My Backpack Trip to Vietnam

My "Honeymoon" trip in Vietnam


Vietnam is a country full of history of war, colonization and rebellion. It's occupied by China not less than four times therefore it's still maintaining of Chinese history which I will talk more later. Vietnam is also involved in WAR with French and US from 1950 - 1975.
Backpack in Vietnam could be very interesting and tough if you are not preparing yourself.
My Vietnam trip intenerary consist of HCM, Danang, Hoi An, Hue, Halong Bay and Hanoi. My entire trip take about 9 days and we flew from KL to HCM on 26/May.

Here are some tips for those who are travelling to Vietnam.
1. Don't only bring Vietnam Dong, bring also some US Dollars with you.
2. Becareful when you crossing the road. Put your hand up (like you are saying hello to the motor biker) and walk. Ask for Discount all the time (even Travel Agency).
3. Always use hotel Taxi.
4. If you are backpack, buy a open ticket from Hanoi to HCM. Open ticket mean you can use it multiple times and stop over to the place where ever you want. If you want to take train, make sure the ticket is soft bed. Check your ticket price (printed on the ticket) with the travel agent (if you buy from tour agent in Vietnam).
5. Please aware on the price of the tour before you pay. Do your research. There a lot of dishonest agents over there.


HO Chi Minh

I arrived in HCM city near evening and check in to Renaissance Hotel which I redeemed from my Marriot reward points. It is a very nice hotel and the location is very strategic, beside the Saigon River.







Renaissance Hotel


Tip: All the taxi in HCM city are running on Meter, therefore don't take any illegal taxi in airport which might cost you more than the Meter Taxi. It cost me 200VND from airport to my hotel with the illegal taxi however it was only 100VND from hotel to airport with the real taxi. Also, the the taxi has a different rate from different taxi company or city. The rate is from 12 - 16VND per KM.
Traffic in Vietnam could be very challenging to the tourist especially when crossing the road that full of motor cycle. When you across the road, hands up like you are surrender to the motorcyclists. That will help you to cross the road safely.










HCM City Hall

Ho Chi Minh City Hall (Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Head office ) was built in 1902-1908 in a French colonial style for the then city of Saigon. It was renamed after 1975 as Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. Illuminated at night, the building is not opened to the public or for tourists. A statute of the namesake is found in park next to the building.




Saigon River

The Saigon River is joined 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly named Saigon) by the Dong Nai River, and just above Ho Chi Minh City it is joined by the Ben Cat River. Saigon River is important to Ho Chi Minh City as it is the main water supply as well as the host of Saigon Port, which a total cargo volume load/outloaded of more than 35 million metric tons in 2006.












On my second day in Vietnam, i visited Mekong Delta. I purchased the day trip tour from a local travel agency that cost me 15USD but later I heard from another tourist he only paid for 9USD. There are a lot of dishonest travel agency in Vietnam so my advise is to do your research before you purchase any tour including bus and train fare.

A Glimpse of Mekong Delta



Floating Restaurant

We 0n board on a private "middle size" boat and cruising on upper river of Mekong Delta. The boat stop at one of the small village for free tea, honey and snake (bird) wine. Of course in return they were asking us to buy their products. According to the tour guide the snake wine can "empower" the man (stronger at night). I tasted a small glass and it really didn't taste good. We continued to walk to another village. In this village, we were introduced some vietnamese instruments and music.



Boat cruise to Mekong Delta



Snake Wine (with Bird)




We continued with a small canal ride to the coconut village. The canal was paddled by 2 boat man/women, one in front and one at the back. we go through a very narrow stream to the coconut village and it was very adventures too.




Small Boat Ride


After finished the coconut village visit, we continued to a local restaurant in Bentre island for our lunch and the trip ended after the lunch. Summarize it was just an OK day trip to Mekong Delta. I was asking about the floating market but the tour guide said we have to stay one more night in Mekong Delta in order to catch the floating market at 9 o'clock in the morning.


