#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Vietnam, Nepal and Burma  Travel Forum >  >  Hanoi and Halong bay

## beerlaodrinker

Having been inspired by Primos recent Vietnam thread and also Lao airlines having a promo im of to Hanoi and halong in august , been to vietnam a few times but not those 2 places, anyone got any recent info? i did read a report from TD,s most excellent photographer Bobcock, but it was in 2008, the plan is to have 2 nights in hanoi then head of to halong and have an overnighter on the boat then 1 more night in hanoi, just a quick trip so looking to squeeze as much in as possible, from what ive googled it sounds like i should probably splurge a bit for the boat and get a quality one rather than end up on a dingy full of gap year kunts any info about boat overnighters and hotels / pubs would be appreciated 

Thanks in advance

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## 9999

Going myself in October they got bargain flights outta BKK, but can't give u any tips coz I haven't been to 'Nam yet. Will wait for your recon. Probably just going to stay in Hanoi and close by for 3-4 nights.

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## beerlaodrinker

im of on august 1st the plan was to just fuk about hanoi for 4 nights but the missus is pretty keen to see halong bay , i suppose it makes sense while we are there , a bit of a hike to get there by bus though they tell me( 3 to 4 hours)hate bus travel. Went to the viet embassy last week and struck a nasty bitch that insisted on checking with immigration before granting me a visa . it seems my last viet visa was stamped Cancelled instead of being stamped used WTF  anyway $60 later i got it this afternoon, last time it took 5 minutes

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## Aberlour

Halong Bay's floating restaurants is on the top of my "must do things". I would sit on a bus for 10 hours to get their personally mate.

Can't wait to see the photos of what to me is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

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## terry57

Ive been to Hanoi,  the heads up I can give you is to make sure you know the price of every thing right down to the beer on the street before you eat, buy or drink anything. 

I'm very street savy but got caught out a few times up there by not negotiating prices before indulging.

The North is a totally different gig than the South and I found that the Opportunity to extort whitey is a bit of good crack if given the chance.

That aside its all good, Halong bay is well worth a visit but spend the dollars and get a top range boat, the other alternative is to stay on the Island for the night in a nice gaff which is what we done.  Its a long day on the Boat if you don't end up with a good crew of tourists.

If you have time jump the Train up to Sapa on the Chinese border, that's a good spot.

Besides that just be a tourist and pleb around the joint.

To bad I'll miss you,  Ive got 20 days in Hanoi in October.

Eat the Pho, friggin fantastic and try hard to not get run over by a motor bike. 

That will blow your mind trying to get across the foking road.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## Aberlour

> Halong bay is well worth a visit but spend the dollars and get a top range boat,


Or just make your own like the Top Gear boys did.  :Smile:

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## terry57

> Halong Bay's floating restaurants is on the top of my "must do things". I would sit on a bus for 10 hours to get their personally mate.
> 
> Can't wait to see the photos of what to me is one of the most beautiful places on earth.




Yes it is quite nice but I would not get the horn on just yet, the photos show it at its best but a lot of time its full of shit, flotsam and nasty looking water. 

Its basically a bay with little water flow and communities living in floating masses, they shit, piss and dump all there waste into that bay with gay abandonment.  

Time before humans lived on it would of been amazing but not now.   

The boat we went on some punters went swimming but I would not dip my toe in that water, the shit floating in it was horrendous.

Maybe I was there on a bad day but even so I'll stay on the boat thanks.   

That said its still a beautiful spot to visit and a must do on the tourist trail.

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## kingwilly

Dead easy, I wouldn't panic about getting ripped off. 

Sapa's a 3-4 say trek, so that's out.

Halong Bay and around Hanoi sounds the plan for you.

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## terry57

^

Yes your right Willy,

No need to panic on getting ripped off but something to be aware off concerning settling the price before indulging in anything.

If you don't sort the price before hand your open game for the corrupt and I had it from a 14 year old girl in Sapa up to a 70 year old bint around the lake in Hanoi up to the tosser running the Hotel I stayed in.

Slippery bastard ripped us off on the Train tickets up to Sapa, I'm well tuned in now and will go to the station and buy my own. 

