I’m sitting at the departure hall of the airport once again.
Uncle Ho Chi Minh. He looked like some old dude you’d find on the bottles of some Chinese medicine
In a moment I’ll be flying off to Hanoi on a backpacking trip. Hanoi is the last major destination on my 2007 travel itinerary, and the trip gonna be a stark contrast to the 6-star luxury I enjoyed in Macau.
Of the four nights that I’ll be spending in Vietnam, two nights I’ll be sleeping on a train, one night I’ll be sleeping on a wooden boat, and one night sleeping in a cheap guesthouse. On my itinerary is hiking in picturesque Sapa Valley, kayaking at Halong Bay, and dining at the famous Bobby Chinn’s Restaurant in Hanoi.
I’m also curious to try cobra meat, a local delicacy there. Hopefully I’ll live to tell the tale when I get back.
During my absence I’ll be regularly sending travel updates directly to kennysia.com from my phone using PacMee.
PacMee is something similar to Twitter, but cost-wise it works out a lot cheaper because it’s Malaysia-specific. It’ll be useful for me ‘cos I’m gonna be having trouble finding an outlet to charge my laptop on a wooden boat, let alone getting an internet connection to blog.
If you’re on Maxis, you could even subscribe to my shoutouts so anything funny that happened in Vietnam will be sent directly to your phone. Yes, this may be a paid ad, but PacMee is still cool that way.
Just text ON KENNYSIA to 22700. It costs just 25c per month unlimited, which makes it cheaper than keropok. Ok, maybe not keropok, but cheaper than a pack of tissues definitely.
The PA is calling. Cobra meat for dinner awaits. 😛
Take care!
There is no short talk because I am in a rush.
ewhhh……cobra liqour…!!
Wah give me ur itenerary ya… wanna copy ur trip :p
must go to perfume pagoda if you have the time. i think it is a so much nicer experience than halong bay.
Crazy.. I tried fried spiders in Cambodia and now there’s snakes in Vietnam! Pray hard for a strong stomach cos your gonna need it!
Good luck in eating the cobra 🙂 lol! Hope it taste nice.
Kenny’s Itenerary as requested 🙂
Thursday, 6th September 2007
3:35pm – Kenny arrives KL from Kuching. Flight AK5207.
4pm – Meet at LCCT Airport.
5pm – Flight AK672 KL to Hanoi (3.5 hours)
7:30pm – Arrive Hanoi Noi Bai Airport. Check out and book ‘Airport Taxi’ to travel agency in Hanoi town (45mins, USD$10). Travel Agency address: Vietnam Impressive Travel ltd. 19 Tran Phu, Ba Dinh, Ha Noi. Tel: (84-4) 747 8271
If time permits, also book one-night boat tour to Halong Bay.
8:45pm – Pick up train tickets from Travel Agency (USD$44 per person, booked). Depart for Hanoi Train station a short distance away.
9:15pm – Take train from Hanoi Train Station to Lao Cai Train Station (9 hours). Overnight in train.
Friday, 7th September 2007
6am – Arrive Lao Cai Train Station. Change into hiking outfit and store luggage at train station. (If no luggage storage facilities available, we will book a cheap hotel in Sapa). Take shuttle bus to Sapa town (25,000 dong per person, 1 hour)
8am – Arrive Sapa town. Go to Sapa Tourism Information Centre.
Pre-book bus back to Sapa at 6:30pm.
Visit Sapa Market.
Either arrange for guides or self-hike to Cat Cat Village (3km south, 1.5 hour) and surrounding areas (5,000 dong admission fee)
Walk to Cat Cat Waterfall, then to Sin Chai Village. Take motorcycle back to Sapa (USD$1 per person)
If return to Sapa before 2pm, hire a 4WD to Tram Ton Pass for breathtaking mountain views and waterfall. Otherwise, hike up to Radio Tower lookout within Sapa town.
6:30pm – Return to bus terminal, Sapa town for bus to Lao Cai.
8:15pm – Take train from Lao Cai Train Station to Hanoi Train Station (9 hours). Overnight in train.
Saturday, 8th September 2007
5:30am – Arrive Hanoi Train Station. Free time until 8:30am. (If haven’t yet done so, book Halong Bay tour from nearby travel agency or hostel, expect to pay USD$40 – USD$55 per person)
8:30am – Wait for bus to pick up from stated location in Hanoi to transfer to Halong town (3.5 hours)
12noon – Arrive Halong town, go on boat tour around Halong bay.
Swim and kayak around the area.
Overnight on boat.
Sunday, 9th September 2007
6:30am – Follow boat tour programme.