The 3rd day in Vietnam, we followed a city half day trip to visit local HCM City (Must Go).

War Remnants Museum, Operated by the Vietnamese government, the museum was opened in September 1975 as the "The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government [of South Vietnam]." Later it was known as the Museum of American War Crimes, then as the War Crimes Museum until as recently as 1993. Its current name follows liberalization in Vietnam and the normalization of relations with the United States.

Is a must go place. You really can see how cruel the Vietnam war is. During the trip to the museum, I make known of what is the Orange Agent [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange] and the consequences. It is really the cruel thing that I ever see so far. It made me sad......
The funniest thing was after the museum the tour guide asked any one from American, the 3 American responsed they are from Canada.



Reunification Palace (Vietnamese: Dinh Thống Nhất) formerly known as Independence Palace (Dinh Độc Lập), built on the site of the former Norodom Palace, is a landmark in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.The complex covered an area of 12 hectares, including a palace with an 80-meter-wide facade, a guest-chamber capable of accommodating 800 people, with a spacious gardens covered by green trees and a lawn. Most of the building materials were imported from France.















Thien Hau -- The Lady Temple in District 5, China Town was originally built by a Cantonese congregation in the early 19th century. The temple pays homage to a special psychic lady, Thien Hau born A.D. 940, who was said to be able to predict the weather and protect sailors





Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica in Ho Chi Minh City is a cathedral located in the downtown of Saigon, Vietnam. Established by French colonists, the cathedral was constructed between 1863 and 1880. It has two bell towers, reaching a height of 58 meters















Daily Market
























My Day 4, Danang & Hoi An

We were taking a flight "JetStar" from HCM to Danang. During the trip, I was making an bad assumption that I can carry my tripod to the flight (which I did that from Malaysia to HCM). I was wrong and I need to pay for 250,000 VND to check in the tripod.

We arrived in Danang at roughly 9pm and i was not feeling so good in Danang. First, the meter taxi doesn't want to use the meter and charge me for 200,000 VND from the airport to the hotel. More over the hotel that we booked (2 stars) was not so good (aircon was malfunction and we found cockroach in the room). We went for a walked in Danang at night and found Danang was not so interesting. The only thing nice place is the Danang Bridge (below).

The next day, we took a local bus from Danang to Hoi An. The bus cost us 50K VND however 250K VND from Hotel to the bus station. The local bus trip is very adventures. There are 3 workers in the bus, 1 driver, 1 ticket collector and the other I called him shouter (the boy on the right, he was shouting to the all the motor cycle from beginning of the journey until arrival).





If you like AngKor Wat, My Son is a place that you must go. My Son is similar to Angkor Wat, a set of ruins from the ancient Cham Empire in the central coast of Vietnam. It lies in a narrow valley in Duy Tan commune, Duy Xuyen District, 70KM southwest of Da Nang City and 40KM sawys from Acient Ciry of Hoi An. (Tips: It's very hot.)
My Son was built by the Champa kingdom which ruled south and central Vietnam from c200AD to c1700AD. Influenced by Hinduism, they built temple complexes up and down the area to honor their gods and to bury their kings. My Son, developed between the 4th century and the 13th century, is one of the better-preserved of these sites. Bricks were used to build the temples — without the aid of mortar — and sculptures of gods, priests, animals, and scenes of battle and devotion adorned the walls.
After the fall of the Champa, jungle began to reclaim the site. The temples had already fallen into disrepair by the 1960's, when the Viet Cong used My Son as a base. Unfortunately, that attracted American bombing, which destroyed or damaged many of the surviving temples. Evidence of the conflict can still be seen around the site. The area has, however, been cleared of leftover explosives. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.

Hoi-An Ancient City is located 30KM south from Da Nang, Another UNESCO city in Vietnam that you must go. In fact I recommend to stay in Hoi-An for one night is better than Danang. Hoi-An is a beautiful heritage town that consists of a lot of history.