Anyway Sapa is a 4 day gig as you say and Halong is 2 day minimum. I'm just going to fuck around Hanoi as there's heaps to do there for the Punter that likes to explore. 

Top looking bints, drop dead gorgeous looking exotic creatures.

Give BLD the horn I reckon.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## beerlaodrinker

[QUOTE=terry57;2508588]



To bad I'll miss you,  Ive got 20 days in Hanoi in October, 


im thinking about another trip in october if Hanoi impresses or i might go to HCMC and vung tau should try to catch up somewhere or come down to Lao,

Good advice on halong boat cruises ive pretty much made up my mind to go hollywood on the boat, Mrs BLD might get a Romantic shag on that one, 

As for those vietnamese dollys, well, no harm in looking eh, Total horn fodder and that outfit they wear the Ao Dai would give a jellyfish the horn.Pity the viets are such mercenary konts though

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## terry57

> Mrs BLD might get a Romantic shag on that one




Shit mate,

Considering your off the piss and on a health kick I reckon Mrs BLD will be gagging for it on that boat trip.     The passion will be strong in her.   :rofl: 

Anyway if you don't throw a foking heart attack when you hit the vinegar stroke I'm sure we will catch up somewhere this year.

Suppose we can a nice glass of warm milk together considering we are both on a friggin health kick.

Fucked up innit.    :Confused:

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## Primo

This is what Sinhtourist offer in Ha Long,scroll down they have a list of various boats, number of nights etc.

https://www.thesinhtourist.vn/tour/h...l00-01/ha-long

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## terry57

Regards the Boats,

Some are really flash and if was to stay on the boat over night I would pay top dollar and go top shelf. 

Very good move indeed.

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## beerlaodrinker

Thanks for the link Primo, i am not sure weather i should book the boat soon or wait until hanoi,? might get to hanoi and find that a typhoons on the way, would hate to spend all that bus time then not be able to go out and seee the bay

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## terry57

There are a plethora of boats that do the tourist gig, the more expensive the boat the easier to get a last minute booking and as you say you don't want to do that trip in shit weather.

I would recommend you go with the flow and see what the weather is doing when you get there, in the mean time do all your research on the net and pick a boat.

Know your prices and barter hard when your in Hanoi, nice savings to be had if your clued up before hand.

The Vietnamese would kill each other to get your money and your arse on there boat.

Don't fuk around, bargain hard.   Heaps of agents in the city selling the same trips so hit the pavement a walk out if they wont come round.

Spend a day sussing out prices.  

Nice trip in good weather but fucked if it turns bad hence why we opted to stay on Cat Ba island instead of the boat.

You can do the boat in the day and be dropped off on the Island, stay in a nice hotel for the night then be picked up the next day again.

Thats the other option, I don't like to be on a boat for 2 days plus there was some nice shit to see and do on the Island. 

Turned out to be a good choice. Break the trip up a bit.

