Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [250]
Explorer Tours 85 Hang Bo 04/323 0713, www.explorer.com.vn. Specializes in private group-tours of Ha Long Bay, but also offers Hanoi day-trips and tours of the northern mountains.
Handspan Adventure Travel Tamarind Café, 80 Ma May 04/3926 2828, www.handspan.com. Environmentally conscious adventure-tour specialist. Options range from sea-kayaking in Ha Long Bay to exploring the north on foot or by mountain bike, staying in minority villages. The tours are well organized, with good equipment and back-up, and are restricted to small groups.
Hanoi Toserco 8 To Hien Thanh 04/3978 0004, www.tosercohanoi.com. The Hanoi home to Sinh Café’s open-tour buses offers cheap tours aimed squarely at the backpacker market, from day-trips in and around Hanoi to full-blown Sa Pa and Ha Long Bay excursions.
Kangaroo Café 18 Bao Khanh 04/3828 9931, www.kangaroocafe.com. This Australian-run café is recommended for its innovative, well-organized small-group and adventure tours. Helpful staff and a simple restaurant serving wholesome local, Western and vegetarian food round out the picture.
Love Planet Tours & Books 25 Hang Bac 04/3828 4864, www.loveplanettravel.com. A reliable operator with many years’ experience of meeting travellers’ needs, Love Planet provides a great all-round service, including tours (covering a range of budgets), tickets and good advice. They also boast Vietnam’s biggest collection of secondhand books.
Queen Travel 65 Hang Bac 04/3826 0860, www.queencafe.com.vn. Aims at the middle market and above with tailor-made and small-group tours.
Sunshine Travel 49 Luong Ngoc Quyen 04/3926 2641, www.vietnamsunshinetravel.com. A reliable low-to-middle market agency offering tours throughout Vietnam. It also has a good reputation for its visa services (www.visavietnam.com).
Vietnam Indochina 71 Bo De 04/3872 2319, www.vietnamholidays.biz. A small but enthusiastic and efficient company offering customized tours countrywide.
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Hanoi and around | Arrival and information |
Information
The big state-run tour agencies, such as Vietnamtourism at 30a Ly Thuong Kiet (04/3826 4089, www.vn-tourism.com), are more interested in signing you up for a tour than dishing out information. A far better option is to try one of the well-established and reliable private tour agencies(see "Tour agents"), which can provide information on visas, tours, transport and so forth. Most also arrange day city tours, starting at $10 a person for a full-day tour up to $100 for a luxury option, including meals. For a more in-depth introduction to the city, Hidden Hanoi (0912 254045 or 04/3852 6295, www.hiddenhanoi.com.vn) offers a range of small-group walking tours, including the Old Quarter, French Quarter and a Temple Tour (90min–2hr; $15–20 per person; reservations required). Alternatively, you can buy leaflets outlining self-guided architectural tours of the Old Quarter, French Quarter and Old Citadel from the museum at 87 Ma May (See "Bach Ma Temple and the Guiding Light Mosque").
Maps of the city are available from a wide variety of outlets, including bookshops and stalls on Trang Tien: those with a street index and inset of the Old Quarter are the most useful. Several publications carry listings information, but by far the most useful and easiest to track down is Vietnam Pathfinder, a free monthly mini-magazine: also handy is Time Out, produced weekly with the Vietnam Investment Review. Tourist-oriented cafés, restaurants, bars and so forth usually provide copies of these magazines for customers to read.
Hanoi and around |
City transport
Despite the chaotic traffic, getting around on foot remains the best way to do justice to Hanoi’s central district, taking an occasional motorbike ride to scoot between more distant places. Alternatively, take a leisurely tour by cyclo. Cycling is not recommended, since traffic discipline is an unfamiliar concept in Hanoi: