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North Vietnam independently: Hanoi - Sapa - NinBin - KatBa

25 July 2019 • Travel time: with 11 April 2019 on 19 April 2019
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400 bucks for two for 9 days, 2 backpacks, no suitcases.

I've wanted to visit North Vietnam for a long time, but somehow I thought it was very far and very expensive. As it turned out, for a 9-day vacation in this lovely country, 200 bucks per person is enough. Actually, that's why I'm writing this review. When we went, we focused on other reviews from the Internet, worried about whether there would be enough money. And not only were they enough, they still remained) The report will not contain a million colorful photos, but it will still be useful to the budget (and not only) traveler to build logistics and travel budgeting.

IMMEDIATELY A COUPLE OF PICTURES FOR PUTTING - WHAT I WANTED TO SEE

And yes, we saw it all.

Let's get acquainted : I am Anya, I am 31, my husband Zhenya is 36. We live in Sumy.


I have travel experience - Turkey is not a package in many places (Istanbul, Cappadocia, Adana, well, the sea - Alanya, Antalya, Fethiye, Bodrum, etc. ), Poland-Krakow. That's all. Zhenya has a lot of distant Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkey (package) and England.

The route is as follows: Kyiv - Bangkok - Hanoi 1 day - Sapa 2 days - NinBin 2 days - KatBa 3 days - Hanoi - Bangkok - Kyiv. Transport between the cities of Vietnam was not booked in advance and was done correctly.

A visa to Vietnam is available upon arrival and costs $ 25. To receive it, you need an invitation from the Vietnamese side, ie Approval letter. It is done in a simple way: I, for example, on this site - http:// www. vietnamvisapro. net, costs $ 6. Everything is safe. They do it in a few days. You will be asked 2 photos at the airport.

Hotels booked in advance in Booking, I couldn't make friends with Agoda.

Insurance .

For the first time, I was really worried about insurance and decided to make it not for a tick, but to really make it work. I searched the whole forum, a bunch of other sources and found that travel insurance in Ukraine is not developed, ie there are no reliable insurance companies. In Russia, somehow more fun with all this. So I took out insurance where I always did. Thank God it was not needed.

Flight . In Hanoi we flew through Bangkok. First AirAstanoy from Kiev to Bangkok with a change in Almaty, 2 days walking in Bangkok, then on Thai Lion Air flew to Hanoi (so it turned out much cheaper than flying in AirAsia - the cost of round trip tickets 234 dollars for two came out, and AirAsia went almost 400 … N-yes, it is impossible to call these carriers low-cost carriers! Tickets were bought directly from them on the website - https:// lionairthai. com < / a>, the site calmly accepted our Ukrainian.

private bank credit card, the conversion rate is normal.


As for the best way to Vietnam from Ukraine, the best option for Ukrainians is to fly from Kiev via Belarus to Moscow, then there are a lot of flights Moscow - Hanoi, Moscow - Ho Chi Minh City. Such tickets are googled on all aggregator sites. 2 transfers, but short, and in total in 14-16 hours you can already be in Vietnam. In terms of price / flight time, this option is the most adequate. But for some reason it was impossible for us to fly like that, and we bought tickets to Airastan, which cost two and a half dollars 980.1 change in Almaty at 3 o'clock, in just 12 hours were in Bangkok. They bought tickets through PrivatBank on the website of AirAstana, the same tickets on the same dates were more expensive, on the aggregator sites it was also more expensive. It is cheaper and more convenient through Privat.

Tickets are the most expensive part of a trip .

It is very good to fly even in economy class.

Baggage was registered in Kyiv and confiscated in Bangkok, ie in Almaty it was not necessary to collect and re-register. Our luggage was very valuable - karemat)). We took it just in case - I thought maybe on the beach will need somewhere. But the opportunity is only for us on the way back - we took the mango in the hotel, and even in Bangkok fought off stray dogs at night (and that's just very scary to remember).

Important advice from Thai Lion Air , maybe someone will need it: it departs from Bangkok from DonMuang Airport (which, by the way, we got from the city by train for 20 baht ...and the trip was , I'll tell you). By the way, this is what the freight car we rode in looks like: there is no glass, the fans drive hot air up to 40 degrees, the cargo is loaded directly into the windows of the car. The only thing? we did not understand? why we and another American were put over a passenger car, and this one.

But we did not care - the main thing that goes)

It is necessary to arrive at this airport for Thai Lion Air flights at least 4 HOURS BEFORE Departure. We made a mistake - we arrived only for one and a half. Well, I thought to arrive in 2 hours, but as a result the train from Bangkok was delayed for half an hour, it turned out that in an hour and a half. BUT! This airline registers all its flights on one stock! And those flights that have to depart in an hour, and those that are in three hours - all on one rack. When we came to it, we saw a queue of 4.000 people served by 8 registrars! We would not have time to wait for half an hour. There was only one way out - to find a crack in the queue and break through by force. What was done. As a result, we checked in 3 minutes before the end of registration.


Popa was sweaty) As a result, this flight was delayed for an hour and a half) But you do not repeat our mistakes, if you decide to fly these lines - come to DonMuang AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

In general, this carrier is considered the most unreliable among the Asians.

Actually, Vietnam.

We arrived in Hanoi in the evening, got from the airport to the city by bus number 86, fare per person - 3.000 dong. I will say at once that this is the most expensive bus that runs from the airport, others cost 9.000 dong, but we read that they go longer and a little (actually not !! ) not in the area where we needed. He caught us in 40 minutes, we showed the ticket-issuing guide where we needed to go, and he dropped us off at the right place.