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## cdnski12

Presumably you will visit the HCM Mausoleum in Hanoi. Check out the size of his "preserved" body. HCM weighed 128 lbs and was 5'-0". The current cadaver is that of a 6'-0" man. I saw Viet's laughing over the body size. 
Also visit the notorious "Hanoi Hilton' ... Hỏa Lò Prison, which housed Senator John McCain during the Vietnam War. Saw a recent TV Doc on his stay there. Note the many NVG Propaganda Photos & Texts about the persecution of Vietnamese prisoners by French Prison Authorities, during the colonial period of 1910-54. Not a word or photo of identical NVG treatment of US prisoners during the Vietnam war. Both forced 3,500 prisoners to use a single WC in full view of their fellow prisoners, unless in solitary. A slight memory lapse? 
5 generations of North Viet toadies worked diligently for French/Japanese/French again/NVG prison Authorities. These warders no doubt still live around the area; which now is mostly large Tourist Hotels. 
Visit the Hanoi Citadel. The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long was constructed earliest by the Ly dynasty in 1010. It lasted until 1810. It controlled Northern Vietnam for 1000 years. Most Viet Emperor's and most of their court mandarins were of Chinese descent. I met a US Viet Engineer supervising the citadel's onsite rebuilding. He estimated it would be done in 5-8 years. 
Note the enormous Coniferous Trees surrounding HCM's Office and Govt house. No Bombs dropped there ... or these trees would not exist. They are at least 2-300 years old. 
One wonders why the Yanks didn't just wheel 3 squadrons of B-52's over Hanoi and bomb the North, East & West Dikes on the Red & Black Rivers surrounding Hanoi? There would have been 450,000 dead North Vietnamese in 48 hrs and the Vietnam war would have ended. US military contractors manipulated the US Govt to keep the war going, to exploit the very lucrative supply contracts, as they still do today in Iraq, Afghanistan & soon Iran.
Ditto for obliterating the Lao Cao Bridges to Kunming, China. Would have China or Russia done anything about an obscure, small, ineffectual S/E Asian Country, that literally no one cared about? China could not have done much and I doubt Russia really cared. 
Had HCM never existed, the France's mainland govt would have undoubtedly abandoned their S/E Asian Empire by 1958, because it was a huge financial drain on France's Economy. It simply was not financially viable.
Who really cares who/what Political Entity controls Vietnam? It is inconsequential. During my 3 week Vietnam Tour in 2010, Viet's routinely told me they love Americans, it is the Chinese they really hate, as the Chinese Empires enslaved them for 2000 years, with a few years of Viet Revolts, none of which lasted very long. The NVG expelled nearly 1,000K Chinese Viet's after 1975. What the West calls "Boat People" frequently were actually Chinese or part Chinese Viet's. The NVG was unable to expel Chinese from Southern Vietnam, due I suspect to indigenous Chinese threats to carry on fighting. Some kind of deal was made. The Chinese still run Saigon today.
There were 532K Viet Immigrants in USA, c/w about 2 Million current descendants. These are big financial investors in today's Vietnam.
The Viet's are a remarkably proud people, having defeated 2 enormous enemies ... China & the USA. "We will never be enslaved again", I heard every day I was there. The food is superb ... even on the streets. The scooters are terrible, especially in Hanoi. The scenery is world class. 
Hoi An, Da Lat & Vung Tau were the most beautiful places I visited. Like Hawaii in 1958! I will go again for sure. Golf Courses are much too expensive & mostly Korean owned. 
The Viet's speak vastly more English than Thais. NB: every Viet town has an enormous Temple deifying Ho Chi Minh ... even in the 70% Catholic south of Saigon. Almost all Viet's use the term Saigon ... not HCM City. 
NB: Be careful c/w the 100K & 1,000K Bank Notes. Very easy to mix them up. Viet's routinely utilise tourists over these notes. Always confirm Tuk-Tuk & Moto Taxi prices. Taxis are cheaper and have meters; but are seldom used during the day, due to the traffic congestion in Hanoi. 
The food is so cheap I never bothered asking prices. Good French wine is available everywhere & very cheap. You can rent 4WD Toyota SUV's c/w fuel, driver, his food & hotel for less than $75/day. I rented them for $50 in 2010. 
Note all Viet Temples have Chinese Characters above the entry Gate ... Prosperity , Health, Good Luck ... Bon Voyage!

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## barbaro

*[QUOTE=cdnski12;2509688]Presumably you will visit the HCM Mausoleum in Hanoi. Check out the size of his "preserved" body. HCM weighed 128 lbs and was 5'-0". The current cadaver is that of a 6'-0" man. I saw Viet's laughing over the body size.*

One thing I got so sick of was the Uncle Ho propaganda reguergitated by the think students. 

They never talk about his policies.

And the corpse is not even his! :smiley laughing:

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## Primo

> And the corpse is not even his!


I am happy about that being as he did not want to be embalmed and left on show.

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## beerlaodrinker

I've been knocking around Hanoi for 4 nights now, went to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum but didn't see the geezer, apparently his dead arse gets shipped of to Russia every now and then for an oil change, topped up with formaldehyde etc ,weathers been a bit shit but still managed to get out a bit, couldn't get to halong bay though, good beer and lots of eye candy will post a thread when I get back

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## jizzybloke

Good to hear you're enjoying it BLD, look forward to the thread!

