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109 Ma May Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam
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Thap Rua (Turtle Tower),Hoan Kiem Lake,Ha Noi.
My Cyclo driver with his Cyclo
Bauhinia and Long-dress Girls
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
Hello there,
I'll be traveling around Vietnam for 9 days this February and after that want to enter China overland via Nanning. Need information on the ff:
Can I get a Chinese visa from Hanoi? Can I go through a travel agency to get one or do I have to go to the Chinese Embassy?
How long does it take?
How much does it cost in US dollars?
Many many thanks!
angie villanueva
Thanks.
hi angie
Hit the china forum with this question.
There are a couple of really switched on guys there who know the ropes eg ellyse, chengdu and jonmperry.
for an agency try Tonkin travel in Hanoi, TNK in HCM or Sinh in HCM (i have not used sinh before but a lot seem to have)
enjoy the trip
Don
There are baguettes to be bought all over Hanoi and often you can buy a reel of soft cheese to go with them. Many places do ready made ones, or will do them in front of you. But i prefered to make one myself, buying a baguette for 500dong and then cheese for 4,000 dong. Makes a yummy lunch for a couple days, sitting by the lakside munching on the baguettes are lovely
The unassuming Truc Buc Lake is separated from Hanoi's vast West lake by a causeway carrying an important road. It is surrounded by newly build homes and has a small island in the middle of it that seems overgrown with vegetation. It is calm and pretty and attracts a peek as you whiz by it in traffic. There is nothing, not even a historical marker, indicating thatthis is wherethe plane of John McCain landed as he flew a mission over Hanoi in 1968. At the Hoa La Prison, you can see pictures of him being pulled from this lake, legs broken. The word "rescued" is used often and may actually be true -- he possibly could have died. But then he was imprisoned for five years -- not much of a rescue.
Of course, given that i was there as the 2008n US Presidential election was heating up, Mccain's tie to Vietnam was on everyone's lips. Almost everyone I passed near the lake made sure they told me the story. No doubt, most Vietnamese would vote for John McCain if they could. This is just another sign that the emotions of the war are now in the past. Well, I suppose that's true unless I would have indicated a preference for Obama!
Make sure you take in a water puppet show while you're in Hanoi. The shows are very entertaining. Admission is around $2 dollars. The Water Puppet Theater is located at the north end of Hoan Kiem Lake. Afterwards, take home one of these lovely puppets as a souvenier.
Cyclo is a cheap transportation around Hanoi. It is fantastic of watching the crowd and the chaotic traffic.
When we are tired of walking we catch cyclo. Make sure you know where you want to go. Negotiate with the price before you hop on. Don't bargain to hard remember they have low income and they work hard, physically probably harder than you.
Around the Old Quarter we usually pay the cyclo driver around $2 to $3. They will accept US dollar.
If you're looking for a bit of luxury in bustling, noisy Hanoi, try finding and experiencing "Verticale" Restaurant. It is a quaint hide-away near the French Embassy that offers French delicacies from Chef Didier Corlou. The best way to go is to order the Summer menu or the Winter menu (whichever is being offered). It is a pre-set menu (with changes if you like), for a pre-set price. My friend and I ate dinner there in June (the Summer menu) and were offered a variety of courses, from sliced green mango with salt, to pumpkin soup to artichoke with crab, to a choice of main entrees and a delectible dessert. Our bill came up to less that 1.2 million dong... less than $72 for a great fine dining experience! (In Hanoi, where you can eat pho for a dollar, spending $72 for a meal for two is out of most residents' price range.)
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