I forgot the guesthouse before, I think it's in a very good area of ​ ​ Hanoi, and we liked the gesture itself, so I can safely advise - clean, very helpful owner, very inexpensive, great Wi-Fi. It turns out that the guest is in a typical shop, on the ground floor the family keeps a shop, on the second and third lives alone and rents a few more rooms.

The hostess has three dogs, a Vietnamese breed, something like a husky, but the rooms are rented by a cool guy aged 25-30, her son. He booked us tickets to Sapa for only 200 kilodons per person, although on the VEXERI website ( https://vexere. com/ ) The most budget I have seen for 280 k. And paid for a taxi before boarding the bus. And you can buy water from him on the stock) And he speaks English tolerably. In short, I directly advise this gesture. % 2AUviVFIxw9hbWYmC02gS267724389816.3Apl% 3Ata% 3Ap1.3Ap22.504. 000.3Aac% 3Aap1t1.3Aneg% 3Afi% 3Atiaud-294889296613.3Akwd-297119893890.3Alp1012864.3Ali% 3Adec% 3Adm; sid = bf95b41763a140d2dba08001e8d0933c "target =" _ blank "> https://sp. booking. com / hotel / vn / hanu-39 ...01e8d0933c

So, we got to bed, washed our bones, went to bed.

It is quite possible to have a snack in Hanoi at 11 o'clock at night, snack bars are still quite working, so we had time to eat on the way to the guest house.

1 day. Hanoi is the road to Sapa .

We really liked Hanoi. Here is this whole engine with motorcycles - here is a straight class class!


Points that were supposed to be visited, but marked "if there is time": the Temple of Literature, the Pagoda on the lake, the street with rails, the Temple of Jade Mountain. We looked at the Temple of Literature and the street with rails, and only because we came across it on the way.

Trains do run on this street, there is even a schedule with its movement, but it takes time and desire to catch it. Entrance to the lake is paid, we decided that well, he somehow forgot about Jade Mountain, but we really liked the Temple of Literature.

Entrance for two with one audio guide - 110 k. Audio guide I advise - so you not only admire the architecture, but also understand what it's all for. The place is very cozy, I would say. We saw Vietnamese or schoolchildren or kindergarten graduates - in robes, funny, everyone is trying to shout something at you in English). Not far from the Temple they found a snack bar, where my grandmother prepared soup, took 25k from a man.

It was, so to speak, our dedication to the local cuisine, because the night before we could only eat some disgusting food in 711, and in the morning we threw buckwheat taken from home. There was a lot of soup, and that's what I liked most about Vietnamese cuisine - that the portions are really huge. Eugene, for example, almost never ate - so much is always poured, and I'm not wrong - as much as they give, so much and eat).

It was funny to talk to my grandmother - although I was prepared for the names of Vietnamese food, but out of habit I could not compare the name of the dishes. She had a sign with three names on it, and she did this: she pointed to the product, then to the word on the sign, then to the price on the calculator. So we realized that chicken soup will cost us 2.000, and fish soup - 3.000)))

Looking ahead, I will say that towards the end of the stay we were already quite well versed in the signs with food and could quickly explain to the chef what we need, but at first slowed down a bit). The soup, as everywhere else, was delicious and filling. Opposite this eatery was another, where they fed fresh bamboo (or reed? ) Juice and pineapples.

Of course, such an exotic - bamboo juice - was a must try!


But, alas, ah, the taste is quite the same. Although Eugene said he liked it. And in general, we did not miss a lot of exotic things on this trip - breadfruit (Jackfruit), mangosteen, Dragonfruit, rambutan, pink apple - we ate it all in Vietnam and Thailand and it's all about nothing at all. Even the bananas of the local variety, so short and thick - we don't sell them - ate and didn't taste good.

Our apples are much tastier, but in Vietnam it is a delicacy, and they cost the first - 250-300 kilodongs per kg! But what I really liked - it's mango and pineapple. Both are sold here, but green, the TASTE is NOT THE SAME. And we didn't like Vietnamese pastries and sweets at all. We bought pastries, livers, something similar to sweets in different cities - well, completely tasteless. Only on the island of Katba we decided to buy ice cream - we liked it.

And so… bring chocolates and condensed milk, sweets…. for in the north of Vietnam you will suffer as I do).

On the way to the Temple of Literature, they went to a store with phone cases and bought a seven vietnamobile - for 15.000, at the airport they saw the cheapest for 200k. The seller of the seven communicated with us via Google translator. Initially, it was announced that 150 is only seven, another 50k needs to be replenished separately.

After the words "we will think" the seller said no - 150 is all together, and the card and replenishment) I think that if we wanted to think again, the price would drop to 100 k «. but there was not much time for a walk. For 150k we got a fairly tolerable Internet, which, however, used literally a couple of times, and then in Thailand on the last day of the trip - our maps were downloaded offline (I recommend downloading Google Maps and Maps. Mi - Sometimes what is not on one, is shown on another, and vice versa, but Meps. We are still more convenient).

In short, the seven was bought just in case. A few more photos.


We had the bus at 1:30 p. m. , and it turned out to be blind bass .


