There aren’t many public holidays in Vietnam and even fewer long weekends in a year. Justin had a last minute work trip to Hai Phong, a port city in the North, that just happened to land next to a long weekend. We need very little encouraging to make use of long weekends. No bunny, will travel. Plans were made and we were off.
Hai Phong is Vietnam’s third largest city at a bit over 2 million people. To put that in perspective, Ho Chi Minh City where we live is the largest and most populous city at ~10 million according to Wikipedia (I think it’s closer to or even over 13 million but it’s hard to know the real number because a distinction is made between people whose families are historically from HCMC and are considered residents and Vietnamese from other provinces that are considered temporary residents even though they’ve lived here their whole lives but are technically considered to be from other provinces, it’s a complicated system.) and the capital Hanoi is the second largest city at ~8.5 million. So the third largest city at ~2 million is significantly smaller. And indeed the whole feeling of Hai Phong is very different, it’s so chilled and relaxed. There’s almost no traffic, at 16:30 on a weekday we made it from the airport to the hotel in 15 minutes, and what traffic there is feels very orderly, there’s almost no hooting and wild driving. Was a lovely refreshing change from this hectic and intense city. It was also lovely and cool at this time of year, a very comfortable ~23C. Hai Phong is known for it’s strategic port on the Red River Delta and as a gateway to Cat Ba Island, on the edge of Halong Bay.
Together with one of Justin’s colleagues Ilse, we flew to Hai Phong on the Thursday afternoon. Ilse’s husband Maarten arrived back from Japan the same day and changed his flights to HCMC to join us up north. There was a fun impromptu dinner with the client from APMT in the evening. We stayed at the lovely Avani Harbour View Hotel in Hai Phong.
Ilse and Justin had meetings all day on Friday, so Maarten and Bron booked a boat trip of Lan Ha Bay and also touched on the famous Halong Bay too. Justin and I visited Halong Bay in September 2017, it was really nice to have an opportunity to come back to this area.
The trip started with catching the bus from near the hotel at 06:30 which we were 5 minutes late for and the bus had already left, the one and only thing in Vietnam I’ve ever known to happen on time lol. The lady very kindly and somewhat irritatedly lol helped us to catch up with the bus by motorbike. It turned out to be more of a commuter bus for workers to Cat Ba rather than a tourist bus. Most other people on the same boat for the day had came from Hanoi or were already in Cat Ba. Two further buses, a ferry, and two hours later, we checked into the boat at around 08:30. The rest of the day was spent chilling on the boat enjoying the limestone karsts that the area is famous for. It was so lovely to be out of the city and on the water. I was super excited when we saw some birds lol, we really are starved for nature here in the city. There was also a kayaking activity, a generous and varied lunch on the boat, and time to swim in the bay and go to some of the beaches. At the end we also passed by the floating village and aquaculture farming area close to the boat launching area. Then another long 2 hours back to Hai Phong by bus, ferry, bus, and car. A really lovely and worthwhile day.
The beautiful Lan Ha and Halong Bay
Where we stopped for afternoon swim time
The floating village and aquaculture farms
Blue dot marks the spot
On the Saturday morning, Justin and his colleagues had the official opening ceremony of the new container terminal, a project they had been working on for 3 or 4 years. Bron went for a long walk down to the end of the canal and back. Along the way I saw a statue of someone I had never seen in VN before. Some research showed this was a statue of Le Chan, a women general who supported the Hai Ba Trung to fight against invading troops in ~40 AD. Apparently she founded the village that grew into Hai Phong City and is highly revered here. Every city in Vietnam has a Hai Ba Trung street and I always thought it was a man’s name, but it literally translates as Two Ladies Named Trung and refers to the two Trung sisters Trac and Nhi who were military leaders of the Louyue tribes and ruled for three years. They are regarded as national heroines. You learn something new everyday.
The statue of Le Chan in Hai Phong City
Spotted on my morning walk
Justin, Ilse, and colleagues with the client and local partner at the terminal opening
After the opening ceremony, Maarten and Ilse cycled up to our actual destination of the weekend while Justin and Bron took a car and all the gear an hour away to Yen Tu Mountain.
Yen Tu or Tuong Dau Mountain is located on the border of the three provinces of Quang Ninh, Bac Giang, and Hai Duong, and is a peak of the Dong Trieu Mountains in the Northeast of Vietnam. This mountain is well known for its Buddhist monastery and several pagodas all the way up. There is a cable car most of the way but we were planning to hike it. We stayed at the Legacy Yen Tu, a hotel by M Gallery. A really beautiful, well thought out and well laid out hotel, it was a real treat staying here for the weekend. Just below the hotel is Yen Tu Village, a touristy area supporting the cable car and tourist activities of the mountain.
The rest of Saturday was spent exploring the beautiful hotel grounds, walking through Yen Tu Village, having lunch at the hotel cafe, chilling a bit, and enjoying cocktail hour while the rain fell around us, and a later dinner at the hotel cafe. The whole weekend was a pleasant 22C, a very welcome and refreshing change from HCMC. The mountain was very moody with lots of mist all weekend.
A free roaming water buffalo we affectionately named Mlem 🩷
Lunch at the hotel cafe
The beautiful Legacy Yen Tu hotel by M Gallery
Sunday was the day to conquer Yen Tu mountain. It is possible to take the cable car up but we wanted to use it as an opportunity for a training hike for our upcoming Nepal trip and to test our legs and see if we had done enough training.
The hike itself is only 7 km return but it’s straight up uneven stairs with an elevation gain of 1000 m. The hotel suggested it would take 6 - 6.5 hrs return but we were aiming for 4 hours and happily made it in that time with a few short breaks along the way. We felt strong and were only a little sore after and the next day, but could still move well and did a short walk the next day also. We were pleased with how the hike went and feel ready for our Nepal adventure!
The mountain itself was shrouded in mist the whole weekend and it was quite chilly and windy at the very top. We had a good chuckle at the locals climbing the mountain in plastic sandals and socks, but they made it. Vietnamese hike the same way they drive, joining traffic without first looking and frequent stops and starts. It was quite busy the whole way up and down.
After a much needed hot shower, the rest of the day was spent in a very restful fashion.
The happy hikers
More hiking fun
(photo credit: Maarten) Monday was the last day. J&B enjoyed a slower start and late breakfast while M&I went for an early cycle of the area. Chilling and reading at the beautiful pool followed until the car arrived to take us back to the airport in Hai Phong. A really lovely, restful and much needed break from the city.
Thank you Maarten and Ilse for a lovely weekend away! It was very chilled and fun traveling with you.
Next time: Adventures from Nepal!
No comments:
Post a Comment