A Bit of Singapore in Ha Noi

After staying in Ha Noi, to be exact the outskirt of Ha Noi near Nhon (Tu Liem
District), I was surprised when my friend introduced a Singapore street food joint to me recently. It was a relief as I had been eating mostly Vietnamese food for the four month since I arrived in Vietnam. Not that Vietnamese “cuisine” is not delicious, on the contrary, I discovered that most of the food are suitable to my palate. It is also good to have some Singaporean style varieties once in a while.

The shop Hai Su (Hải Sư), run by a Singaporean who had been in Vietnam for quite a while, is located along Pho (Street) Giang Vo (pronounced as Zang Vor-all). Two prominent landmarks in the vicinity are Hanoi Hotel and Horizon Hotel. What attracted me and I think to Hanoians is the selection of Singaporean desserts such as Bo-Bo Cha-Cha, Chendol etc.

Vietnam - Road Safety

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When in Ha Noi, one cannot help but be amazed by the number of motorcycles on the road. The roads are always packed with these little mobile “creatures”, small and agile weaving between the traffic. Sometimes almost recklessly but to me, they appear to be the “kings of the road“. I may be wrong, it appears to me that women motorcyclists form a majority of the users. Such is the importance of this means of transport that the government decided last year to implement compulsory safety helmets for all motorcycles, including pillion riders. The ruling took effect on 15 Dec 2007. Almost overnight, about 85 percent of the motorists compiled with the ruling, otherwise they risked being fine.

Motorcycle taxi (xe ôm, pronounced s’air om - literally vehicle embrace) is a common feature in Ha Noi. With Ha Noi many narrow streets, xe ôm is an indispensable form of transport in the city. Now safety helmet (mũ bảo hiểm) has become a fashion item with commuters. Those who frequently travel by xe ôm will carry one with them when they commute around town. Some of these helmets are really cute but I am not sure if they measure up to safety standards.

Visit to Sa Pa (28 - 30 Dec 2007

A group of friends and I made a short trip to Sapa prior to the New Year. As it was a last minute decision, we had some difficulty in getting train tickets to Lao Cai. We only managed to collect the tickets from Sinh Café on the day of departure on Friday evening (28 Dec). It was for a cabin of four (soft beds) departing from Ga Ha Noi (Hanoi Station) at 2305H. Tickets for the earlier trains between 2100H and 2200H were not available.

As I walked from Ho Hoan Kiem (Hoan Kiem Lake), I arrived at the main entrance of the station while my friends ended up at the departure gate on the opposite side. I had to make a detour across the railway yard to meet them. When we were walking along the train (LC7 - possibly Lao Cai 7), it dawned on me that the standard on the train is below par. As we entered our cabin, I felt that the price we paid for the one-way ticket (US$25) was too high. Nevertheless, that was the price to pay for late minute booking and it was a weekend trip.

The trip to Lao Cai was slow. It took us nine hours and we arrived at Lao Cai at 0800H 29 Dec. The weather was good at Lao Cai. We were met by the staff from the tour agency and were brought to the pick-up up at one of the café near the station. At about 0900H, we were herded onboard a chartered bus for the one-hour journey to Sa Pa. The staff told me that we had to use the bus as there were no other alternative as a lot of students had made the trip to Sa Pa during the New Year holidays.

The trip was surprising smooth as the road condition was good. The sights were equally good especially when we were more than half way up the mountain. The rice terraces in the valley were a sight to behold. Unfortunately as we neared Sa Pa, the weather turned and the town was covered by fog or possibly clouds. The atmosphere gave us a feeling that we had entered a valley town somewhere in Europe.

After breakfast, we were led for the slow stroll to the H’mong village of Cat Cat, located about 3 km away from town. Cat Cat village was not as populated as I thought. The houses in Cat Cat were spaced about several metres apart and were sited on the slopes. I was not quite impress but as we were led further down the slope, we came to a waterfall. Then, I felt that the journey was worth it as the sight at the waterfall was nice. After a short rest and enjoying kebab/satay (grill pork) and sweet potatoes, we continued our journey up the reverse slope of the waterfall. Along the way, we had to cross a valley using a wood plank bridge.

In the afternoon, we were taken to Ta Van of the Giay people. The tour guide decided at the last minute not to bring to another village as the weather was not good. The journey to Ta Van was quite hairy as visibility was probable less than five metres. The fear was heightened by the fact that the road to Ta Van was down hill and winding. Ta Van is a much different village as compared to Cat Cat. It is located near the valley close to a river and it is also much bigger. We had to cross a bridge to get to the village. Upon arrival, we were mopped by women and child selling handicraft. They were quite persistent and in fact some of them followed us for much of our trip at the village. The visit was worth as we could see the famed rice terraces found in tour brochures.

In the evening, the weather changed and it drizzled. We talked a stroll in the town after dinner but we could find that advertised love market. As I retired to bed, power in the town was cut off at 2300H and was only restored at 0700H the next day (30 Dec). We had to use candles to wash up and do our packing as we were leaving on the early train back to Hanoi. We left Sa Pa at 0700H. Before leaving town, we request for the van to stop at the church for some photographs as we could not get good pictures the previous day.

The train journey from Lao Cai departed at 0915H and we only arrived in Hanoi at 2030H. It was a slow journey of 11 hours and sights along the way was not really good for photography.