I do not remember the name of the carrier, something with the words INTER-service we liked, and we even regretted that we still did not risk taking the night bus - I think we could sleep well, save time and $ on hotel accommodation 1 night. The seats are comfortable, wide enough, there are straps to fasten, give as much water as you want, blankets, conductor is friendly. Minus - that we drove longer than necessary for about an hour and a half, and the last 2 hours, at the entrance to Sapa, when the serpentine began, I was very shaken, then I left for another half day, so keep in mind who lulls .

Arrived at about 8 pm in Sapa, where our bus was already waiting for annoying local aborigines - a separate conversation about them. We went to the store near the stop, bought Vietnamese wine (it is produced in Dalat) - ordinary red cost 7.000, took some more snacks for wine, went to the hotel.

I wanted to eat, but I was confused after the serpentine, and we decided to have a drink in the room, and there will be seen. By the way, the wine is quite tolerable, fragrant, but not really a fountain - we make homemade wine, ours is tastier).

I can't advise the hotel in Sapa - I booked cheaply, the room is big, the beds are big, the owner is helpful, allowed to wash clothes in the laundry, even dusted the powder, made a discount on renting a scooter - BUT the room is dirty.

After analyzing the flights at check-in (she pointed her finger at me, which doesn't suit me) the cleaning was done the next day, but apparently we have different notions about cleanliness) I think that no matter how cheap the room is, cleanliness is a room case. I am not interested in the decoration, novelty of the furniture and the presence of the TV.

Yes, it's fun, of course, to come to a good room after a busy day, but when you're on a budget, in principle, the minimum is enough, but this does not mean that this minimum should be dirty! The apogee of the evening was being under the mop bed)) But we drank wine and got wildly tired, and the owner promised to clean everything tomorrow, so well, her, this mop, we went to bed.

Budget for the 1st day for two: travel from the airport to the city - 70k, ate and drank in the evening on arrival - 70k, accommodation in Hanoi - 294k, bus to Sapa - 400k, lunch with soup - 50k, pineapple + juice - 40k, water (3 liters) - 22k, seven - 150k.

Temple of Literature - 110k, snack during the trip and on arrival in Sapa (fruit, beer, coffee) - 202k, wine - 70k, knife (for fruit) - 10k. Total - 1 45.000.

First conclusions about Vietnam. 1.


You do not need to worry and book in advance, on arrival it is easier and, as confirmed later, cheaper to do on the spot, just ask for help from locals - they just pick up the phone and order a ticket by phone, you do not even need to go anywhere. There are many carriers, there are often 2 flights. The local eateries are fed heartily and deliciously, and although they sometimes look unsanitary, there is no need to be afraid of stomach problems. 3. You can bargain! 4. Offline translator does not work. What we showed on the screen of the smartphone (Vietnamese), the Vietnamese could not read, or the translator translated incorrectly. They do not know English. Everything is written in Vietnamese. In short, sign language and a smile to help you)

2 days.

Sapa, Love Falls, Laokai Valley, Tafin Village. Where NOT to go to Sapa

A PAIR OF INTRODUCTORY WORDS. Sapa is a wonderful, picturesque place on the planet.

Sapa, or Shapa, is a small town in the Hoanglenshon Mountains in northwestern Vietnam, the center of mountain tourism. Next to the city, which rises above the rice terraces of the Muong Hoa Valley, is a steep mountain Fanshipan 3143 meters high, which takes several days to climb. The majority of the city's population are mountain peoples - Hmong, Tai and Yao. Around Sapa are small villages in which these nationalities live, and it is surrounded by many valleys with rice terraces - in fact, people from all over the world go to see these terraces.


In the morning we took the owner of the hotel 3Ata% 3Ap1.3Ap22.504. 000.3Aac% 3Aap1t1.3Aneg% 3Afi% 3Atiaud-294889296613.3Akwd-297119893890.3Alp1012864.3Ali% 3Adec% 3Adm; sid = c4d73ee5fecff99bc99dc8a8c3b27281 "target =" _blank "> https:// sp. booking. com / hotel / vn / homesta ...

a8c3b27281 (I repeat, I can not advise this place, but I still indicate) scooter for rent for 7.000. No rights are required for the scooter.

At first he offered us a more or less new bike, but he had it with gears, and Zhenya had no experience driving a scooter.

Well, just imagine: at the same time to the four racks there is a continuous flow of bikes and cars, 50 people somehow fit together with their vehicles, wives and dogs in wheelchairs on the heel of 30 squares, and no one pushes anyone, everyone is calm. We were worried that we would hit someone, but the Vietnamese prudently kept a distance of ...20 centimeters)) The photo shows the price of fuel.

Next we went to the Waterfall of Love .


According to reviews on tripadvisor, it was understood that Silver Waterfall is inferior to love waterfall, plus the rainy season was long, ie the water content is small, so we decided not to visit Silver - especially since part of it is visible from the road, and the entrance was already visible. that there is nothing to give money for. But we were not impressed by love either - we still need to come to look at such things at the right time, ie during or immediately after the rainy season.

But, nevertheless, it was sunny, there were few people, so we took a lot of beautiful photos)

Entrance cost us 70k, plus parking scooter 5000. Parking, by the way, full of amateurism and divorce of gullible tourists. I do not understand why I decided not to quarrel with this Vietnamese breeder, who asked for a penny for parking!

You could just leave the scooter not in the area near the box office, but at the entrance, on the roadside - no one would take this scooter the same.