12noon – Depart Halong town for Hanoi
4pm – Arrive Hanoi. Check into guesthouse (yet to book. About USD$6.50 per person. I’m thinking this.)
6pm – Dinner at Bobby Chinn’s restaurant. Explore surrounding areas.
Monday, 10th September 2007
8am – Explore Hanoi’s sights and sounds, according to Lonely Planet guidebook.
Visit Ho Chi Minh’s Masoleum
One Pillar Pagoda
Temple of Literature
Dong Xuan Market
Vietnamese massage
6pm – Depart Hanoi town for airport
8pm – Depart Hanoi for KL. Flight AK672 (3.5 hours)
Tuesday, 11th September 2007
12:30am – Arrive KL. Nicole to return home, Kenny to stay overnight in KL.
7:40pm – Kenny’s flight from KL to Kuching. AK5214.
Note:
– Hanoi is one hour ahead of Malaysia (meaning when its 8pm in KL, it is 7pm in Hanoi)
– We might be having trouble finding a power socket to charge our gadgets. Get a spare battery for your phone and make sure its fully charged because we might not be able to find a power socket until Day 4.
Packing List:
– We’ll be hiking on the 2nd day so make sure you got good shoes, windbreaker, warm but light clothing (Sapa is the coldest town in Vietnam). What you wore to Taman Negara should be fine.
– We’ll be doing some swimming and kayaking on the 3rd day so make sure you have some swim wear with you.
– Bring your own towel. We won’t be getting any 5-star treatments anytime in Hanoi.
– Vietnam uses Type C European round style sockets (refer to: http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/electricity.htm#plugs_c). Bring a converter.
– Vietnam uses a mix of US dollars and Vietnamese dongs. Bring a mixture of both. About RM1,000 equivalent should be fine.
good luck kenny! =D
yaiks to the cobra meat man! witty
Have fun!
Macau and Hanoi should not be compared at all.
try the water puppet in Hanoi… some other meat can be found along the roadside in Hanoi old town…
Wow.
Looks… like one hell of an experience. COBRA MEAT O.o
Have fun, Kenny!
haha
Dude, don’t insult Uncle Ho while you’re there. He’s greatly revered by the Vietnamese.
Other than that, enjoy your trip. I love Hanoi!Great food, and the weather’s good at this time too.
If you need a break from the busy traffic and crowds – go to church street. Very nice restaurants and cafes there.
take more pictures of vietnamese please..
cobra meat tasty? how they cook it? O.O~~!!!
If you ever get to Miss Loi’s Guesthouse in Saigon, help me take a pic of her okay? 🙂
Poor cobras. They’re going to be an extinct species soon at the rate they’re being eaten for dinners.
kns..damn shiok fler…always travelling…
Oh great, Kenny is going to Vietnam. Your trip seems fun but quite packed. I wouldn’t rush to too many things. Hanoi is a place to relax and take it all in. Don’t forget to spend a few hours walking around Sword lake (Ho` Guom) and try co^’m ice cream. Yum!!!
Internet Connection is all over Vietnam Kenny. Even in ‘remote’ Sapa!!
so lucky, you are always travelling. You sure you have a day-job?
Wah, travel all over…
Hopefully you can see something interesting and share with us.
Maybe you can try on 致富的环游世界八å天。
wow… macao and now hanoi! how many days annual leave do you have in a year?? good luck with the cobra meat… eeeewww i dont dare to try 😛
take your blog when u got internet connection and pc with you la….i doubt there will be people so interested in your every freakin move to want to subscribe to the services….
The cobra certainly looks pretty scary 😛
Have a great trip KENNY!
Btw, desperate addict (0811.blogdrive.com) has just posted that she’s leaving.
Read here. At least go say your goodbyes! (:
enjoy ur trip dude.
DO POST UP PIC OF THE CROBRA DISH!! AFTER EATING THIS DISH IT IS SUPPOSE TO MADE UR POKEING STRONGER! SO DO TELL US THE RESULT! HAVE A NICE DAY!
wow real cool dude! Been reading this blog the whole day.. its so cool you get to travel quite often.. Any pkans to visit the middle east anytime soon? Like in Abu Dhabi or Dubai? Winter approaching hehe.. Cheers
be very careful of your personal belongings during your train ride. i often heard that there are thieves in the train, it happns before that they blow smoke into the cabin so that the passengers blur blur and tidur syok syok. i took the train dozen of times, but never encounter before. sapa is like a french village, nice n its cold. there is casino both in lao cai and halong bay. if you have 2 or 3 days more, you can cross the border to yunnan, china.
dude, you’re now into that SMS thingie… daym.
Oh gosh.
