Vietnam Photo Essay
Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, and Vietnamese New Year.
This is the 3rd part of my solo travel story. See the other parts here:
Part 1: Solo Travelling
Part 2: Inside My Backpack
Part 3: Vietnam
Part 4: Hong Kong & Macau
Part 5: Taiwan
Part 6: Cost
So here I am, CGK — Terminal 3.
Feb 16 01:00 AM
I have mixed feelings.
Feb 16 01:30 AM
I am excited but also sleepy.
Two hours flight and I arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL).
One and a half hour layover at KUL, then the second leg of flight (to Hanoi) starts.
On the flight from KUL to HAN, I sat on the middle seat. About half the flight, the sun was rising to my right. A woman sat next to me was kind enough to let me disturb her to take photos of the sunrise. She asked me what I was going to do in Hanoi and I confidently answered, “I want to eat a Bun Cha!”.
Noi Bai International Airport
There was no long queue whatsoever on immigration gate. In fact, there was no queue at all! I passed the immigration smoothly and…okay what to do, now?
- Look for ATM. Withdraw some cash.
- Look for prepaid card counter. Get one SIM card with data plan.
- Use public transport to go to hostel.
I asked a guy on the the prepaid card counter about bus from Noi Bai airport. He answered:
“It’s the first day of new year, so there are no buses today.”
You might think he meant the Chinese New Year. But no, Vietnamese call it Vietnamese New Year. I was once corrected by a local in my hostel. Noted, Sir. TIL.
Well, I knew I could just hail a Grab. I checked Grab app, it’s about VND 300,000 (~US$ 13)to get from airport to my hostel. However, I actually wanted to utilise as many public transportation as possible. Knowing that there’re no buses, I still went to the bus stop. Just because.
At the bus stop, there’re some minibuses parked. There’re already some people inside. Then, an uncle — with his broken English — told me that there’re no buses today (yeah I knew it already, sir). He asked me where I wanted to go. I showed him the address from booking.com app. He said he can take me there for VND 150,000 (~US$ 6.5). It’s a lot cheaper than Grab but quite risky. Is this guy trustworthy? Oh, what the hell. Let’s just do it. I paid him 150K and hopped into the minibus.
The uncle dropped me off right in front of the hostel. Literally in front of the door. After dropping me off, he wished me a happy new year. Such a hospitality right after I landed in Vietnam. Well, I guess I was paranoid for nothing.
Hanoi on New Year
The atmosphere of Hanoi on the first day of new year feels a lot like…Jakarta on Eid al-Fitr. Only a few cars and motorcycles on the street. A lot of shops were closed. Vietnamese view Vietnamese New Year as a family time. It’s time to gather with family and dine together (may be around a Lazy Susan). Basically enjoying each other’s company and having quality time together.
Now that’s why travelling on the first day of new year is a bad decision. The Bun Cha restaurant I had been wanting to visit was also…closed! Oh well, lessons learned.
I arrived early in the morning, so I could not check in to the hostel just yet. OK, time to stroll around Hanoi. Let’s see if we can find a decent Bun Cha despite it’s the first day of Vietnamese New Year.
The Food
Around 12:00 noon my stomach started to growl. As the two Bun Cha restaurants I visited were closed, I decided to just eat on some kind of a street food stall. I am not even sure about the name of the dish.
It’s taste…less. No other words could describe it. It’s just…tasteless.
As all hopes for getting a Bun Cha was lost, I suddenly stumbled upon a small Bun Cha restaurant! It’s nothing fancy, just a very small restaurant. The owner is a middle-aged auntie (God bless you, auntie!). With my broken Vietnamese and her broken English, I managed to get one Bun Cha and one Nem (deep fried spring roll with crab filling).
The bun (rice noodle) is served in room temperature while the soup is served hot. The cha (fatty pork) is well-grilled. The soup (or should I say broth?) is so tasteful and savoury. The vegetables are fresh (I only ate the lettuce, though). Combined together and they will blow your mouth and mind away.
Their tastes are as magical as they are described here. From then on, I saw Vietnam differently (in a positive way). A dish has restored my faith in a country.
Although Bun Cha is such a heavenly dish. It is not regarded as the national dish of Vietnam. The grand title falls into Pho, a soup with rice noodle and beef (Pho Bo) or chicken (Pho Ga) meat.
It’s nice, but Pho has got nothing on Bun Cha. I would rather eat bun (rice noodle) with just Bun Cha soup than a complete Pho.
After Bun Cha, it’s time for check-in at Chien Hostel.
Checked in, took a very nice hot shower, checked inbox, wrote journal, and took a very nice nap. The review on booking.com doesn’t lie. It really deserves its 8.7 rating.
The Nature
One of many natural wonders in Vietnam is the famous Ha Long Bay. As I have achieved my North Star metric in Vietnam — eat a Bun Cha — I guess it’s time to do side quests. Let’s pay a visit to this famous bay!
We (I and a few other people on the same tour) also did kayaking there. Using a kayak, we went to a secluded place surrounded by limestone rocks just like the above photo. It’s as if you’re inside a volcano crater, but instead of lava, it’s sea water.
The area is so secluded the water is so calm. I stopped my kayak there. It was so…tranquil. It was so peaceful that I totally forgot to take pictures. But that’s fine, I can still replay the event on my mind whenever I want to.
People I Met on Vietnam
There’s not a lot of Vietnamese who can speak English. However, restaurants — even the small ones — usually have at least one person who understands English. Therefore, I don’t need to worry about not being able to convey my message. Also, Vietnamese are generally very friendly and patient towards foreigners.
Obviously that’s no reason for us not to give any attempt to learn their language. Showing some effort, even for simple phrases, will go a very long way in earning respect from locals.
Other than Vietnamese, I also met people from various countries. Remember the woman sitting next to me on the flight from Kuala Lumpur? She is from South Africa. Apparently she stayed on the same hostel as I did. She and her friend (a Belgian) originally planned to go directly to Cat Ba island after landing. Somehow, there’s a misunderstanding with the tour company and they needed to spend the night in Hanoi.
Prior to Hanoi, they stayed in Bali, Indonesia for about 6 months. She is a graphic designer and her friend is of communication major. They both earn their living through workaway.info.
On Feb 16, the three of us had dinner together. On our way back to hostel, somebody from Bali called them. They had a video call. Apparently the call came from a Balinese family they know so well. After the call, she asked her friend.
“I just realized something. They have never left their hometown. Can you imagine living for almost 40 years but never travelled out of your country?”
Afterwards, I expressed my opinion that Indonesian passport is one the least powerful passports in the world. Based on Passport Index, Indonesia is ranked 64 (out of 98). Compared to our — for example — American, British, and Belgian friends, it is not that easy for Indonesian to hop between countries.
Nevertheless, I agree that it is unfortunate that they never left their home country to see the world. As I described in this post, travelling opens my mind to new cultures and different way of thinking. I am certain that it will ultimately make me a better person. Obviously it’s a marathon, not a sprint. A few travelling experiences won’t suddenly make someone better. But hey, even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, right?
Now, let’s continue to Hong Kong and Macau!
Hong Kong and Macau story has been published here.