In front of the waterfall we stopped at a fish farm (seen on Google map and there is a sign on the road). Admission is free, the staff is friendly, speaks a little English. The farm as a farm, nothing interesting, caught a dead sturgeon from the pool. There is a restaurant at the farm, the prices were taken.

After the waterfall, we went to look for the famous rice fields in the valley Laokai and the village of Tafin , so deep in tourists. That's all and around advised to go there in the first place. But complete disappointment! ! ! ! ! Views of the valley are not very - yes, rice fields were not planted since April, but even with that in mind ...looking ahead I will say that the Ming Hoa Valley impressed us a hundred times more! And the village of Tafin… I strongly advise not!

There is a post at the entrance to the village, and I understand that the entrance to the village is paid, but no one stopped us, we drove just like that.

The village itself is nothing special, the photo shows what every second farm is.

Cabbage has been planted, the field is fertilized with nitrate, the boy plows the area with a motoblock, sits down to rest, my uncle sculpts huge pots from cement (by the way, the quality of concrete products in Vietnam is simply excellent - statues, stairs, house decorations, pots made as accurately and neatly as possible) . It is a village and a village in Vietnam)


All the stories that all these black hmongs wear their clothes in everyday life are all, most likely, fables for tourists. We were met by a group of deranged discharged aunts - here they are, dressed as in the famous "Sap" photos. Everyone else slept in their gardens and traded in their kiosks in T-shirts and tracksuits.

So, Khmonga aunts .

I hate to tolerate them, how ugly! ! ! In all the reports they write - oh how sweet it is, how natural it is, how authentic it is to walk through rice fields accompanied by such folk leaders. Ugh! One of them, probably the best in English, ran up to us and immediately said, without ceremony - I'll give you a tour now, and then you have to buy something from us. Yes, I think we read about it. I say - and I have to buy from all of you (and this is a person 15, not all fit in the photo) or just you?

My aunt replied that there would be three people on the tour, and they would have to buy something. Or I can look now, choose and buy, and then those from whom I will buy something and take a tour. In fact, I didn't need this tour at all, but heck I was tempted to say - okay, show me what you have - and that's where it started! ! ! ! ! EACH of them started to take products out of their bag and poke me in the face (I'm not exaggerating, right in the face) - buy from me! No, buy from me!

No, I have heaps! I noticed the patterns on one of my aunt's handbags - the other snatched it from my hands and said - no, you have to buy from me! ! ! ! ! And you don't need to buy from her! All this lasted five minutes, or maybe more, I had a feeling that they would tear me to pieces now, I looked back at Zhenya to save me, and he, a scoundrel, stands rustily aside and takes pictures of my suffering! Instead, there is now photo evidence of my torture.

I finally said stop! I will now buy only ONE THING from someone and you will keep up with me! Grabbed the first rag that came in, how many? ! ! 200 thousand! Everything, I take, and goodbye! I poked the money, snatched the products and left… and these intrusive aunts followed me and shouted “More heaps! Buy from me! ».


Terrible psychological pressure worked… and I thought I was not doing this)) The impression was that I was redeemed in the mud… but, as it turned out, a sample of folk art is quite tolerable, it turned out to be a handbag with cross-stitch, looks pretty, I decided to cut out the front side, put it in a frame and hang it on the wall - it will remind me of how I was forced to buy a souvenir from Vietnam (now it hangs on the wall in the kitchen).

So, if you don't like outspoken, brazen pairing - don't go to this Taffin! Or make your face brick and don't pay attention to your aunt.

At 4 pm they were in Sapa again , went to the local food market , picked fruit, squid, found a point where the girl was frying delicious spring rolls - she was alone in the market , You will - try it for sure, we have never come across tastier (but in the photo they are not, here is a bamboo stuffed with rice - absolutely tasteless thing, but it looks cool, squid also turned out to be tasteless). Reference: spring roll is a kind of pancake made of rice paper with a variety of fillings, which is folded like our stuffed cabbage and fried in butter. One of the mast-it in Vietnam.

Then they went to the ticket agencies, all of them were shopping near the lake, looking for direct tickets to NINBIN and it turned out that they were, but the website of the 12th and the bill did not show them (If you knew, you would definitely buy a night, because it takes a long time to drive.

3 days. Ming Hoa Valley, Watermills 50 km from Sapa - a complete delight!

The first day, of course, disappointed us. I already thought - well, hello, fly halfway around the world, see the plucked hillsides, drink local moonshine and go back to your neck? Our Carpathians and something more beautiful! In a state of dismay, they went the other way, to the Ming Hoa Valley. Entrance and entrance fee.

BUT here, comrades, look! Even without rice terraces - flight! I will not insert many photos, they are full in each review, but still I will insert a couple of three, let them be.

And the roads ...mmm ....a separate extreme! This is not a road - this is a direction! And in some places) On a scooter - that's it. But without driving experience there is nothing to stumble upon ...


you can fall, in some places the descents and ascents are very steep, and the whole road is in pits and with stones. This is what I am talking about the roads in the Ming Hoi Valley. But where Google showed at least a little trail, we went there, and finally reached the suspension bridge over a deep canyon behind the village of BanHo (about 25 km from Sapa). We did not visit paid villages (Tavan, for example), it seems about 70k asked for a ticket. And in general - WHY PAY? And so interesting!

They bathe naked in a mountain river, here the power lines are kept on bamboo stakes, they have houses like this - well, just like barns in our villages for cattle, and they live in them, and nothing. But the elegant ones go, and, in my opinion, are quite happy.

