TRAVELLING BACHS |
Author: Beth Part 1 - HanoiSimilar to capital cities across Asia, Hanoi is a bustling noisy one, with a reported 5 million motorbikes on the roads along with Tuk tuks, taxis, cars and bicycles. The streets are littered with rubbish, food waste and there is a smell to it, not a strong one but a lingering smell that lasts throughout the day and into the night. This city is a great central point if you want to explore nearby towns/cities which can be done in a 1/2 day trip - and that's exactly what we did. This wasn't our original plan but we received great advice and help from Ann, who worked as the receptionist at our hotel. We stayed at Hanoi Sincerity Guest House a basic and simple run down hostel but it is located in a great location. In almost all the reviews, tourists are raving about Ann or 'Miss Ann' - she was a fountain of knowledge about the area, and went above and beyond for us in helping organising trips to pointing out the best places to eat. Famously known for its 'street train' we were excited to catch a glimpse of this unique attraction. Videos online have shown a wide train flying through the streets of Hanoi, almost to big to fit through! It wasn't too hard to find and once you have you know you're in the right place, as train tracks are running right up the street (pictured above) with houses and even small cafes remaining open for most of the day. Unfortunately, we didn't see the train despite walking there twice over 2 days. We were given different times by so many different people , so if you manage to see it at all, count yourself lucky! Here is a link to a video of said train - Hanoi street train We found a treasure of a breakfast place and looked forward to returning there each morning. The place is called Joma bakery cafe and served food from croissants to cooked foods including vegan and veggie options! As much as we enjoyed Vietnamese food out there, it was great to have a taste of treats from home. I enjoyed a granola bowl and seeded bread with mango and cream - delicious (pictured below right) along with some traditional Asian cuisine and a typical busy Hanoi street. Our sleepy journey to Sapa Having read about sleeper buses, we decided this was the best way to travel to Sapa in north Vietnam, about 200 miles from Hanoi. After a rush to find the bus stop and a lot of help from Miss Ann - we managed to board and find 2 beds together. There's around 30 beds on board and they are mainly used for long journeys (hence the name - sleeper bus) The trip to Sapa was 7 hours plus and felt like it... Fortunately, the bus had air con, wifi, free water, a safe place for your bags, and a cable for charging phones, so listening to music/podcasts was not a problem. The beds are comfortable enough and although I can't remember if there was a toilet on the way there (as we made 2 stops on route for a comfort break and a leg stretch) there was definitely a toilet on our sleeper bus back. Ensure you have tissues and hand sanitiser with you at all times - and if you have ever been on a coach journey before I'm sure I don't need to tell you the perils of a bus toilet....! As I mentioned before there are comfort breaks where you can pick up snacks, but we were lucky to find a bakery store in Hanoi called King Roti - selling sweet treats for as little as 50p/cents - definitely worth a trip and the long queues are worth the wait!
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