Jeffrey Donenfeld

Tag: hanoi backpackers

  • Halong Bay, The (Annoyingly) Boozy Way

    Halong Bay, The (Annoyingly) Boozy Way

    Halong Bay lies just north of Hanoi, and is one of the absolute must-see excursions for anyone visiting Hanoi. And for good reason – the bay, with it’s towering stone karsts jutting out of the water as far as the eye can see is stunningly beautiful. Marine life abounds, fisherman ply the waters, birds take to the air, and the serene rocks emerging from the water welcome every evening’s golden sunset.


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    Since I was staying at Hanoi Backpackers Hostel in Hanoi, I made the fateful decision of joining them on their “Castaways” Halong Bay Tour. I thought it was going to be like any normal boat tour – get on the boat, relax with a drink, have the knowledgeable local tour guide explain to you about your surroundings as you serenely navigate the waters.

    Instead, what I got was vastly different. Since Halong Backpackers is oriented towards the young 20’s drinking crowd, this was not a tour – it was a full on booze cruise. I should have known, but I didn’t.

    For the booze cruize oriented portions of the trip – it was aussie tour guides encouraging everybody to drink heavily, while wearing colorful sombreros and yelling wildly. I participated for all of one single beer, and spent the rest of the time enjoying the view and taking photos.
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    Halong Bay is indeed extremely beautiful, and seeing the fisherman bring in their nets at sunset was a relaxing and wonderful experience. I loved the natural beauty of Halong Bay, including kayaking through dramatic caves – but next time, I won’t accidentally join the booze cruise.
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  • Arrival in Vietnam: Hanoi

    Arrival in Vietnam: Hanoi

    Finally, I made it to Vietnam. Another country that had always had a bit of a mystical, legendary status for me, for whatever reason. It was good to be there, and I was excited to get exploring the rest of the country. I only spent about 4 days in Hanoi, but the time I did spend there was great.


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    I arrived from Luang Prabang, Laos on Vietnam Airlines, and met up with a few fellow travellers in the airport. The four of us made our way to the Hanoi Backpackers Hostel, which at the time seemed like a good option. In retrospect, I should have picked anywhere except for this place. Hanoi Backpackers is a relatively nice hostel, however, it’s aimed squarely at the early 20’s, just out of “uni” Aussie, Kiwi, and Brit drinking crowd. The place is filled with these kids, freshly escaped from school and their parents home, and excited to drink together and hang out. Given that I’m a bit older, and was traveling not solely to get drunk with my same group of friends, it wasn’t exactly my scene. But still, it was a relatively clean place, and when my room didn’t have drunken frat boys stumbling around in it, was a nice place to sleep. The one nice feature of this style of Hostel is that when I did want to have a night out to meet people at bars and clubs, there were more than enough options the front desk staff had to suggest.
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    Also in Hanoi, I had the very good fortune of meeting up with my friend Kyle, who is a fellow photographer. We had a few good rounds of the local brew, Bia Hoi, which costs about USD$0.20/glass, and is drank while sitting on flimsy plastic stools on the sidewalk.
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    Additionally, in Hanoi, I got to check out a traditional Water Puppet show – certainly interesting.
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