Friday Sept 6
We left Sydney on the 10am TG flight to BKK with a short connection to Hanoi - all went smoothly. We were in business class on TG’s old 747 but it was OK even with the angled “flat” seats - at least the Veuve was icy cold. Our 1.5 hour flight from BKK to HAN was a newish 787 with lie-flat seats - we had more Veuve and a pretty good chicken curry. When we arrived in Hanoi we were first through immigration in about 30 seconds (we had obtained Vietnam visas in Sydney instead of using VOA) - our baggage was one of the first off the carousel - so a good start. We had ordered a car and driver via Mosio (as recommended on the Accor website) - unfortunately the driver was not waiting when we exited customs and after several heated calls to Mosio he finally showed up - turned out to be an Uber (Grab in Vietnam) - the driver did not look old enough to have a driver’s licence and his car was a clapped-out dirty old bomb - it even seemed to breakdown just as he exited the freeway - we weren’t sure as our “English speaking” driver did not speak one word of English.
We finally checked-in to our hotel, MGallery Hotel d’Opera, around 9:30pm local time (-3 hours from Sydney) - our suite was amazing - huge - and included free mini-bar (non-alcoholic) and happy hour in the bar from 5-7:30pm (free drinks) - excellent when considering the price of drinks in Vietnam.
Saturday Sept 7
After breakfast at the hotel, where they managed to stuff up my order repeatedly, we set off on a self-guided walking tour of the old town. On weekends many of the streets in the old town become pedestrian only - which is great as dodging traffic where no one, particularly motor scooters, pay any attention to the road rules and traffic signals, is pretty much life threatening. Many streets had a large collection of miniature battery operated cars, busses, army vehicles, emergency services vehicles etc lined up for kids to use. Parents sat in side-walk cafes. It was very hot and humid - 35C and 90% humidity. By mid-day we were zapped so headed back to the hotel to freshen up then went to the Sofitel Metropole (right across the street) for a nice lunch - love that Accor Advantage half-price dining !!!
I realised I needed to adjust my expectations of customer service here - after the breakfast stuff up, at lunch, my gin & Fever Tree tonic was Schweppes and our L’Occitaine toiletries at the hotel were in fact Crabtree & Evelyn. First world problems but I’m getting over it.
After our complimentary Happy Hour (5-7:30pm), we had dinner at the hotel restaurant which was most disappointing particularly as it was totally empty - at least it wasn't expensive.
Sunday Sept 8
We had booked a full day private tour to
Mua Cave - Tam Coc - Bich Dong - and Boat Day Trip
We left with our car, driver and guide at about 8:45pm for the 2 hour drive to the park. It was another hot and humid day (35C but the forecast said it felt like 43C and it did). At the park we climbed 480 steep steps to one of the peaks for a great view of the surrounding mountains and rice fields. We stopped for lunch at farmer’s house where we ate very little due to heat exhaustion and the Vietnamese style food. From here we drove to a nearby river where we took a 1.5 tour on a row boat - rowed by a local lady - these ladies row with their feet. The river wandered between mountain peaks and rice fields as well as through a cave. We arrived back at our hotel around 4pm.
After much needed showers we hit happy hour then had dinner at the bar at the Sofitel Metropole - we had booked their high-end French restaurant but cancelled this as we were too tired for a gala (and expensive) dinner.
Monday Sept 9 - Topas Eco Lodge
I had a terrible night suffering from some kind of gut issue - terrible pain all night - at one stage I felt I would not be able to make the 6:30am departure for Topas Eco Lodge near Sapa - a 5 hour drive away. Somehow I dragged myself our of bed - packed up and made the departure - it was a luxury van with 6 passengers. The drive passed uneventfully - we arrived just after mid-day and had lunch straight away as our villa was not ready. By 1pm we got into the villa and did a bit of unpacking. The lodge setting and villas are truly gorgeous - hopefully the misty cloudy weather will clear so we can get some photos. The lodge is high in the mountains but still surrounded by rural communities and rice paddies - mainly terraced.
I reluctantly decided not to take part in the 2pm hiking tour as I was so zapped - Dieter headed off and I tried to get a kip - I got up around 3:30pm to find it raining lightly but steadily - I was quite happy to be snug in our villa - when Dieter returned early he looked like a drowned rat and said the tour was ‘a waste of time’ - oh dear.
After showering we headed up to the lodge for a pre-dinner drink to find that they have an un-advertised happy hour with free wine from 5-6pm - which was very nice as alcohol, particularly wine, is very expensive here (like all over Asia of course). We stayed on for an early dinner (a la carte) which was OK but certainly no gourmet experience; however, the food was not too expensive (e.g. less than $20 for a main course) they also served a complimentary small bowl of soup with some focaccio which was the best part of the meal.
