Vietnam – a month in April 2023 – Part 1 – HCMC, Hoi An, Hue, Phong Nha, Trang An

Itinerary

Ho Chi Minh City	1 nights
Hoi An	8 nights
Hue	2 nights
Phong Nha	2 nights
Overnight train	1 night
Trang An	2 nights

Journey

I sit drinking a coffee as I await my train to the airport and notice that I am sharing the waiting room with 5 other solo women travellers and I wonder where they are going. We are all different: I am writing, one is sipping coffee and talking on the phone, one is reading a magazine, one is eating crisps whilst watching a video and two are just sitting looking around. Who knows, they could all be off on an adventure too!

On the train I feel a mixture of nerves and excitement. The reality of going on a solo trip to Vietnam is sinking in. I have decided to see if taking a no frills airline long haul is worth the money it saves. I am flying to Athens first and then getting a Scoot flight to Singapore and another Scoot flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Scoot is the low cost offshoot of Singapore Airlines so you would expect it to be good, wouldn’t you?

The flight to Athens on BA has no issues, a comfortable 3 hours. I arrive in Athens at 02:15. It is eerily quiet and there is nowhere to lie flat. This is my first obstacle to getting any sleep on this journey. However, my earlier anxiety is dissipating. My mindset is on this moment rather than thinking about what’s next. I have nothing planned when I get to HCMC. I’ll see how I feel when I get there.

The Scoot experiment turns out to be a bad decision that I hope not to repeat. The 10 hour flight to Singapore seems to go on forever. I can’t get comfortable on this full flight and there is definitely less leg room than on other long haul carriers. The model must be to charge less but to increase the number of seats on the aircraft. On the final leg to HCMC there’s even less leg room, so at close to 6 feet tall I can hardly get my legs in. I certainly can’t straighten them or change position for the two hour flight.

So, in conclusion for my future reference, and for anyone out there who is considering a long haul on Scoot – I don’t recommend it. I’m planning on a well-known and respected airline for my journey home and I don’t mind if it costs a lot more. At my age comfort is more important!

Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon

I had wanted to visit Vietnam for years. The fact that my son, Max, was there on his gap year inspired me into action. I had an excuse to visit, not that I needed one, but I was really looking forward to seeing him after 6 months.

This meant that my trip to HCMC was a whistle stop tour. So, in the 1.5 days I was there these were my impressions:

• busy but not as chaotic as I imagined
• loads of motorbikes weaving in and out
• old style accommodation in little alleyways with lots of character, contrasting with Nguyen Hue area with shiny high rises
• interesting colonial buildings – cathedral, post office, Rex Hotel, Revolutionary Museum
• Ben Thanh Market -a typical Asian market – massive, selling everything, goods piled high.
• Grab motorbike taxi rides – these are great fun, get you around quickly and are SO cheap – a few pence, literally

• boiling hot and draining, especially after a journey with little sleep. I have little energy to walk around.
• roads very difficult to cross:
  • Zebra crossings are pointless, no-one stops even if you have started going across. Motorbikes are adept at avoiding pedestrians. Even so, a bit hairy.
  • Pelican crossings with pedestrian signals are still confusing. Vehicles ignore the red lights unless someone is crossing. There are always a few who just keep going and narrowly avoid you. You take your life in your hands as vehicles are coming at you from all directions, often on the wrong side of the road.
• Emperor Pagoda – several Buddhists praying. Colourful and bright.
• War Remnants Museum – very interesting and informative. Stark outside exhibition about how badly prisoners were treated and tortured, left in the sun or cold with barely any clothes on. Poignant exhibition remembering journalists and photographers who risked (and often lost) their lives covering stories about the war so the world could see and hear the truth.

Hoi An

Max is on his way to Hoi An, so at 10am I book my flight, at 4pm I fly to Danang and I’m in Hoi An in time for dinner.

Evening strolls around Hoi An are quite magical.

• lively markets selling clothes, leather goods, food, ceramics
• lots of clothes and tailor shops, also shoe shops and handbags
• boats with lanterns on the river – very atmospheric and pretty

• riverside lined with restaurants and bars, people eating and drinking and enjoying the river activity
• calm, relaxed, laid back vibe
• no motorbikes allowed along riverside during the afternoon and evening, which makes it much more peaceful

By day there are historic sights to explore. The ticket allows you to visit 5 of the ancient houses/temples at your leisure:

• Phuc Kien Assembly Hall. Fujian Chinese architecture. A place of worship with various alters and deities and heads of families. All very bright and colourful.

