From a tourist point of view Vietnam can be broadly divided into three regions – The North, South and Central. The three largest international airports are Tan Son Nhat (Ho Chi Minh City ) in The South, Noi Bai airport(Hanoi) in the North and Da Nang In Central Vietnam. While there are a few other smaller international airports such as Cam Ranh or Phu Quoc connectivity is limited . Vietnam is shaped like dumb-bell 1600 km long with the North and South connected by a narrow central strip. Which means that a typical hub and spoke tourist model where the entry and exit airport is the same is neither convenient nor cost effective as it would involve backtracking to the start point. The optimal way to cover this country would be entry from HCM city and make your way up north and exit from Hanoi or the other way round. Consider Da Nang if you chose to travel only through a part of Vietnam. The principle is the same even if you are entering Vietnam through the land route, Malati and I made a stop over in HCM city last year on our way home from Hong Kong and covered a large part of the South. This year we planned a much longer trip to the North and Central parts of Vietnam. Our port of entry was Noi Bai International Airport Hanoi and exit from Da Nang in Central Vietnam.

Much as I would like to avoid an overnight flight; airline options did not permit and we set out late at night from Hyderabad to Hanoi with a four hour stop over in Singapore. The SQ airline lounges in Singapore were a big disappointment – hugely crowded seating space with a reasonable spread of food and nothing of the famed Singapore fetish for cleanliness even in the toilets. I should have rather stayed near the gate itself rather than the lounges. The Orchid park in Terminal 2 however did fascinate me though.

We landed at mid -day in Hanoi and went through immigration like a breeze. We were met at the gate by a prebooked taxi which is always a relief for a first timer in any city, I was particularly impressed by the whole booking process . A few days before the journey the “control room ” reconfirmed details which included a photo of the meeting point. A day before, the driver is put in contact and from the time I landed till I boarded the taxi and got to the hotel “control room ” was in touch. The whole process was very efficient and appears to be the standard process across taxi operators in Vietnam. I was told that this was required since taxi drivers spoke little English and hence the need for an English speaking person on hand for any issue that requires a conversation. But for me it was an additional comfort to have access to the “control room”. Unnecessary caution I suppose since I had the most wonderful experiences on my thirty odd local and seven long distance journeys by Vietnamese taxis during this visit.

On my way from the airport, I noticed a large number of scooters on the road – more like a swarm, reminding me of my trip to Ho Chi Minh City last year though the density here appeared lower. Internet research revealed an interesting statistic – 86% of the Vietnamese citizens own scooters ( 58 million) second only to Thailand which is marginally higher at 87 % ! But I was particularly impressed by the traffic discipline among Vietnamese two-wheelers. Local Hanoi residents will vehemently disagree with me but my comparison is with my home city of Hyderabad where we could learn a thing or two. Additionally, I pondered why Saigon instead of Hanoi was renamed Ho Chi Minh City, given Hanoi’s long history as the center of resistance and the capital of Vietnam for most of the period of the French occupation while Saigon was a much later victory. I found different answers varying from I don’t care, to honoring the great leader, to a historical resolution dating back to the 1940s where the Resistance Committee changed the name of Saigon” to represent the struggle, the sacrifice and the determination to return to the Nation (from the French occupation) of Southerners” This was implemented only after the reunification of the country. See below a newspaper article of 1946, Do any of my readers have any another logical reason?

With these thoughts in my mind we completed the 30 odd km journey from Noi Bai International airport to the Oriental Jade hotel in the old quarter which we selected after giving it a lot of thought Choosing the Right Hotel – Hanoi . The rest of the day was spent recouping from a long flight and hoping that the rest of the trip would go as smoothly as it had thus far – I had made numerous taxi, hotel, train, plane, boat and other bookings to fit into a well crafted two week itinerary!Do keep reading

Do follow our journey through North and Central Vietnam over the next few posts