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## beerlaodrinker

Cheers jb  her indoors had her heart set on a trip to halong but with the weather playing up it wasn't worth taking a chance and bouncing down the highway for 4 hours just to find out the boats can't leave port, never mind, there's always the next time vientianes only a 50 minute flight to Hanoi, got to catch up with a mate of mine working on a new mine site here so that was a pissy couple of nights with him, he knew his way around town to so got to see a few things I probably wouldn't of found myself, but that's another story

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## Dillinger

I did 2 nights in Hanoi with a mate. It was dead boring to be honest. We had planned to go the killing fields and see the dead guy, but decided on going on the piss instead.
 I reckon Gravesend would be more fun

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## beerlaodrinker

Sounds like you we're in the wrong country dill? The killing fields are in Cambodia . I haven't found it boring at all, in fact I will add it to my list of places that I wouldn't mind living in , never been to grave send though, does it have decent eye candy, cheap piss, ? Never mind I can guess the answer to that one

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## terry57

> I did 2 nights in Hanoi with a mate. It was dead boring to be honest.




Fuk me Dill, your friggin joking ain't Ya ???????  2 nights is fok all and a piss in the ocean.  Lot of wank that is. 

There's a foking shit load to do just cruising around the city looking at sexy bitches and having a few frothy street beers.

I'm flying in on the 12 October and will just pleb around the joint. 

Looking forward to it.       :spam2:

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## Primo

October seems to be one of the best times to go to North Vietnam.

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## terry57

> Sounds like you we're in the wrong country dill?
> 
> I haven't found it boring at all.




I mean fok me Bra, being bored is for Muppets that have no get up and go.

Foking bolliks innit.    :Confused:

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## Dillinger

Oh yeah,Cambodia lol,  that was another weekender spent with buddies and missing the temples. We did have a lot better time in Cambodia as it happens :-)

Anyway, looking forward to your trip report and all that I missed.
I remember a big lake nearby, loads of motorbikes and their love of the horn.
Not the one you. Aussies talk of :-)
Oh and I remember sitting in a bar in a building that was maybe 5 storeys high in what must have been the city centre overlooking at some weird traffic set up, maybe six lanes of it

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## Dillinger

I can't remember where I saw it now, but I did see a great blog before about this guy's trip from ho chi Minh to Hanoi and the scenery I must admit was spectacular

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## terry57

^ ^

That building is farang central,  it over looks the park, the madness of the street chaos and serves up cold beer at a premium price mind you.

A good spot for the newbie to Hanoi for a look see.

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## Dillinger

^ That's the one, I think Terry.

Surprisingly empty in this pic which looks to be taken from the bar I was in

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## beerlaodrinker

I was in the same bar dill, very central location in the old quarter, drunk now, post up a thread when I get back to work. (Might as well do it on there time eh)

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## Belzybob

> October seems to be one of the best times to go to North Vietnam.


Last time I was there it was early September. I got the impression that the monsoon was about to change. Very calm, but the light/visbility over Ha Long was not very good for photos.

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## Iceman123

^
Spam
Advertise if you want biz

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## heartless

> Originally Posted by terry57
> 
> Halong bay is well worth a visit but spend the dollars and get a top range boat,
> 
> 
> Or just make your own like the Top Gear boys did.


Halong so beautyfull!  :Smile:

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## StephanieGodfrey

This sound good, I have heard about Halong Bay but never been to this place, wish I will visit it in the near future

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## nidhogg

> This sound good, I have heard about Halong Bay but never been to this place, wish I will visit it in the near future


Just a note on board etiquette - it is considered poor form to add posts to threads that have been dormant for a year or more unless you add real content to the thread.  Gee wizz posts are not adding content.

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## Baas Babelaas

Went to Halong Bay a couple years ago (did the north-south run).

The water is heavily polluted with plastic bags, bottles, etc, and I'm sure all the turds and piss etc from the 1000s of boats out there. I declined to swim or kayak (it was January - pretty nippy).

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