Hello everyone and welcome to the start of a brand-new series: Northern Vietnam! Hopefully I will be able to share about this trip in a timelier fashion than the last one. Before we get into the actual travel day, I want to share the logistics and costs that went into getting here. As always, I want to be transparent about what this actually costs.
I bought my tickets on Air Asia back on 11 November for 48,238 INR ($544.20 USD). This included 20kg of luggage ONLY for the return flight, which led to a bit of panic on the day of departure (more on that in a moment). For connectivity, I went with Vietnamesim.com. I paid $19.90 USD (1,775 INR) for a daily 5GB plan for 30 days using the Viettel network, which is considered the best provider in Vietnam. The eSIM delivery was almost instantaneous, and the setup was seamless. I also secured my Vietnam e-visa for 2,299.83 INR; this was easy to do at the official site and took less than a day to process.
For the first leg of the trip, I booked 4 nights (14-18 December) at Tam Coc Tuan Minh Homestay via Agoda for 3,862 INR ($45.80 USD). I also pre-booked a private car transfer (via Agoda) from Hanoi airport to Tam Coc for 3,385 INR ($40.15 USD), as the expected travel time was over two hours. Now, let’s get to the trip itself.
13 December: The Departure
The day started with a bit of a scramble. At the last minute, I wasn’t sure I could fit everything into my carry-on limit. My home scale suggested I was a couple of kilograms over, so to be safe, I advance paid 3,046 INR ($36.15 USD) for 7kg of additional carry-on weight. Better safe than sorry, right? At 6:45 PM I was picked up by my QuickRide driver. This was actually a bit early, as the electric car had been scheduled for 7:10 PM. I paid only 610 INR ($7.25 USD) for the 24km ride to the airport, and I even got a free upgrade to a more comfortable, compact SUV.
The ride itself was uneventful, with us arriving at the airport at 7:38 PM. By 7:45 PM I was in line to get my boarding passes (digital passes not accepted on this route), and at 7:49 PM came the moment of truth. I would barely have been over the limit, and they didn’t even weigh my personal bag. I suppose I wasted that money on the extra weight allowance, but the peace of mind was probably worth it.
Things continued to go well, and I was through immigration and security by 8:07 PM and headed straight to the lounge at 8:15 PM. Sadly, I have to report that the party is over at the 080 Lounge in Terminal 2 of the BLR airport. They have converted most of the space into an “exclusive” area for first-class or airline invitations only. As such, the Priority Pass section is now really just for eating; there is no longer a proper “lounge area” to relax in. Adding additional annoyance, my flight was delayed and wouldn’t depart until 11:42 PM. Still, since it’s an included benefit of my credit card, I may as well use it instead of paying for overpriced airport food.
At 11:25 PM I went down to the gate, and we started boarding at 11:32 PM. Once I was on the plane at 11:50 PM, an older couple asked me if I would change my seat to row eleven so they could sit together with their daughter. I agreed, since one middle seat is as good as another, but the flight attendant had other plans. The other seat was more than ten rows away and they were desperately trying to get everyone seated as quickly as possible in order to make up for lost time. He firmly but politely told the older couple that their adult daughter would be fine on the four-hour flight to Bangkok. While I agreed with the flight attendant, this showed the sort of mean, penny pinching which is common on budget (and even not so budget) airlines today.
To begin with, they had booked the three seats together, and there were only 3 seats together on either side of the aisle. Furthermore, even the husband and wife had been separated, with me being placed between them. Really? Are we supposed to believe this was unintended? If you don’t “buy a seat” they will intentionally separate you from the people with whom you booked the flight? Don’t get me wrong; I feel like the whole current system is a scam. I mean I suppose that it’s nice that this is one time when solo travelers don’t get a worse deal than accompanied travelers, but it still doesn’t sit well with me. I may be in the minority, but I yearn for the not-too-distant past when two standard size suitcases and a full-size carry-on were just included with every airplane ticket. However, those days are clearly over . . . Anyway, I did still switch seats with the husband so he could be next to his wife, thus scoring a window seat as an unexpected bargain.
14 December: Arrival in Vietnam
We finally started moving at 11:58 PM, with the plane actually taking off at 12:13 AM. After a short nap I landed in Bangkok for my transfer. At 3:46 AM IST (5:16 AM Thai time), I was off the first plane and looking for information on the connecting flight.
Waiting in line at the security check for international transfers at 5:40 AM, it was obvious that this was a very inefficient and confusing system. There was no clear way to get in line nor follow the norms, which made it understandable that people were getting upset and turned around. Of course, some people were also clearly just trying to game the system (or lack thereof). Still, by 6:08 AM I was through the silly transfer station and checked out the shops a bit.