• Tran Family Chapel – built for worshipping the Tran family ancestors. Built in 1802. 11 generations of the Tran family have lived there and still do. Traditional design with Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese features. Lots of beams and wood panelling.
• If you visit the ancient houses in the afternoons it is mayhem. They are full of tour groups led by a guide carrying a flag and talking through a loud speaker. They take photos at strategic places 2 at a time which can take forever. I go at 8am and I am the only visitor. I am well outnumbered by staff. I have my own tour, and can take photos with noone else in them.

Reunion with my son

Max spares me a couple of hours from his busy gap year socialising and partying. I treat him to a meal, a cocktail and a few beers by An Bang Beach. He’s having a fantastic time, full of stories and experiences. We could talk all night, but he’s staying in a beach villa with 11 others and wants to go back to party. He gives me a ride back to my place on his rented motorbike.

The next day I get a Grab to the beach to join Max and his friend who are lying on loungers drinking beer looking completely chilled and at peace with the world. I join them for an afternoon of chatting, swimming and beer drinking. A joyful few hours that I cherish.

I meet Max for a beer sitting outside one of the places on the riverside in Hoi An. We watch the rowing boats floating down the river illuminated by large spherical lanterns. We observe people as they make their evening stroll along the riverside. Quality moments to savour.

Boutique Hotel, Hoi An

I book this posh hotel for myself, Max and his friend as I know they’ve been roughing it for months. We sit beside the beautiful infinity pool overlooking the rice paddies. They devour everything in sight at the breakfast buffet. They borrow the hotel bath robes and wear them on the motorbike ride to the beach. Their appreciation of the few days of luxury give me great pleasure.

As our time together comes to an end I am reminded of how much shared laughter we have and how much I have missed that. I love our time together, but it’s time to let him go again.

It’s also time for me to get on with the rest of the trip on my own. Going into the unknown as a quiet and introverted 60 year old is scary. How can I chat to people? Can I make friends doing this? Can I find people to go on trips with and have dinner with?

Shortly after worrying about being on my own and making friends I get propositioned by a rather sexy English guy by the pool. I can’t believe it. I turn him down but spend several hours chatting and comparing notes on teaching and working abroad. I’m pleased to connect with a lovely, likeminded soul of a similar age. I’ll continue on my journey with more excitement now and see what happens next.

Da Nang train station

The train is pulling out of the station bound for Hue. A 3.5 hour journey and my first experience of Vietnamese public transport. Smooth boarding, coaches clearly marked, easy to find your assigned seat, busy, comfortable, good AC, a little scruffy, very useful signs showing the next stop and how far away it is.

The train is very close to houses as we leave Da Nang, almost in touching distance. We drive past poor shacks, with corrugated roofs held down by rocks.

The train snakes around the Van Pass area. It winds up the mountains and we have spectacular views of the coast. Lovely secluded bays in the mist. The scenery is lush, green and verdant. It is a single line so there is a passing place for trains very high up the mountain.

Hue

I arrive in Hue, 33 degrees, bright sun, sweating. I get a Grab bike to the hotel and the lovely hotel owner bombards me with tour information, but I want to walk around the Imperial City by myself.

Huge citadel, a lot to get round and a bit too hot to appreciate. I walk back via a pleasant green area by the river. It is late afternoon and a lovely atmosphere is created with the locals congregating to play football or to stroll along the riverside now it is slightly cooler. I walk back over the long bridge, stuffed with motorbikes and pollution. I go a long way round via traffic lights as it is impossible to cross the road in certain places.

I meet a very lovely English couple, Bernie and Sandra, who offer to share a tour with me. It isn’t quite what I want so I just get a bus ticket, but they are to feature prominently in my Vietnam trip.

I try to get to Dieu De Pagoda. Google maps is a bit wrong so I end up down some dirty back streets where there are no other tourists in sight. Raw meat sits out in the sun, alongside vegetable stalls and stray dogs. I’m slightly nervous, but I eventually find the pagoda which is deserted. All the staff are lying on the floor asleep. I can’t believe no-one is here as it’s really impressive. Beautifully preserved polished dark wood with intricate carving.

