Transportation in Vietnam

I can't imagine how fast time flies. It has been about 2 months back when I came back from my IndoChina trip. Shamefully, this is only the second post about the trip. Urg..I better catch up! 

So, talking about the transportation in Vietnam, I have love + hate feeling over it. Maybe I shall start off with the hate part first. 

From the moment I touched down to the airport and head towards the city, I have been greeted by lots of motorcycles and entertained by vehicles' honk throughout the journey. Vietnamese has serious honking culture and they honk for no reason. The noise turns my nerves on for the first few days but you will forced to "accept" it when you get numb. Well, this is what we call cultural shock. 

That is not the worst part yet people. If you still remember my first post about Vietnam, my girlfriend and I actually arrived earlier than the other 2 friends. So we went to explore the city. My friend suggested to visit a famous museum which was quite a distance from our hotel. Of course the first transportation which came across our mind was taxi. We looked around, AHA! There is a taxi just in front of us. We walk towards the taxi driver and ask him how much he will be charging us. He replied "use meter..meter". We were a bit thrilled because Malaysian taxi driver never use meter. We agreed and board the cab.

Starting price on the meter shows Vietnam Dong 50,000 (USD 3/ RM10). My friend and I looked at each other and kept quiet. We thought it is the standard charges. However, thing goes weirder when every few seconds passed (pay attention, it's every few "seconds"), the meter charges increased and has gone ridiculous high after 5 minutes ride in the taxi. We felt something really wrong and quickly asked him to stop, pretending we have left something in the hotel. The meter charges showed VND136,000 (USD 8/ RM29) by the time he stopped. I assure you we had less than 10 minutes ride in the taxi. We knew we have been cheated and wanted to get out of the taxi as soon. Can't imagine how much it would be if he brings us to our intend destination. Or we might end up in some rural place and being rape. (okay, this is too over but better be safe than sorry). 

I shared the story with my Vietnamese friend when I came back to Malaysia. He told me it is very common that even he himself got cheated sometimes (haha...I feel better that way). He said taxi drivers in Vietnam cheat passengers by installing some kind of button/ honk, where the meter charges increase whenever they press it. -_- ||| They are even worst than Malaysia taxi.  

After the horrible incident on the first day, we swear not to take any cab again! The next best transportation to get around the city would be taking tricycles. They are also my favourite. Regardless of their slow movement, it actually give you an opportunity to taste the local life, riding on the tricycles where cars and motorcycles passed by you in less then 1 meter distance give you a scary yet fun experience. Of course, they are cheap too!

Thumbs up from tricycle rider

If you have a motor license, the next best choice to travel around is to ride a motorcycle. They have bikes for rent everywhere in the city. And they are all cool bikes. You can find 653395 different bikes on the street all with own unique decoration.

Tous or Gucci? Anyone?

Even the helmets are cool isn't it?

Bike shares the same function as lorry too

Don't play play...CEO of XXX company also rides a bike to work

Hanoi city, Vietnam

I am back. For more than a week actually. Was busy un-packing luggage, washing the mountain like amount of laundry, souvenir giving and of course, back to my 9 to 6 job. So how did I enjoy my trip? Well, it was mentally re-charged but physically discharged. Got myself a 2 hours feet and body massage the next day I came back but I don't feel like enough. 

Alright, back to Vietnam. My friend and I arrived at Hanoi in the afternoon and someone picked us up from the airport and checked in to Especen hotel. Good to know that our room was on the 5th floor and for your information, it doesn't has lift service >_<. So we started doing warm up exercise on the first day already. While waiting for our 2 other JB girlfriends arriving at night, we went to explore the city first since we have only two short days in Hanoi.   

This is the first lunch we had after searching for a few streets and have no idea what to eat. We finally stopped at one restaurant which seems to have more crowds and used our body langugge to order our food. The meehoon is meant to be eaten by putting it inside the bowl of soup with grilled pork, and mix it with some raw vege. Er...I wouldn't say it is very delicious but good enough to fill our hungry stomach. 

 

The rest of the afternoon we covered some of the main attractions like:

Hoan Kiem Lake - big lake surrounding by a park and benches where the locals chat around, play chess, do exercise, and you even find a lot of models and couples having their photo shoot here

Thang Long water puppet show - it is so called a must see in Vietnam but I personally find it a bit boring. 1st class ticket selling at 60,000 Dong and 2nd class at 40,000 Dong (USD 3.5 or 2.5). The tickets sold out fast, so if you want to watch the show, get the tickets earlier.

Ly Thai To statue 

Souvenir shopping 

Ho Chi Minh musuem and mausoleum - It was already closed when we arrive at the museum. However, this is the place to showcase Ho Chi Minh good deeds and life, a leader where every Vietnamese pay thier highest respect to. 

St. Joseph Cathedral - This cathedral is just less than 5 mintues walk behind our hotel. Happened to pass by during their Sunday prayer. Aleluyah~~~~