“They’re lucky,” notes our guide Tû, as a late model four wheel drive with only three passengers overtakes us on a not so-safe mountain corner. “But this is interesting,” he concludes with a grin.

We’re in a twelve seater van, and crammed into the back row of the minibus is me, my partner Jenny, Tû and along for the 35 km, fairly treacherous hour and a quarter ride from Lao Cai on the Chinese border to Sapa are 18 others. It’s early morning and, already very hot and sweaty, I’m squashed and fully in agreement with our guide. Having been in North Vietnam for less than twenty hours, this scene was just the beginning of what was to be the most amazing sensory overload for eight days of our lives.

Waking up one morning and literally deciding to venture overseas as soon as possible in the next week, Vietnam won over the many other affordably priced Asian destinations.

Thursday afternoon: a hasty sit down with the travel agents (Unley Flight Centre), and we were now armed with a few more clues. That night, we type the words: ‘bicycles, snorkelling and kayaks’, along with ‘North Vietnam’, into the search engine and came up with the small tour company, ‘Threeland Travel’ (www.threeland.com). A quick volley of emails over the next few days and our tour itinerary was now roughly coming together with the price quoted at around AU$500 each - all meals and accommodation, train travel, admissions, jeep and English speaking guide included.

Now to make sure that our vaccinations (malaria, typhoid, polio, and hepatitis A and B) were all up to date and in order (Travel Bug Medical & Vaccination Centre, North Adelaide), then confirm our airline bookings (Singapore Airlines) and make an eleventh hour dash to organise our visas (a twenty dollar fee on top of the usual cost ensured their priority). By the following Thursday we were on our way from Melbourne with a one night Singapore stopover.

Arriving at Noiboi International Airport lunch time Friday, we were greeted by a Threeland representative and driven into Hanoi, where after settling, changing currency, a little cautious shopping and a quick tour of some of the city sights, we were then escorted to a rather fine restaurant for dinner before heading to the train station for our overnight journey to Sapa - only 360 kms, yet still ten hours away.

Our friendship with Tû developed beyond just guide and clients; twenty-five years old, knowledgeable about history and extremely funny, our time was spent more like best friends as we laughed and travelled. Sapa: a small, picturesque, but bustling town that can be best described as one huge market place set upon a mountainside that overlooks deep valleys in which terraced rice fields weave a vast network of patterns for as far as the eye can see. From our fourth floor hotel room we had a direct view of Mount Fansipan, the highest peak in Vietnam - magnificent. Over the next two days, we trekked for hours through the valleys to visit the villages of the Black H’mong and Red Zao (commonly known here as 'the minoroties'), recklessly over-shopped due to the hard sell pressure from said tribes people with their hand woven jewellery and other wares, and hired a dodgy motorbike with no brakes to further explore a few of the peripheral sights and waterfalls.

Back in Hanoi, and based for the night in a three star hotel, we enjoyed another restaurant and a more relaxed view of a city that was no less hectic than when we first arrived, one that during opening hours has a buzz and a vibe like no other I’ve ever visited. Hanoi presents a sea of perpetual movement, in which photo opportunities whizzed past at every moment, and yet once acclimatised, there lies beneath a peculiar sense of tranquillity. Crossing the streets was not for the hesitant; we quickly learned to just step out and walk blindly rather than wait for a break amongst the constant scatter of scooter riders cheerfully commuting from all directions all at once (often three or more adults or entire families on each, or otherwise dangerously over-laden with market goods and even livestock).

The people, whilst hopefully spruiking their wares all the way down the narrow, crowded streets, were always friendly and polite, regardless of the  sometimes abrupt rejections.  Their goods: shoes, clothing, toys, watches and everything else imaginable often spilled out of the small shops and onto the footpaths, lining you up as an easier target for some fairly persistent sales tactics.

Picked up the next morning by jeep and a private driver, Cuong (at our service for five days), we then left for Halong Bay - 180 kms east and yet still over four hours away. Even on straight, rural runs you’re hampered by ridiculously crowded roads and chaotic traffic conditions. Halong Bay: the closest we’ve ever been to paradise. Spanning over 100 square kilometres and with around 2000 small islands jutting out above its clear, perfectly calm waters, included in our package we were given a 20 metre, 16 berth boat for just the two of us, along with the boat’s captain and our very own chef. One meal alone included king prawns, a whole seasoned catfish, crab and soup, and that was just for Jenny. Me – I’m a vegetarian - and my offerings were equally impressive.

When not lazing around in the sun, swimming in the warm waters until bedtime, sleeping on the deck and waking up only to step off overboard again the next morning, we spent time kayaking around the islands and visiting the fishing communities who live in the floating villages.

Another night in Hanoi, this time we spent until around midnight at the local jazz club before leaving the next morning to travel north-west along more steep, narrow and hazardous roads to a small village outside of Mai Chau. Staying in a stilt house with a Thai family, here we rode bicycles and enjoyed the surrounding mountain flanked area at a more leisurely pace. At night, we were treated to a performance by some traditional  Thai dancers at another house and then, along with a busload of tourists from Saigon, played very active, sweaty party games and sat around listening to their soulful renditions of Vietnamese, both traditional and contemporary songs till late.

 With our last full day planned for Hanoi, for an extra small charge we opted to add on yet another day of activities instead, this time at Hoa Lu – the ancient Citadel of Vietnam. Here we visited the two temples of the first and second Vietnamese kings, Dinh and Le, before heading off to Tam Coc for a two and half hour row boat trip along an amazingly beautiful estuary which wound itself through valleys and under three magnificent cave-like tunnels. Our last night was once again in Hanoi, where more inner-city exploring and final shopping the next morning ensued.

Special thanks to those at Unley Flight Centre, Travel Bug and, especially Threeland Travel, Cuong and Tû for making this trip both so memorable and possible at such short notice. We really felt that we not only visited Vietnam, we really experienced Vietnam - albeit all too briefly. Next time we’ll be more prepared.

Steve Jones

Photographs: Jenny Cunningham