Phong Nha

I arrive from a bus journey to a quiet backwater. I borrow a push bike to look around. The temperature is so much cooler here that I need long sleeves. It is pretty by the river watching the boats chugging past with the backdrop of imposing limestone peaks. There is a much needed change of pace here as I sit in a small restaurant by the side of the road overlooking the river.

I check in on how I’m feeling about travelling alone. It is better travelling alone in Asia than in Europe. The locals and other travellers are very friendly. I’ve chatted to many people and don’t feel lonely. The time I have been alone I have enjoyed – cycling along today, walking around Hue in the boiling heat, luxuriating in my room in the evenings, reading, writing or listening to podcasts, sitting on the train looking out of the window.

I book myself onto my first tour of the trip. A visit to two famous caves in this region. I join a tour bus with 11 others. There are two families and a few single travellers. I talk to the other single woman most of the day, a lovely 29 year old Portuguese woman. We have a great day together.

To reach Paradise Cave, we climb up the mountain and trek through the jungle. The mouth of the cave is a deceptively small entrance. On entering you are in a huge space, bigger than a cathedral. A steep wooden staircase leads down to the bottom of the dry cave. You walk 1km into a much larger cave with the most amazing stalactites and stalagmites I have ever seen. They come in all shapes and sizes, some huge, some 400 million years old. The beautiful formations are reminiscent of animals, people, plants or flowers if you use your imagination.

After a buffet lunch we board a small, noisy boat for the 30 minute ride along the Son River to the Phong Nha cave. The river runs underground beneath the limestone mountains and into the cave. We go 1.5km into the cave and then return. We view more impressive stalactites and stalagmites but not quite as awe inspiring as Paradise Cave.

Night train Dong Hoi to Ninh Binh

I keep in touch with Bernie and Sandra, the English couple I first met in Hue. We are following virtually the same itinerary and agree to share a taxi to Dong Hoi train station and to share a cabin for the overnight train journey to Ninh Binh. We get to Dong Hoi early so we eat a lovely fried rice in a restaurant very near the station. Dong Hoi seems a sleepy, peaceful place.

The train is about 10 mins late. We find an empty cabin in Coach 8 and no-one else joins us for the entire trip.

Sandra and Bernie are good fun. Bernie wheels around 2 massive suitcases which I tease him about. We chat easily and share stories. The train is comfortable enough. We lie flat. I listen to a few podcasts, eventually feel sleepy and drop off, probably for a couple of hours.

Inconveniently we arrive at Ninh Binh at 3.30am. When we arrive Sandra and Bernie’s taxi is there but mine isn’t. This is slightly unsettling in the middle of the night, but it turns up about 15 mins later and gets me to my homestay. I wake up the owners who show me to my room and I have a good night’s sleep in the end.

Trang An

I collect a wobbly bike from the place I’m staying. It has a saddle that moves to odd angles and a stand that doesn’t go up so it scrapes along the ground as I go round corners. I don’t like Tam Coc, it’s very busy and I am served two awful coffees. I ride back through rice fields surrounded by towering mountains . It is drizzly, cloudy and overcast. The views are in the mist.

Impressions of Trang An:

• quiet, sleepy place by the river, surrounded by the limestone peaks.
• I walk over a bridge and find myself in the Vietnamese part of the village. It is deserted with no homestays or restaurants. Narrow streets. Concrete road. A variety of houses of different shapes and sizes, some plush, others basic and poor. There is very little sign of life, a couple of people sitting in their front rooms watching TV. I wonder about their lives. They have very little stimulation, not much to do, just living day to day. They are not looking for stimulation or excitement, just passing each day accepting life as it comes. Is that a good life? Is it a better or worse way to live than our lives? I don’t know the answer.
• I walk back over the bridge. Back to homestays and restaurants, signs in English, fruit juice and pizzas – all the things requested by travellers over the years.
• although Bernie and Sandra and I have gone our separate ways, I bump into them at a cafe by the lake in Trang An and again at a restaurant in the evening. We eat together and arrange to share a taxi back to Ninh Binh from where we are all going to Hanoi by train.

Vietnam trip continued in Part 2 – Hanoi, Cat Ba and Ha Giang Loop

Vietnam – a month in April 2023 – Part 2 – Hanoi, Cat Ba and Ha Giang Loop