At 7:24 AM I went into Miracle Lounge using my DreamFolks card. This was right before McDonald’s, fairly near where you go down to gates 1-6. There is a reception desk where they check your credentials, and then you go upstairs behind. Previously I had gone to the other Miracle lounge in this concourse and had not been particularly impressed. This one however seemed like a breath of fresh air. It was so quiet and elegant. Truly, it felt like a place of relaxation, which was a stark contrast to the experience in Bengaluru the night before. Furthermore, the food and drink selection was more than adequate, if perhaps not extravagant.
I left the lounge at 9:10 AM, and coming down to the boarding area at 9:19 AM was a bit of a shock. The chaos of the gate area really highlighted what a sanctuary that lounge had been. Still, no reason to complain.
At 9:54 AM I was sitting in seat 23E, next to a young French woman who appeared to be doing traditional scrapbooking right there on her tray table. It was quite charming; I watched her paste her boarding pass into a notebook.
Regarding Air Asia in general, let me be clear. These are not comfortable planes, especially for someone who is 6 feet tall. I think it would be even more uncomfortable for anyone who is remotely overweight, but the legroom was the worst issue in my particular case. Fortunately, at 10:07 AM, I reminded myself that this flight would be less than two hours. With reference to the same, the plane touched down at 11:47 AM.
My first impression of Northern Vietnam from the window was that it was greener and the sky was clearer than I had thought it would be in the Hanoi area.
I was off the plane at 12:04 PM and hit the immigration lines at 12:09 PM. It looked daunting; each line appeared to have at least 25 people. There is an autogate system labeled “Priority,” but at 12:13 PM I used my preloaded Viettel eSIM to look it up and read that it’s basically only for Vietnamese citizens with updated chip passports.
Despite the long lines, I was at the counter at 12:34 PM and done in less than a minute. I simply handed over my passport and printed e-visa. No questions asked. At 12:38 PM I was out and headed to column 12 as directed via WhatsApp by my pickup driver. There was a bit of back and forth, but communication was seamless. The temperature was pleasantly cool, though I was fine in just my t-shirt. At 12:51 PM I was in the car, a very comfortable Hyundai Stargazer X.
By 1:13 PM we were cruising along clean, well-maintained roads. Looking at the sky at 1:31 PM, I decided to check the forecast. It looked like it might rain on Wednesday, so rather than letting myself have a rest day on Tuesday, I also booked a tour for then in order to have a better chance of nice weather. Thus, I would have two days in a row of full-day tours.
At 2:20 PM the sky was blue and the road mostly flat. We arrived at Tam Coc Tuan Minh Homestay and I checked in at 2:56 PM.
After settling in, I went out wandering at 3:39 PM, and at 4:02 PM I found a TPBank ATM and took out 3,000,000 VND ($114.04 USD / 11,082 INR). It was a bit of a shock seeing those millions on the screen! Incidentally, if getting cash out in Tam Coc, this is the one with the smallest fees.
I noticed at 4:49 PM that there were several laundries nearby, which is good to know. At 4:59 PM I sat for a moment at a local park. I saw some older women were getting ready to dance, but it was unclear when that would happen, and some mosquitoes were annoying me, so I decided to try to catch them on a later day.
I was back at the room at 5:25 PM and was contacted by tomorrow’s tour operator via WhatsApp at 5:34 PM reconfirming my plans for the next day. Little check-ins like this lessen some of the stress of travel. After a brief rest, at 6:27 PM I headed out again for dinner. I chose the nearby Thuy Linh Restaurant, which was just around the corner from my lodging. My meal of Pho with beef, pork spring rolls and a draft beer was just 107,000 VND ($4.20 USD), which I paid with cash at 7:42 PM. It was simple, but a very solid first meal in Vietnam!
From there, I made a quick stop to buy some water and snacks for 53,000 VND ($2.08 USD), arriving back in the room at 8:00 PM, ready to crash after a very long day of travel.
So that’s it for Day 1! There was more initial domestic travel than I would generally like, but I hadn’t wanted to go back and forth to Hanoi. Furthermore, tomorrow morning I will hit the ground running with a full day tour. So, we will have to see how I hold up. So, what do you think? Are you ready to find out more about northern Vietnam? I certainly am. Keep reading if you want to see how things continue to develop. As always, let me know your questions and comments below and I’ll do my best to help.
Travels with Jay 