Cobra meat; I’d really love to see that served on a platter. Damn.
Cool, i’ve been to HAnoi last year and i also spent a night in the ‘ship’ at halong bay. It’s really beautiful and they serve fresh seafd =)
Uncle Ho is everywhere in Vietnam lor..
The gals spot dyed hair, super high heels n skinny jeans now..
wow…si beh syok man !
lol yeah, it sure does look like Siang Pure Oil’s founder.
You have a save Sumatran rhinos icon on your blog.Aren’t you contradicting your message by saying you want to eat cobra meat.Even though they fall under different categories of animals,both species have 2 things in common,they are endangered and also used in traditional chinese medicine.Please think about the message you’re putting across.Like you have mentioned,blogs are becoming more popular with the masses
cobra still a lot in the world christine where as rhinos is difference story,so dont worry kenny consume as many as you CAN.
My dear, you are off again. Enjoy your trip then and come back soon to blog so I won’t be bored staring on old blogs in the morning while having my cup of coffee at my working desk.
My friend told me that Vietnam is like 80’s of Malaysia..
Please let me know whether is through or not. 🙂
you have officially master-ed in TRAVELING!
Awaits for yur return… Have a pleasant journey 😉
hey i was at the noi bai airport last night the same time you’re there!
you should try this dish called Buddha’s Delight when you are at Ho Chi Minh. Its a vegetarian dish but its sooooooooo good. I can’t remember the shop name that I went to though, its a popular vegetarian restaurant there :p
u arse hole wanna eat me?
omg! wat a good life u have! *envy!
enjoy your trip!
heard tat ppl eat snake meat will got snake skin..
ewww….cobra meat
Har….. how about digi user ler…
if it’s on digi, ok. maxis? sorry no, thanks.
see when will they solve their scams.
Oh my goodness, you’re going to try out Cobra meat? Ewwww….
Come back and talk like Harry Potter “Parseltongue”… hahahaa
Vietnamese leng lui pics pls. hehehe
Fancy eating cobra meat!
You sure are adventurous.
I would like to try cobra’s meat too :O
My family have just moved to Ho Chi Minh City. Have fun in Hanoi. Never tasted cobra meat before though. Dunno whether I have the guts to do it.
Take care!
P:S// There are a lot of pretty girls with rosy cheeks there! =)
My dear, Follow ON KENNYSIA to 22700. May costs just 25c per month unlimited but Hotlink charged your readers a huge. If I am not wrong, it’s about RM10 per message.
DONT KILL THE COBRASSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! 🙁
actually, just eat them 😉
cobra?!? *Faint* The moment I saw ur pic I felt so eerie.. Lolx..
wah… really that cheap? Wish to try it someday… 😉
i think uncle Ho looks like this dude..http://www.friendster.com/photos/6021316/1/355290911
Whoa, is this coincidence or what. My mum’s there right now too! She even showed me that ahpek currency!
And, please, do not eat cobras. That’s equivalent to erm, killing me.. Oh nah, haha, not that serious. That’s equivalent to cutting my hair- 3inch of it. (Yours truly is born in the year of the snake.)
KENNY SIA TZE FOO DONT EAT COBRA MEAT! THE EXCESS STING WILL FLOW INTO UR BLOOD STREAM AND CAUSE YOU TO GROW GIANT NIPPLES… ON YOUR TESTICLES!!! HAHA. TAKE CARE THERE. =)
u mean 8 pm in Malaysia, 9 pm in Vietnam?
it’s because of people like you that animals are becoming more and more endangered.no animal started off endangered.you’re just supporting his actions because you’re a fan of his blog.I like reading his blog,but that doesn’t mean i condone all that he does,no offence kenny
Gosh…
I just got back from Hanoi
It was good, yes
especially when you saw how simple Ho Chi Minh’s life was
He did not want to live as a rich person while his people are poor
have fun! and drink coffee as much as you can, because IT IS FABULOUS!!!
朋å‹ä»‹ç»æˆ‘æ¥çœ‹çœ‹æ‚¨çš„部è½å®¢ï¼Œå› 为å°å¼Ÿæœ€è¿‘也有开始æžç±»ä¼¼è¿™æ ·çš„东西．观èµä»¥åŽå¿ƒä¸çœŸçš„一言难尽，一å¥è¯ï¼šå¥½ï¼å†™çš„太好了。
Hello.
I’m planning to go from Hanoi to Macau and back. How did you get from Macau? It seems like there’s no direct train (?), so maybe I have to fly via Peking or Hong Kong? I would very much appriciate your advice if any. Thanks in advance!
Best regards,
Miriam, Sweden
You have been to a lot of place.
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