The town is known to the French and Spanish as “Faifo,” and by similar names in Portuguese and Dutch. It was a major trading centre and important port in southeast asia between 16th and 17th centuries. A number of theories have been put forth as to the origin of this name. Some scholars have suggested that it comes from the word "hải-phố" (海浦) meaning "sea town", while others have said that it is more likely simply a shortening of Hội An-phố (會安浦), "the town of Hội An", to "Hoi-pho" which became "Faifo".















In the city, several streets have been kept relatively intact. All the houses were made of woods and were decorated with horizontal lacquered boards and vertical parallel panel engraved with Chinese Charaters.

After the Hoi An Old Heritage tour, on the way back to Danang. We drop by to the marble mountain also called Ngu Hanh Son. It located approximated 8km south east of Da Nang City, very close to sea. You need prepare yourself to do a lot of hike in mable mountain. It was slippery and adventures to hike on the mable. The mable mountain contains of 5 caves. Everyone of them has their unique appearance just like the one below.












You also can see the Danang Beach and the others mable mountains when you reach the top of the mountain.










Danang Beach that full of people (at least thousand)














Photo during the trip to mable mountain. A vietnamese lady is working on the farm.














Day5 and Day 6 in Hue

On Day5, I am taking a "soft bed" bus from Danang to Hue. What do I mean of soft bed is you can lie down straight just like first class in the plane. Nevertheless is like first class however the bus is not really first class. You can smell some weird smell on the bus. It could be smell from the shoe or toilet. Moreover it is double decker bed so you can imagine. The trip is just take about 2-3 hours from Danang to Hue and the journey is not bad at all.

Hue is one of the imperial capitals of the country that has been kept almost intact. Its loyal architecture complete dedicated to the 13 of Nguyen Kings includes clusters of royal palaces, citadels, temples, shinnes, pagodas and mausoleums, all located in magnificent landscapes along the perfumes river (it's named because of the flower dropped in the river and created the scent of perfumes).


















Thien Mu Pagoda
This pogoda is location on Ha khe hill on the left bank of perfume river. It was built in 17th century and according to a legend about the prediction of a fairy lady. The most stricking feature of the temple is the Phuoc Duyen pagoda on the left.




























Forbidden Purple City, the former capital of Vietnam.
The third and innermost fort of the royal complex has a perimeter of 1225meter and
is accessible through 7 gates. It was formerly reserved for the private use of the Kings and their families, as well as the numeroud concubines.








Ngo Mon Gate, it's the three story structure with 58M longm 27.5 wide and 17M high and serves as the main entrance to the imperial city.
It consists of 5 gates, center for the King, 2 adjacent for the officers and the other the 2 used by the servants and the members of the royal entourage.

There are 8 royal tomb in hue by the Nguyen Kings. The construction is all unique for the 8 tombs and I managed to visited 3. Most of the tombs are started when the King is still alive however only 1 tomb the King is manage to see the tomb and worked in the tomb.















Day 6, We were traveling from Hue to Hanoi by taking a "Train". Tip: there are 3 types of seating Soft seat, Hard Sleep and Soft Sleep. I prefer the sleep however because of the train always fully booked, so i have to take the soft seat and believe me, that not what you want to try. So please always book your train ealier if you really think you want to take a train http://www.vr.com.vn/English/.

Below is a old lady photo I captured in the train to Hanoi.

