Hanoi, Vietnam December 23, 2017 – January 2, 2018

Hanoi arrivals – legit or scam?

We arrived at the Hong Kong airport at 8:05AM after a long flight across eastern Europe and Asia. Our flight departing for Hanoi was not scheduled until 1:25PM, so we had lots of time to sit around and wait. Two hours to departure, we queued up for check-in with the other Jetstar Pacific travellers, eager to arrive at our destination. Then, the friendly staff at the counter dropped the bomb: our Vietnamese visas were not valid. Let’s leave our stunned looks for the backstory.

During our travel planning the previous summer, we had applied for a multi-entry visa effective December 27th, envisioning a four-day stop in familiar Hong Kong. As autumn and our comfort in travel progressed, easing into Asia via Hong Kong became an unnecessary step. We decided to travel directly to Hanoi, Vietnam from Europe, ultimately forgetting the very important entry date stamped on our visa. Now, back to our shock and horror…

We were told Jetstar couldn’t allow us on the flight without a valid visa. Our only solution was to purchase a very expensive emergency online visa within the 90 minutes before our flight or to stay in Hong Kong until the 27th, an even more expensive alternative. What choice did we have? Scrambling with quick typing fingers and slow internet access, we ran to show Jetstar our proof of purchase. That’s when we met another Canadian in the same predicament. But she was suspicious of the situation: prior to leaving North America, the Vietnamese consulate had assured her that one could obtain a visa on arrival. The flight was leaving within the hour. What choice did she have? Once successfully purchased, this emergency visa would be processed and expeditiously delivered to us by a local agency at the Hanoi airport. When we disembarked, we were indeed greeted by a local agency holding up a sign with our names – there were approximately a dozen of these placards floating in eagerly waiting hands. We were all corralled to an area and told to wait. It was then that we noticed most travellers from our flight queued up at what seemed to be a tourist visa counter- you can get a visa on arrival after all. Our new Canadian friend was furious. Jetstar would hear of this! “Oh well”, we thought, “at least our documents will be expedited”. Once more than half of the queued passengers received their visas, we became doubtful of this expedited process. We raised this concern to our representative, but were told, “only ten more minutes”, and asked to go back to our designated waiting area. By then, our Canuck friend was in a real tizzy! She was going to demand answers and get her money back! As our own patience was thinning, our names were called and our visas handed to us. We don’t know what happened to our aggravated friend; she stomped off toward the agency reps. Was this a scam or were we innocently given erroneous direction? We imagined ourselves in a scene from The Terminal, then chalked it up as another (mis-) adventure. What’s an extra 2 hour delay after an already long travel day? And as we finally walked out of the airport, our hotel transfer driver was standing there, having waited the entire two hours for us. Our luck was changing.

Hanoi City

We entered our hotel room in early evening and survey the lively Old Quarter street below from the balcony. Trying to adjust to our new time zone, we walked around the neighbourhood night market and stopped at a bánh mì shop for a quick dinner. We sat at the sidewalk eatery on tiny plastic stools, devoured our sandwiches and soaked up the sights, sounds and smells of our new surroundings. Dodging mopeds, skirting crowds, and bypassing vendors, we headed back for a well-deserved night’s sleep. Our hotel was adjacent to a youth hostel in full Holiday festivities. Tired and jetlagged, we slept through the nightly raucous, at first; but, when the party continued past December 26, we switched to a slightly quieter garden-view room.

Despite 10 days of clouds and rain, we thoroughly explored the streets in the Old Quarter and around Hoan Kiem Lake park – vehicle-free after 6PM on weekends –  witnessing the ancient, the colonial and the modern within a few compact blocks. Beyond the Old and French Quarters, the avenues became wider and the distances greater:  we toured the Presidential Palace gardens, Ho Chi Minh’s stilt house, the One Pillar Pagoda, and the 6th century Trấn Quốc Pagoda. For an off-the-beaten-path experience, we walked to the “train street”, a narrow downtown residential street where daily life activities suddenly halt minutes before a train zooms by at full speed. Our backs were pressed to the houses as the train passed inches from clicking cameras. This hair-raising experience was only matched by our bicycle tuk-tuk ride through the crazy Hanoi traffic.

Wanting to sample local cuisine beyond the bánh mì, we relied on the newly discovered Will Fly for Food website, where JB and Renée had already researched and curated the best Vietnamese cuisine by region. With a couple of their recommendations pinned to our Google maps, we began our adventure. Our favourite stop was Chả Cá Thang Long for their delicious at-table-grilled white fish, tossed together with dill, spring onion, noodles and roasted peanuts – chả cá. The friendly staff assisted us in cooking and assembling our first bowl. The taste is heavenly, even on the second visit! Another must try when in Hanoi is the egg coffee. We headed for Giang Café, the supposed originator. It was crowded at capacity, so we to the café next door. It was a great afternoon treat: sweet and, oddly enough, creamy.

As complimentary gifts for booking our Halong Bay excursion (future post), the tour agency offered us a city walking tour and massage – two distinct activities, if that wasn’t obvious. As it was raining hard the morning of our walking tour, we were the only guests to show up. Bonus! A free private tour. Despite having already walked around the French and Old Quarters, we were  seeing our neighbourhood with a whole new appreciation. Our local guide was able to provide details and context that we’d missed from just wandering the streets.  That afternoon we relaxed and enjoyed our complimentary massages, removing the chill and sogginess from our bodies.

Hoa Lu’ and Tam Cốc

We booked a day trip to Hoa Lu’ to explore the areas outside of bustling Hanoi. Our guide, Minh, described the 10th and 11th century dynasty as we walked around the temples and grounds of the ancient capital city and UNESCO World Heritage site. After a buffet-style lunch, we drove to the shores of the Ngô Đồng River in nearby Tam Cốc. Two-by-two, we were ushered onto waiting rowboats. Our rower-guide paddled – alternating between hands and feet – along the narrow river sandwiched between rice paddies. Passing by huge limestone karsts and through three caves, it was the most picturesque scene of our Vietnam journey… at that point. Having read JB and Renée’s post, we were prepared for the onslaught of river vendors and photographers wanting us to part with our đồngs, and kept our Zen. We ended the afternoon cycling through rice paddy roads. Unfortunately, the rice had been harvested, so we rode past muddy, flooded fields. Returning from our 12-hour day trip, tired and satisfied, we headed off to bed for a restful sleep. The next day, with photos to keep our memories strong, we said goodbye to Hanoi and moved on to other parts of Vietnam