanoi on our own / group intro and food tour
Nov 30 Hanoi all day tour

We arrived late and the tour arranged our airport transfer.

Once we were assigned a different room, we enjoyed this hotel. It had a great bar/restaurant in addition to the breakfast room that was on the second floor. We loved the bar for a quick beer or quick bite to eat. 

Hanoi offered a fun, chaotic blend of ancient culture and modern energy.

Indulging in affordable street food like phở while sitting on tiny chairs/stools.

One highlight was a visit to Train St. where we loved experiencing a train pass inches from our noses as we sat in a cafe!! 

Phung Hung Street murals were a great find that we had on our list.

We did the hop on hop off bus and visited the Imperial Palace.

We loved hanging around Hoàn Kiếm Lake: A peaceful escape for watching locals practice tai chi at dawn, visiting the Ngoc Son Temple, or taking a weekend stroll, as the roads become pedestrian-only.

Checking out the famous Instagrammable Note Cafe! We had Coconut Iced Latte, but we had much better ones another day. Salt coffee was pretty good too, along with the tiramisu.

We had no idea that a Belgian tourist took our photo, sitting in the window, until she came over and offered to send it to me!

TOUR ACTIVITIES

Bus No. 1 GROUP

We had a food tour, it was included. It wasn't bad, but it could have been better.

Group consisted of more single people (5) than usual and more men than usual. 

2 gay guys, out and proud.

Women - 9 Men - 11

Canadians 15 (Women - 8 Men - 7 ) Americans 5 (Women - 1 Men - 5)

9 went on to Cambodia

2 went on to Thailand (us)

9 went home after Vietnam

CANADIAN

Single woman (K) Toronto a little hyper but nice. Went on to Cambodia

Single guy (P) - 85 yo from Calgary known as the Wanderer as he went missing twice. Went on to Cambodia

Single middle-aged guy from Calgary (J) Went on to Cambodia

Couple of retired female teachers from Burlington - the Chatty Cathies D and C, Went home after HCMC

Ottawa late 60s bilingual couple (P and R) she was the self-appointed social director. Went home after HCMC.

London ON couple (S and H) became bosom buddies with above couple. Went on to Cambodia

Vancouver blowhard 60s annoying Maholo Man went on to Cambodia

Vancouver mid 40s single woman MIA (K) damaged passport. She finally joined the group in Hue. Went on to Cambodia

Couple Toronto   R (orig HK) and L went on to Cambodia

Us went on to Thailand

AMERICANS

Single gay California (J) went on to Cambodia

Single Texas (L) went home after HCMC

3 - Iranian couple and brother gay California went home after HCMC

One group lunch in Hanoi.

We did one full day sightseeing tour as a group in Hanoi visiting historic spots like temples, the famous Hanoi Hilton and the Temple of Literature. 

We learned a LOT about Ho Chi Minh!

That same day we did a rickshaw tour, highlighted by navigating busy streets, exploring the streets of the Old Quarter. and attended a water puppets show.  

HALONG BAY

Then we were off to Halong Bay for an overnight stay on a junkboat.

The group was split up, 7 of us plus Tien, the guide were on a separate boat, a little further, from the other 12. Turns out we had the better group! 

Most people on our boat were Indian and didn't partake in the evening activities, other than dinner.

Dec 1 Hanoi - Halong Bay

Tourism in Vietnam has boomed in recent years, which means Ha Long Bay is a lot more crowded and polluted than in the past.

I had looked forward to this and was slightly disappointed. It was so crowded with overnight boats and day trippers. 

Being tendered out to the boat.

It was unfortunate that we had cloudy weather the whole time we were here. We didn't get on board until lunch time and it was served immediately. The lunch and dinner were excellent on that first day. 

Dec 2 Halong Bay - Hanoi - Hue

The next morning was a different story. You could get a tea of coffee early, if you paid for it. A "brunch" was served which was mediocre. In order to make our flight to Hue, the tour company had to book a speedboat to get us back to shore as our flight was moved up. 

We had 15 minutes to spare after check in to boarding!

HUE (PRONOUNCED WHEY)

Dec 2 Halong Bay - Hanoi - Hue

Dec 3 Hue Vietnam

“Hue is, in many ways, a city of ghosts, of memories and spirits.”
– Anthony Bourdain

A new tour guide but the same group.

We checked in and headed out for a beer and then dinner. We went located very closely to Võ Thị Sáu full of pubs, bars and restaurants.

I wish we had had another day or two here as it rained heavily on our only full day. And it rained all day long!

This was to be a group full day of touring. We did the market and then the Imperial Citadel, had lunch, and then most of the group opted out of the afternoon activity and headed back to get dried out. It was still raining so hard, that we ate dinner in the hotel.

Look at this soggy, bedraggled bunch!

HOI AN

Dec 4 Hue - Danang - Hoi An

It was still raining as we boarded our bus for Hoi An. We made a great stop for a break, with the best coffees! Oh, and a bracelet.

I think this was probably our favourite spot. We had a few days here and only a half day tour.

We also had one of the nicest hotels, right along the water! The only thing it didn't have was a bar and restaurant, but there were plenty nearby.

We spent the rest of the day wandering, in our typical fashion.

Snacks

Dec 5 Hoi An
Dec 5 Weekly Recap

The morning tour started with a tuk tuk that took us to the market, then we did a walking tour to a Chinese temple, Japanese Bridge, lunch (not memorable), a museum, and a local house, ending with another tuk tuk back to the hotel. We then spent the rest of the day and evening on our own.

GROUP PHOTO - JAPANESE BRIDGE

We're on our own for the afternoon, and the next day!!

Dec 6 - Hoi An

Sights of Hoi An.

Watching the river flooding.

We ended the day with dinner at Morning Glory in true Friday tradition - with steaks!

We had another whole day to ourselves, it looked like it might rain, but once we hedged our bets by buying ponchos, it didn't.

We started with coffee, then some shopping, foot and neck massage, lunch at The Shamrock, some wandering, and coffee.

In the evening we went to a cigar bar for drinks and then dinner at Madame Kieu, again.

HO CHI MINH CITY

Dec 7 - Hoi An - Danang - Ho Chi Minh City

We left Hoi An early morning for the airport in Denang with a stop in Danang at the beach and the famous bridge before our 

In our hotel and on our own for the rest of the day. We would be back to this hotel for our last night.

We found a perfect tapas restaurant right next door that we ate at for lunch and two dinners even on our last night.

There was an all day excursion planned bet we had done the tunnels and the palace so we had the day to ourselves.

The others did go.

We had no real plans, it was hot!! So we wandered.

The Opera House, lunch, revisited the Post Office, found Book St., cooled down in a brewery near our hotel.

We had booked a dinner river cruise for the evening.

VIDEO

HO CHI MINH CITY - CAN THO - HO CHI MINH

Dec 9 - Ho Chi Minh - Can Tho

Dec 10 - Can Tho - Cai Rang - Ho Chi Minh

After a short bus ride, this was the rest of our morning.

We arrived late afternoon to the hotel and went out for a bite, then back to our hotel for a brandy in our hotel robes on our balcony overlooking the river.

The next day we packed up early for the water market, bamboo shopping and the drive back to Ho Chi Minh to the same hotel.

Checked in and a final group photo as people were heading to various places, we were flying Bangkok Thailand the next day. We ate at the tapas place.

HO CHI MINH CITY - BANGKOK THAILAND

Dec 11 - Ho Chi Minh - Bangkok

Other than our ride to the airport we were on our own today.

THAILAND NEXT!