And in the afternoon we decided to go to the mills (or wheels? I do not know how right) Xã B? n Bo (coordinates 22.2382163, 103.678261 - 50 km from Sapa).

Entrance to look at the mill - 20k plus parking 5k scooter, we were not given tickets, no ticket office, just a boy of unpresentable appearance with a walkie-talkie and with a smile points to the price tag.

Did not quarrel - there was no time, it was dark. Went across the bridge into the complex (and it's actually wheels and something like a mini-park next to it), in principle, nice, but nothing special at all.

In the youtube video, this place looks much more interesting than it lives - you probably need to know the angle. If you want and know how to make a photo for Instagram, you can make a million.

We took a photo and ran back, time - 17.00, the sun sets at 18 .

At the very entrance to Sapa they got into an evening fairy tale - clouds fell on Sapa, that is, they thickened right between the Sapa mountains, roughly speaking, the cloud could be touched with your hands! It's like a thick, thick fog, only much more beautiful. The photo does not pass, but I will insert.



It was a Saturday night, and on Saturdays in Sapa there is a love market in the main square.

By the way, the ability of the Vietnamese to ride a scooter in any position and in any number impressed us. Once a bike with five guys on board passed us. Once we saw that the guy was carrying a closet, miraculously keeping his balance. More piglets were transported ...but a lot of strange things happen on these scooters))

And we didn't get to the love market… we accidentally decided to go to the sports shop in the morning and regretted that we are leaving tomorrow! Winter jacket thenorthface - $ 30 (65.000 dong) ...cool comfortable sports backpack - $ 15 ...of course also bargained! and the quality is not China! We agreed with the seller that we would post the deposit now and pick up the things in the evening. We arrived, and the store is closed! Well, of course, it's almost eight o'clock. BUT there is a note on the door - "go to the store on the contrary, you will be given the purchased items. "

Then I read that on the outskirts of Sapa there are factories and Northface, and Columbia, I saw with my own eyes the Ecco factory - so I believe that we got rid of the original sports staff, it's a pity it was only one evening. There are no problems with the large size, but we did not intend to wear Zhenya pants - 183 cm is much higher than the ankle.

Yes, we spent the night in another hotel, twice as expensive as the previous one and with an excellent booking rating and good interior (

So, conclusion and advice about Sapi - drive in April, at least in May, then exactly all the terraces will be sown and at the same time the roads will not be washed away by rain. If you want to go to the waterfalls - only after the rainy season.

The route I would take next time (if I had a scooter) - in the morning we go to the water mills, on the way we drive to the waterfall of Love, on the viewpoints are photographed (sites with species are ubiquitous), we look at tea plantations and non-tourist villages.


We return to Sapa and through it we go to the Ming Hoi Valley, admire the scenery, take photos, visit the huge suspension bridge over the canyon, visit the free villages - because the paid ones are the same, only for money. All this in one day can be achieved if you try. If you do not try, you will definitely have time for two. I would take the second (third) day for shopping. I would not go to the Laokai Valley.

Hint - in Sapa there are quite normal supermarkets in our understanding, where you can buy both tea and instant coffee (by the way, Vietnamese instant coffee oooochen delicious), more or less adequate sweets, bread, even yogurt. In the eateries we paid 30k for soup and rice with meat, 5-10k for all kinds of spring rolls or rice in bamboo or corn. In principle, as throughout Vietnam, only housing in Sapi is the most expensive of the trip.

The town itself - well, all the resort and resort, around the lake in the center of flowers, trees, cute cafes, restaurants, a little further from the center is also beautiful, everything is on fire, everything is decorated - well, just Alanya) I love it. I liked. Only they dig everywhere, repair and build ...well, nothing, but how interesting it was to ride a scooter in rush hour center! I liked Sapa the most from the whole trip. Not even nature, but the city itself with its atmosphere and people.

A very emotional place.

Budget Day 3 : Hotel 2 + 1 night - 360 + 350 = 710k, fuel - 80k, scooter - 70, entrance to MingHoa Valley - 150k, entrance to the mill - 45k, lunch (rice with meat) - 60k, snacks + water -164k. Total - 1279k. We separately consider that we spent on sports things.

Day 4, we go to NinBin in the morning

At the ticket office, when buying tickets to Ninh Binh, they asked if we would be picked up from the hotel for boarding - no, they won't, you can do it yourself. Well, lan, themselves so. Last night we noticed how long it takes to get from our hotel to the bus.

We are waiting. The bus is delayed first by 20 minutes and then by another 20. This is the norm. Sit down, let's go. Ooooh, how I was pumped ...For two hours, until the Sap serpentine was over, I was sitting all green and blue with a bag for vomiting next to the driver… and this boor was trying to drive me away all the time! How I hated him ...and not for nothing, as it turned out later.


I will no longer emphasize that we arrived in Ningbin not at 13.00 as promised, but at 1.30… so this [sensored] driver was still in collusion with local Ningbin taxi drivers.

In short, at the entrance to the city, I show him on the map the bus station where we need to get off (because I previously learned that from this bus station to our hotel is only 15 minutes walk). This driver ran something in my face, and at the entrance to the city just pulled our backpacks out of the trunk, showing gestures - "they say, enough of you, thank you that at least to the beginning of the city drove, and not pushed somewhere in the middle of the field. " I exchanged a couple of phrases with the motorcyclists who were already waiting for us there, and after that they all growled again - I'm sure we are!

