22nd May 2013 - Time to head to Hanoi

I bought my air ticket to Hanoi at the hostel 20 hours before the flight, so I  will be heading to Hanoi at 1:30pm on that day. I hadn't really explored hcmc that much and I hadn't gone to the Mekong Delta but I thought it's time for me to leave this town and head to Hanoi and Sapa since Sapa is my first objective in this trip.

In the morning, I took the motorbike taxi to the Ho Chi Minh's Museum (I always wanted to try the motorbike taxi since I first reached hcmc as it looks fun for me and Singapore doesn't have this!).

Motorbike taxi uncle

This motorbike uncle was a talkative guy which offered me a small tour around hcmc with USD$5 that I rejected for sure! You just need to learn how to say no during backpacking, time to be more thick-skinned and people won't judge you because everyone here are budget travelers.

Ho Chi Minh's Musuem isn't an interesting place if you don't like history. For me, it is an informative place and you get to know a lot of Ho Chi Minh and the great things he has done for his country. This somehow reminded me of Malaysia which is having political trouble now and makes me realize that sacrifices are unavoidable when you want big changes and set your countries free. Someone have to do it and we have to respect them for sacrifying for us. Thank you I would say here to those leaders who have sacrificed so much for us.

Portrait of Ho Chi Minh which is made up of different small pictures 

So after the visit, I got back to the hostel and be ready to head to the airport. I was pretty early for a domestic flight just in case for any unforeseen problems. Thank god it was a smooth and safe journey to Hanoi. On the flight, I kept on thinking what should I do next for the trip, like should I go Sapa directly or should I stay in Hanoi for one night first. At last, I decided I will just go Sapa directly with an overnight train from Hanoi. It's pretty crazy because I have no idea where to buy a train ticket and what will I face in Sapa.

This spontaneous decision made me uneasy and I even doubted myself if I could make it to Sapa, but I am on my own, the worst case would be just staying in Hanoi which will basically waste one day of my trip (I would like to travel as many places as I could so one-wasted day would really make me heartbroken and I can't afford to lose that). 

When I reached the airport, I quickly rushed to the tourist information counter and ask for the train ticket and thank god again, they actually have train ticket selling service in the airport, how awesome is that (you have to get the train ticket somewhere else though). So I decided I will stay 2 days in Sapa; booked return train ticket and a 2days-1night homestay tour. 

Everything seems pretty hectic to me because I had to head down to Hanoi City from the airport which cost me USD$20 as I couldn't find anyone who wants to share cab with me; and then got the original train ticket from a hotel and went to train station to catch the train. 

However, things went pretty smoothly and I met this cute receptionist, Ngan, who speaks very well english. She basically arranged everything for me and even let me shower in the hotel washroom even though I am not a guest over there. This is just how nice Vietnamese can be. Love that! :)

8pm, I was in the train and yes, I made it.

4 beds cabin that I would travel for the next 9 hours

Met 3 others awesome people in the cabin, two Australia born Vietnamese, Dong and Hwang and a Vietnamese that I forgot his name, sadly. :( We talked for nearly 3 hours and it's quite fun sharing experiences together with strangers you just met. Hwang (left), Dong (middle)

Hwang (left) and Dong (middle)

So, next post would be on Sapa jungle trekking and homestay. Stay tuned, and sorry for the late post, I had trouble getting internet in the train and homestay. :D