We hit the sack very early - lights out before 9pm.
Tuesday Sept 10 - Topas Eco Lodge
I got up early (before 6am) as I was wide awake and wanted to have a cup or 2 of Nespresso before breakfast as our tour today started at 8:40am. Unfortunately there is no WiFi in the villas - only in the main lodge so I can’t do my daily FF blog scan and WhatsApp posting. As forecast, as daylight dawned it appeared the forecast of another rainy day would hold true - it was still quite hot and humid - steamy in fact but cooler than Hanoi.
We set out for our tour at 8:45am in full wet weather gear - first up we drove with another couple from Singapore and our guide to the starting point of the hike - about 35 minutes away. We hiked in the rain (steady but lessening from time to time) to the mid-point where we stopped for a rest-break at a farm house overlooking the valley - they served freshly picked and cooked corn - there was also a clean washroom and drinking water - we paid for a Diet Coke. After our break we continued and the rain increased - it was a bit of muddy slog in parts - we finally reached a small road where the guide said we were almost there. In fact it was about another 2K’s of steady steep uphill (10% incline) - we reached the other Topas Eco hut where we had lunch - this eco hut is very simple - ie the accomodation does not have en-suites. After an OK lunch and bit of chit-chat with our fellow hikers we headed back to the lodge.
After cleaning up (our boots and waterproof pants were covered in mud) we had showers and then it was time for happy hour. Dinner was pretty much a repeat of the previous evening - ho hum food (different dishes) - then off to bed very early again.
Wednesday Sept 11 - Topas Eco Lodge
Dieter had organised a private tour for our last full day - a car and driver to go to Sapa (an hour away) where we picked up a guide then visited 2 waterfalls then back to Sapa for lunch and back to the lodge. We left on time and drove to the Topas office in Sapa - the drive was somewhat hair raising - the winding mountain road is in total disrepair - quite a disgrace given the importance to local tourism - 25 k’s takes one hour. Sapa itself was much more developed than we had imagined - many new and large hotels.
From the office we drove to the first of 2 waterfalls - both of which are impressive but not really spectacular - the first required walking up & down a few hundred steps - the second required about 30 minutes walk each way - again many steps. It was raining on and off but we had umbrellas.
We then drove back to Sapa where we bid farewell to our guide - a delightful young lady of 23 who had been married at 14 and had 2 children (6 & 8) - she only had 4 years of formal education but had taught herself English so she could get a job as a guide - her English was excellent, much better than the previous day’s guide. She’s from a local village of one of the local 6 indigenous tribes - each with their own language, dress, and appearance.
We had lunch the MGallery hotel - which was in the most amazing building - we wished we had moved there for our third night - but alas it was too late to change. (Lunch was $AUD 48 - amazing value).
Thursday Sept 12 - Topas Eco Lodge to Hanoi
It was finally clear and sunny but steamy when we got up. After breakfast we lazed about and packed for our 11am checkout prior to our 2pm departure for the 5 hour drive back to Hanoi and another 2 night stay at the MGallery Hotel d’Opera again - this time in a regular suite not the “presidential” suite.
Other than going to the pool there’s not much to do between 11am-2pm - an option is to drive to Sapa (1 hour), do something there (waterfalls or cable car to Vietnam’s highest mountain 3100m) then depart from Sapa to Hanoi at 3:30pm - probably a good option except that’s what we had done the previous day.
We dagged about, had lunch then left at 2:30pm for the 5 hour drive back to Hanoi - it was long and boring. We finally reached the MGallery Hotel d’Opera at 7:40pm - at check-in the receptionist asked the bar to extend Happy Hour (free drinks) for a few minutes so we could have a free drink. We did just that - went to our room, a regular suite, changed and went to the Sofitel bar for dinner - it was totally full so we sat outside by the pool - it was a lovely evening.
Friday Sept 13 - Hanoi
We had a well deserved sleep-in followed by a late breakfast. We weren’t really inspired to do much but after a bit of research by the ‘tour expert’ (Dieter) we took a taxi (20 minutes and 5 k’s) to the Lotte Hotel which has an observation deck on the 65th floor. After taking many photos we wandered around a large supermarket on the lowest level checking our grocery shopping in Vietnam. We went to one of the hotel’s restaurants on the 37th floor for a light lunch.
Back at our hotel we started packing up for the long haul to Vancouver via Hong Kong on the outbound leg of the CX ‘mistake fare’.
We had happy hour at our hotel then had a farewell dinner at the Sofitel’s fine dining French restaurant.