I immediately understood what a conspiracy was! - And I tried to discuss this misunderstanding with the driver, but if a person is fooling around with an idiot, then turning to reason does not lead to anything! The bus left.

Insolent motorcyclists in the amount of 2 pcs. we were surrounded. Eugene silently took out a map and began to look how far we walk to the hotel - an hour and 15 minutes.

Well, pancake, not with such backpacks. The most brazen taxi driver started poking his finger at the phone screen and announced the amount - 150 k. Hmm ...and 200 though! And what are you going to take us on - at the wheel or how? (ie if you haven't figured it out yet - motoxi is a taxi on a scooter. There's a driver in the front and a passenger in the back). I tell Zhenya - let's go slowly and be expensive to catch a normal taxi. The taxi driver, seeing that we were wearing backpacks, was startled - 120 k! No, says Eugene in Russian, I do not want to go with you. Nihuapoholhua! - said the taxi driver in Vietnamese, the intonation was swearing, snout cheeky and offended, and, imagine, this monster began to slowly follow us on a scooter and bark at something in the back. From a brat, from a scoundrel!


Three minutes was enough for me, then I took out the phone and started filming it to make a fuss - I dropped it. Another Vietnamese disappointment. In short, Ninh Bin greeted us unkindly.

Drowned without company.

5 minutes passed, an ordinary taxi arrived, the young boy politely offered his services politely, they showed the address - he first poked at the counter, then said "abutty dollars", the price suited us and the car too. In 10 minutes they were at the entrance to the hotel, paid exactly at the counter . The price tag on the panel was photographed.

At the hotel % 3Ap1.3Ap22.511. 000.3Aac% 3Aap1t1.3Aneg% 3Afi% 3Atiaud-297601666235.3Akwd-297119893890.3Alp1012864.3Ali% 3Adec% 3Adm; sid = 016d39c7e0b15fd12> / hotel / vn / hoa-bie ...fb0003dab9 ) the same epic with cleaning began - the room is big, the beds are huge, there is a Conder and a TV, but it's dirty.

The owner offered another room - it turned out to be even dirtier) Then the owner offered a discount of 60k and pineapple - okay, I think, still look for something else there is no time and just laziness. I wanted to eat, decided to eat right there in the hotel - and in vain we decided, more expensive than in the city, and completely tasteless. Afternoon-dinner time - 16.

30, we got tired, so we washed up, went on a reconnaissance trip to the city, made a mistake, went to bed.

Day 4 : Take a blind bass ticket over long distances. If you are told at the bus office that the trip will take 5 hours, then feel free to add 1.5-2 hours and take a blind bass. Because you will kill the south on the road, the second afternoon you will go to bring yourself to consciousness after this road. Given that in Vietnam the sun sets around 6pm , you will simply lose one day of your vacation.

Budget of the 4th day : taxi - 80k, lunch at the hotel - 130k, beer - 20k, mango - 25k (1 kg). In total - 25.000 dong.

Day 5 - Trang An, MuaKave and Pagodas .


I'll write at once how I would plan to move around NinBin next time. From the morning, as early as possible - on a tour of TrangAn (3 hours). Then to the largest pagoda in Vietnam Bai Dinh (Bai Dinh Pagoda) - drive 40 minutes and set aside at least a few hours for the pagoda.

After that, you can go to Mount MuaKave - drive from the pagoda, too, 40 minutes and the mountain will take 3 hours. We went to MuaKave after Trang An, and did not have time to look at the pagoda - it has already closed (This is if you plan on NinBin one day. IMHO, it makes no sense to stay longer. Around the city-fields, fields, fields…)>

We traveled around the city on a scooter and found nothing interesting in it, except that we found many jewelry stores with 999 gold - I have never seen such yellow gold, and we were almost tempted to buy something, but then decided that all the other jewelry we have from our, "Soviet" red gold, will not be a combination.

Theoretically, you can also treat yourself to mega-cheap shopping - in the city center a few streets there is a continuous market, many shops selling Vietnamese dresses (so long, with an "oriental" collar), saw both synthetic and silk, 300-400 thousand dong and above.

But at 8 o'clock everything closes ...and now you can just walk and envy the lifestyle of the Vietnamese) Did not take pictures - somehow it was inconvenient, but I'll try to describe the picture.

So, their houses are mostly 2-3-storey, and on the ground floor of the house there is a shop or a grocery store, or a workshop, some kind of business.

At 7-8 pm, the whole family, who live and work here, begins to gather for dinner. Right here, in the "office", a blanket is spread on the floor, a tray of food is placed in the center - rice, greens, fish / meat, everyone sits in a circle and starts shoveling.

The doors are wide open, anyone can come in, in many places the whole wall of the first floor is made of glass - full openness. Sometimes we went to buy something - and they sit like that, eat, play with children, but someone will get up and release the goods. As they live in another extinction, for God's sake, I think this end of the day is perfect.

Lyrical digression complete)


So ...the bike was rented at a hotel for 120k, we went to TrangAn , we had to go only 4 kilometers from our apartment. Entrance - 200k, tips were not requested at the exit, scooter parking - 15k, with a ticket, PAID toilets on the route!

We took the longest route with 9 caves, and in fact people buy at the pier in three groups, ride in three directions, all routes are different, intersect only in some places. Rowing oars, Eugene is my experienced tourist-kayaker, he could not row, did not understand the technology - they have some cunning oars.