Day 7 and Day 8 in Halong Bay & Hanoi

We arrived at Hanoi roughly about 5am. The sky was already so bright. If you want to capture a sunrise photo in Vietnam make sure you can wake up at 4am in the morning.
There are a few exits in the train station. They’re supposed a pickup for up from the tour arrangement however we missed each other because of the tour agent didn't tell me which exit he going to meet me up. I was waiting for half an hour and decided to call a taxi. The taxi from the bus station to the meet up point (which is a hotel) cost me 300K VND (which is very expensive).
I finally arrived at the hotel and the person was kind enough to provide a room for us to rest (it might be because of guilty of keep me waiting in the station). After 3 hours of waiting the halong bay pick up final came and we jumped into the Van and begin the journey. The small Van consists of around 12 people (can you imagine). After the 3 hours journey, we finally arrived at Halong Bay. It was not as beautiful as I thought (may be the story I heard was too good). We have to pass our passport to the tour guide to keep for 1 day (that is the procedure for hotel checks in Vietnam) for registration.
After waited for half an hour, we were finally brought to the boat. We are all together 16 people and 6 crews on the ship. The boat was old and the room was not AC enables (only our room). After checking with the crew, he told us we paid lesser than the rest which is not true (we were also paying for 50USD per pax). Tips: Arrange your boat ride by using internet. You can use Pagoda.com for reliable internet room reservation system.

Halong Bay
Ha Long Bay is one of the gifted natural wonders is one of the world largest tourist centers. Ha Long Bay is covered the regions of Ha long city and part of the island district of Van Don. The Bay consists of 1969 islands of various sizes, 989 of which have been given a name. It also recognized as the World Heritage in 1994 by UNESCO, Two main kinds of islands can be distinguished, limestone and schist, which formation since hundred of million years ago.
Halong Bay is also famous on the natural Grotto. Thien Cung Grotto, the one we went with is one of the most beautiful grottos in Halong bay.

The Grotto was light up by color tungsten lights to make it so unique and beautiful. It was found by a fisherman and the tourist told us there are plenty of stories about this Grotto. The one we have been told was one of the 7 fairy ladies god fall in love with the fisherman.
After the Grotto visit, we sailed further on Halong Bay. We stop at the canoe place. To be frank, it is kind of boring and I would not want to do canoe if I will have the chance to select the tour again. After the 1 hour canoe, we went back to the boat. Some of them jumped into the sea for swimming and of course myself were taking some pictures on Halong.






A Boy playing on the fisherman boat.

SunSet in Halong Bay


A lady were selling fruits during our boat stopped.

My last day in Hanoi

We stayed overnight on the boat. The room was small and no AC and it was very difficult to bath in the boat with the small amount of water. I am not recommend to stay on the boat unless you have a bunch of friends with you. That day was raining and morning on the boat was so boring. The boat was keep on sailing until we arrived at the pier. That ended my Halong Bai and took another 3 hours back to Hanoi.

When I arrived at Hanoi, it was already 6 o'clock and we decided to go see the famous Vietnam water puppet show. We went to the Famous Thang Long water pyppet theater in Hanoi and cost us 60000 VND per person and if you bring camera which will cost you another 15000 VND (per camera).
The showed started with a traditional Vietnamese orchestra provides background music accompaniment. The instrumentation includes vocals, drums, wooden bells, cymbals, horns, monochord, gongs, and bamboo flutes. The monochord is very unique instrument in vietnam that can product a clear and unique sound.

Singers of chèo (a form of opera originating in north Vietnam) sing songs which tell the story being acted out by the puppets (which I don't understand any single word or not even can guest). The musicians and the puppets interact during performance; the musicians may yell a word of warning to a puppet in danger or a word of encouragement to a puppet in need.

Water puppetry is performed in a pool of water 4 meters square with the water surface being the stage. Performance today occurs on one of three venues—on traditional ponds in villages where a staging area has been set up, on portable tanks built for traveling performers, or in a specialized building where a pool stage has been constructed.

Up to 8 puppeteers stand behind a split-bamboo screen, decorated to resemble a temple facade, and control the puppets using long bamboo rods and string mechanism hidden beneath the water surface. The puppets are carved out of wood and often weigh up to 15 kg.

The puppets enter from either side of the stage, or emerge from the murky depths of the water.

Spotlights and colorful flags adorn the stage and create a festive atmosphere.

The water puppet show ended my trip in Vietnam. We flew back to Penang by Air Asia.