Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [246]
Vinh to: Dong Ha (5 daily; 5hr–7hr 30min); Dong Hoi (6 daily; 4–5hr); Hanoi (6 daily; 6hr–6hr 30min); Hué (6 daily; 6–9hr); Ninh Binh (3 daily; 4hr).
The central provinces - Part 2 | Travel details |
Buses
Bus stations are gradually becoming more organized, with ticket desks and scheduled departures. However, it is still almost impossible to give the frequency with which buses run because of the large number of private minibuses that ply more popular routes, and depart only when they have enough passengers to make the journey worthwhile. Highway 1 sees a near-constant stream of buses passing through to various destinations, and it’s possible to flag something down at virtually any time of the day. Off the highway, to be sure of a bus it’s advisable to start your journey early – most long-distance departures are between 5am and 9am, and few run after midday. Journey times can also vary; figures below show the normal length of time you can expect to take by public bus.
Da Nang to: Dong Ha (5hr); Hoi An (1hr 30min–2hr); Hué (3–4hr); Quang Ngai (5hr); Quiy Nhon (11hr); Savannakhet (24hr).
Dong Ha to: Dong Hoi (2hr); Hué (2hr 30min); Lao Bao (2hr); Savannakhet (8hr).
Dong Hoi to: Dong Ha (2hr); Hué (4–5hr); Vinh (4hr).
Hoi An to: Da Nang (1hr 30min–2hr); Quang Ngai (4hr).
Hué to: Da Nang (3–4hr); Dong Ha (2hr 30min); Dong Hoi (5hr).
Ninh Binh to: Haiphong (3hr); Hanoi (2hr); Kim Son (Phat Diem) (1hr); Son La (8hr); Thanh Hoa (1hr 30min); Vinh (5hr).
Thanh Hoa to: Hanoi (3hr); Ninh Binh (1hr 30min); Vinh (4hr).
Vinh to: Dong Ha (6–7hr); Dong Hoi (4hr); Hué (8–10hr); Ninh Binh (5hr); Thanh Hoa (4hr); Trung Tam (2hr); Vientiane (12–14hr).
The central provinces - Part 2 | Travel details |
Flights
Da Nang to: Buon Ma Thuot (4 weekly; 1hr 10min); Hanoi (4 daily; 1hr 10min); Ho Chi Minh City (5 daily; 1hr 10min); Nha Trang (1 daily; 1hr 5min); Plei Ku (daily; 50min); Quy Nhon (4 weekly; 1hr).
Hué to: Hanoi (3 daily; 1hr 10min); Ho Chi Minh City (3 daily; 1hr 20min).
Vinh to: Ho Chi Minh City (daily; 1hr 45min).
Hanoi and around
By turns exotic, squalid, gauche and hip, the high-octane Vietnamese capital of Hanoi provides a full-scale assault on the senses. Its crumbly, lemon-hued colonial architecture is a feast for the eyes: swarms of buzzing motorbikes invade the ear, while the delicate scents and tastes of delicious street food can be found all across a city that – unlike so many of its regional contemporaries – is managing to modernize with a degree of grace. Despite its political and historical importance, as well as the incessant noise drummed up by a population of over six million, Hanoi exudes a more intimate, urbane appeal than Ho Chi Minh City.
At its centre lies a tree-fringed lake and shaded avenues of classy French villas dressed up in jaded stucco, but the rest of Hanoi is bursting at the seams and nowhere is this more evident than in the teeming traffic and the vibrant, intoxicating tangle of streets known as the Old Quarter, the city’s commercial heart since the fifteenth century. Delving back even further, a handful of Hanoi’s more than six hundred temples and pagodas hail from the original, eleventh-century city, most notably the Temple of Literature, which encompasses both Vietnam’s foremost Confucian sanctuary and its first university. Many visitors, however, are drawn to Hanoi by more recent events, seeking explanations among the exhibits of the Military History Museum and in Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum for the extraordinary Vietnamese tenacity displayed during the wars of the twentieth century.
Modern Hanoi has an increasingly confident, “can do” air about it and a buzz that is even beginning to rival Ho Chi Minh City. There’s more money about nowadays and the wealthier Hanoians are prepared to flaunt it in the ever-more sophisticated restaurants, cafés and designer boutiques that have exploded all over the city. Hanoi now boasts glitzy, multistorey shopping malls and wine warehouses; beauty parlours are the latest fad and some seriously expensive cars cruise the streets.