I don't know if this TrangAng is worth the requested money, it's probably worth it, but it all looks more beautiful from a height, from Mount MuaKave. And so it is very similar to rafting on our native Psalm of Sumy (the river in my city is such - Psel). Well, I overdid it, it looks more colorful, still there are no grottoes on the Psalter, and palm trees do not grow either) I'll take my words back, but you mean. A couple of photos in memory.

We went to the city for lunch, found a bowl (like a cafe, where they cook only one dish - soup fo, or soup and rice with meat) near our hotel just right. Not a bad place, but I will not emphasize. Then we moved to MukaKave.

Well, we paid 100k and ran to the top of the mountain, clearing the way for a billion Chinese tourists. This thing - MuaKave - is worth a visit, it's straight you, and the higher, the more you feel and see. Instagram place, everyone is photographed, photographed, Chinese women manage to climb up the heels and dresses for the sake of such a thing, I found a cane ownerless Vietnamese hat on top and also took a picture of myself in it) I will not show until I climbed, became oil like you thought ...only 500 steps! So look at my wife)

And the views are truly stunning from the mountain. Such that they even create a cork from Chinese students!

Well, seriously, it's so beautiful that you don't want to go down.

I will insert a photo, but I have it from the phone, it conveys only 10 percent of beauty.


The sun began to move before sunset, it was freezing rain, moving down, we decided to go to at least one pagoda, since we do not get to Bai Dinh. We went to the nearest one offered by Google map, I do not remember the name - I, to be honest, not a fan of pagodas, but I learned about it only after visiting one of them) Well, my soul does not tremble! But you have to look. Yes, for ticks)

Believed in the city, found excellent food , did not score coordinates, but I took a picture of the sign, maybe you will find it.

The system is as follows: on a tray you put a little of everything that is cooked and fried in the window - pieces of meat, fish, spring rolls, cutlets, someone's fins, etc. , all this pour a bowl of broth and give a bucket of rice.

The road, I remember, took a total of two hours somewhere - an hour we took a bus to Haiphong, waited at the pier for 5 minutes boat, 10 minutes on the boat probably sailed, and on the island for 20 minutes waiting for the bus. Everything is well organized - you are simply taken by the hand and led to where you need to be. Those who have an invitation from the hotel to Cat Be, were taken away faster than us, so if you can, ask for such an invitation from the host party, you will wait less.

In short, we were taken to the city at almost 11 o'clock, dropped off, we went to the hotel. oh, handle again! We booked a spacious room with Conder, with a window, with a TV set, and we were offered without a Conder, without a TV set and even without a window!

But they politely drank congratulatory herbal tea, calmly responded to my indignation, such as "I booked with a window at the booking? !!

"And gave a password from Wi-Fi, they say, for God's sake, here's the Internet, look for other housing, there are a lot of people like us) In general, the owner caught a full zen.

We took tea, sat on the phone, found literally 50 meters from another hotel, a little more expensive - 150k per day, but on visual inspection is just great, not big, but a huge room, beds with SOFT-oh miracle! -Mattresses, refrigerator, huge window, TV, but still with a shower) As a bonus-6 liters of water. PURELY! ! ! ! ! Manager (or owner ??


) -young guy-just a rug spread, and the boat tour sold cheaper, and the scooter rented cheaper than stated in the price, and gave free water every day, and how are you, and hello, so far, strongly asked to leave a good review on tripadvisors, straight begged, of course, left, because the hotel really liked. Oh yes, when we left early in the morning we were served a crazy European breakfast, for free!

In short, I recommend, I recommend, however, we were almost the only guests, in the season, there may be no such buns. https:// sp. booking. com / hotel / vn / theirel ...# hotelTmpl

By the way, the season is great for Kat Ba in April. It is still impossible to swim in the sea at this or any other time - the port is nearby, and invisible fuel particles stick to the body, then you walk all unpleasant, and the swimsuit smells amazing, Kat Ba is not a place for beach vacation unambiguously.

Although the beaches are beautiful, sand, clear water, turquoise, the bays are definitely picturesque.

North Vietnam in 9 days, 2 backpacks and karemat. WITHOUT night transfers. April 2019. Report with prices | North Vietnam for 9 days - for two $ 400.2 backpacks and a karemat.</p><p>April 2019. Price report

But the port spoils everything. Unless in a bot tour you will be landed to splash on one of remote beaches - well here unless there to swim cool, but it is only 40 minutes, a maximum of an hour. And so in April the water is quite refreshing. I think it will be in May, but prices are rising. I don't see the point of overpaying for housing and other things during the season on a remote island. Still, people from all over the world go to this island not to swim, namely to look at the UNESCO Halong Bay

In short, the acquaintance with the island began with the search for a hotel, then continued with disgusting food and service in the alleged seafood restaurant, and they have any seafood restaurant by default, because we never found a chicken in three days, only squid, fish and shrimp.


Yes, the food was awful, but we ate it, and dissatisfied went to the beach and well, that port, we saw the sea a year ago! Climbed into the water, realized that we are tolerant, Europeans looked at us with fear. We splashed for 30 minutes, it started to get dark, we went to the hotel. They put themselves in order and recovered from the food. In general, the day in PVA should start earlier, at 6-7 am , as locals do. Because it gets dark very early and sharply. If you get up at 10, it feels like the day has just begun and is coming to an end.

The mood in the evening was like that - the lunch was awful, the sea was cold, the weather was gloomy - the boat tour could not take place, the embankment is terrible, well, that is, the piglet where the restaurants from Trip Advisor are located, quite nice, and the whole embankment as a whole , Kirillovka.

