Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [324]
During the French War Hoa Binh was the scene of a disastrous French raid into Viet Minh-held territory, which reads like a dress rehearsal for the epic rout of Dien Bien Phu. In November 1951, French paratroop battalions seized Hoa Binh in a daring attempt to hamper enemy supply routes. They met with little resistance and dug in, only to find themselves marooned as Giap’s forces cut both road and river access. In February the following year the French fought their way out towards Hanoi in a battle that came to be known as the “hell of Hoa Binh”.
The main highway thunders straight through the centre of modern Hoa Binh but a hint of quieter days lingers in its shaded main boulevard, Cu Chin Lan. Less than 2km above the city to the northwest, the 620-metre-wide Hoa Binh Dam chokes the Da River to create a lake over 200km long, stretching all the way to Son La. The reservoir is earmarked for tourist development, but its main purpose is to feed Vietnam’s largest hydroelectric plant which came on stream in 1994 and has gone some way to solving Vietnam’s chronic power shortage. Hoa Binh Tourism (www.hoabinhtourism.com) at the Hoa Binh Hotel 1 offers guided tours of the complex, but otherwise you get a worm’s-eye view of the dam from the pontoon bridge that links Hoa Binh’s main street with industrial suburbs across the Da River. Muong, Thai, Hmong and Dao minorities all live in the vicinity, but you’ll need to arrange a guide and transport if you want to visit them. Again, Hoa Binh Tourism can help but they’re geared primarily to tour groups. Their most popular outing is a day’s boat trip on the Da River, visiting Muong and Dao villages ($50 per boat for fifteen people), and they can also arrange a night’s accommodation in a showpiece Muong village ($10 per person plus food).
A very scenic way to travel from Hoa Binh to Mai Chau is by boat down the Ma River. A boat holding ten people takes two hours and offers a glimpse of life on the riverbank ($50 per boat). Note: it docks in Co Luong, 12km south of Mai Chau (35,000đ by motorbike). Bookings can be made through Hoa Binh Tourism.
The far north | The northwest | Highway 6 | Hoa Binh |
Practicalities
Hoa Binh’s main bus station lies on its eastern edge, where you’ll find the usual gaggle of xe om waiting to take you the kilometre into town (10,000đ). Buses for Hanoi leave regularly, but note that some terminate at Ha Dong, where you have to pick up a Hanoi city bus. Keep an eye on your bags as thefts have been reported on this route.
The most popular places to stay for foreigners are the Hoa Binh 1 and 2 (0218/385 2051 & 385 2537, 0218/385 4372; US$21–50), located opposite each other on a hillside 2km west of the town centre along Highway 6. Both have about thirty wood-panelled rooms in long stilthouses, and restaurants. The Hoa Binh 2 also features folk dancing and music displays and sampling of Thai rice wine from the communal pot. Alternatively, the Thu Huong (0218/385 3950; US$11–20), 100m before Hao Binh 2, is a basic but clean choice, where the front rooms have good views over the countryside. More luxurious is the Vietnamese-owned V Resort (0218/387 1954, www.vresort.com.vn; US$31–75), situated 20km from Hoa Binh, with a variety of attractions such as a mini putt course, a zoo and natural mineral spas. A xe om will take you there from Hoa Binh, or if travelling from Mai Chau, get off at the Pho Cun junction 10km before Hoa Binh and head right a further 10km to Bai Chao. As well as the restaurants at the Hoa Binh hotels, there’s also a group of local restaurants, cafés and ice-cream parlours at the west end of Cu Chin Lan, about 50m before the T-junction.
The far north |
The northeast
The provinces of northeast Vietnam, looping eastwards from Ha Giang to Lang Son, lack the grandeur of their counterparts west of the Red River Valley, with the notable exception of the area round Dong Van and Meo Vac. In general the peaks here are lower and the views smaller-scale and of an altogether softer quality; there are also