Hanoi, Vietnam: Throwback Trip Report, Part III - Andy's Travel Blog
I arrived late at night to Hanoi aboard a Dragonair A330. It was a short flight, and like I mentioned in my last post I was so exhausted that I fell asleep when I first sat in my seat and had to be lightly shaken awake by the flight attendant after we had landed. I had pre-arranged a taxi and I strongly recommend this, as the touts are out especially late at night and, as a caucasian, I kind of stood out. I used Hilton points to book a stay at…you guessed it…the Hanoi Hilton. No, not that one. They incredibly have a Hilton hotel in Hanoi, but they call it the Hilton Hanoi Opera to get away from the mental image of staying in a POW camp on your stay. The room was spacious and large, and I immediately resumed my slumber, ready for the next day. I awoke bright and early surprisingly not as jetlagged as I thought I would be and made my way up to the Executive Club before my tour guide arrived. There is a fantastic organization in Hanoi called HanoiKids. It is full of Vietnamese university students who are licensed as tour guides. They don’t charge anything for a tour (just that you cover the guide’s taxi and meals during the tour) and refuse tips (I made a donation to their organization). All they ask is you speak English with them and have conversations. These students want to learn English badly, I love the... read more
Andy