Somehow we found ourselves in the evening market. Probably wanted to buy fruit. Hmmm ...how good we got there! We found wonderful places where you can eat octopuses and squid for 5.000 dong. Well, is not it a miracle, given that at lunch we were fed for 70 thousand with a tiny plate of rice with five shrimp? That incomprehensible white noodles are some insanely delicious seaweed with some magical sauce.

North Vietnam for 9.2 backpacks and karemat. WITHOUT night transfers. April 2019. Report with prices |

jpg "target =" _ blank "> North Vietnam in 9 days - for two $ 400.2 backpacks and a karemat. No night transfers. April 2019.</p><p>Price report

An institution, as they say, for their own. NO FOREIGNERS. Eugene went on a reconnaissance about moonshine, yes, she has them!

The system is like this, every night this point opens, I don't know for sure, but at 7 pm it works for sure, during the day or not. Every day the range is different, several species of fish, octopuses, squid, shrimp, sometimes small, sometimes more. You are placed on a tray on a 50k slide of everything you ask for and add a side dish, a large bowl of rice. They also have soup, it also costs 50k, I do not recommend it, the broth is excellent, but the fish itself is one bone.

In short, a charming place with an original atmosphere, the island's workers gather here. By the way, we haven't seen women at all. The owner took out his grandson especially for me to hold in my arms! !!

He is so manipulative, this Vietnamese kid).

P. from such points there, in my opinion, three pieces, we were here in this.

North Vietnam in 9 days, 2 backpacks and a karemat. WITHOUT night transfers. April 2019. Price report

Still were in the next-there liked the food less.


Satisfied, full, in a good mood went to bed. Disappointment with the island dissipated.

Budget for the day : lunch-140, dinner-140, alcohol (beer, moonshine) -54, snacks, ice cream, water, fruit-129. A total of 33.000 dong.

Day seven. Katba and Potokushki National Park

I get up in the morning and wait for the miracle that the sky will part and I will see the sun.

Yyyy… it was then I learned that it was really sunny days on KatBe-once or twice, and obchelsya, and all these photos online with Halong Bay, where the sky is clear (or almost clear) and blue, taken by photographers who really waited weeks of clear weather to take pictures.

High humidity does its job, over this area is always a light or not very haze, or clouds are gathering, or the sky is completely covered with a veil.

But they still decided to wait until tomorrow to swim in the boat, and today they rented a scooter at the hotel and recovered in the nat. park. Fuel on the island There are gas stations with an adequate price for fuel. Google on the map. But you will be stopped at almost every step by the locals and will be offered a liter of gasoline for 40 or even 50 dong. Run!

National Park is a great place.

I do not recommend visiting without normal sports shoes, as the complex has continuous ascents of varying degrees of steepness, sometimes the angle of ascent reaches about 60 degrees.

North Vietnam in 9 days, 2 backpacks and karemat. WITHOUT night transfers. April 2019. Report with prices

The degree is almost nowhere. Thickets. Lianas thick with my leg. .

Some beetles that make the sound of a chainsaw. A one and a half meter bright green snake fell next to us. Great walk!

At the top we met Peter's boys. Of course, they talked about politics) They were also worried about the weather, also afraid to get on the boat tour. Then they helped us fulfill our mission - to conquer the top of the island with a flag!

North Vietnam in 9 days, 2 backpacks and karemat, without night transfers, April 2019.</p><p>Report with prices North

The National Park took us 2 hours, no more. Get to it from the city - 40 minutes.

We went for a ride and decided to go to this cape 20.858790, 106.982685

North Vietnam in 9 days - for two , 2 backpacks and karemat, NO night transfers, April 2019.</p><p>Price report


The road is framed by the same jungle on the one hand and mangroves on the other - a very interesting and nice phenomenon, and on the trees above the road here are such ant houses hanging.

North Vietnam in 9 days - on, 2 backpacks and karemat. NO night transfers. April 2019. Price report

Miss himself

North Vietnam in 9 days, 2 backpacks and karemat. WITHOUT night crossings. April 2019. Price report North Vietnam in 9 days - for two $ 400.2 backpacks and a karemat. WITHOUT night transfers. April 2019. Price report

Then we decided to return to the city and see the other beaches of Kat B (they write that there are only 4, but in fact more)

And then decided to come here 20.721529, 107.058148

North Vietnam in 9 days - on, 2 backpacks and a karemat, NO night transfers, April 2019.</p><p>Price report North Vietnam in 9 days - for two $ 400.2 backpacks and a karemat. WITHOUT night transfers. April 2019. Price report

We returned to the city, had dinner there, in the market, walked along the waterfront, went to bed. Booked a bot tour at the hotel for tomorrow.

This day's budget : Bottour-640 to two, entrance to the national park-160k, fuel-60k, scooter rental-80k, food-244k, beer-10k. A total of 118.000 dong

Day eight. Bottur

The world-famous Halong Bay was the second, after the Sapa cascades, but no less important reason for visiting Vietnam. I have in a special notebook of dreams pictures with amazing images of this bay are already 7 years old, probably. This is for you to understand how exciting it was for me to see her alive. Thank God there was no rain. The sky, by the way, never parted, it wasn't gloomy… everything was like a gray haze. But what can you do)

The boat tour itself is the next — vacationers from various hotels pick up minibuses and by a certain time in

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