ABOUT ANHTRAVEL

You hire a car with driver, Anh speaks English as a tour guide and he will help you travel guide and he will booking advance for you Hotel or Homestay, Bungalows, Open bus ticket, Ha Long Bay Cruise tour, Daily budget tour. Always the best price. Do not hesitate to contact to Anh !

TRAVEL TIPS

TAKE A FREE WALKING TOUR IN HANOI

Want to experience the capital from a local's perspective without paying for and joining a tour group? Then check out Hanoi Free Walking Tours. They are a student-run organization who provide free English guiding services around the city. While they have some itineraries on their website, these are just as some inspiration. You can go wherever you like for a full or half day depending on your interests. You'll just need to cover the costs of the student(s) – admission fees, lunch etc and any tips you may want to give. The tour is always private even if you are a solo traveler so you can be sure to have a very personalized experience and lots of interaction with your new friends.

HERE ARE SOME WARNINGS TO HELP YOU AVOID PROBLEMS DURING YOUR VISIT TO HANOI.

How to avoid taxi scams

We strongly advise you to book our airport or train station pick up. One of our drivers will meet you with your name sign. There is a trend in Hanoi at the moment for scams taxi drivers to copy the names from airport sign boards and pretend to be that hotel airport pick up person to meet you.

If you get an airport meter taxi from outside the arrivals terminal the cost is likely to be higher than our fixed fee airport pick up service.

Scam taxi drivers or fake airport pick up services may try to charge you for the road toll fee. If this happens you know you are in the wrong car. Scam taxi drivers may try to take you to the wrong hotel so make sure you have the full hotel address and telephone number.

WHATEVER YOU DO, GET TO SAPA !

Sapa is not only one of the most spectacular places you will ever see, but it is so different to other parts of Vietnam that you won't have truly experienced all that the country has to offer without going here. Go straight to the locals for a true village homestay experience and we promise you won't regret it.

WATER PUPPET SHOWS !

Water puppetry is a Vietnamese tradition and was one of the best cultural activities. If your experience of puppet shows consists of Punch and Judy-type performances you are in for a surprise. The stage is a large pool of water in which the puppets act out tales from Vietnamese folklore with a traditional Vietnamese orchestra playing throughout. The puppeteers are extremely skilled and great artistry goes into the puppets themselves. Apart from just a handful of tourists, the theatre was filled with local families enjoying the show. This really is something you can only experience in Vietnam, but is an activity that seems to get overlooked by many visitors. There are also daily shows near Hoan Kiem lake in Hanoi at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre.

What do you eat in Hanoi?

Well, the most important point on the list, and pretty much favorite thing about visiting anywhere – food. Eating may be one of life’s necessities, but in Vietnam it’s one of its greatest pleasures, too. There are so many foods to try here, and like everything else, it’s all incredibly cheap. A few things you must try – bun cha (BBQ pork and noodles), pho xao (stir fried noodles with beef), bun nem (spring rolls), banh mi (Vietnam’s version of a sandwich), and of course, everyone’s favorite – pho (beef noodle soup).

A note on food safety: If you get sick from eating in Hanoi (or anywhere for that matter), it’s more likely to be due to eating foods you’re not accustomed to rather than a case of food poisoning or parasites. Regardless, there are obvious steps you can take to prevent the latter including avoiding tap water or uncooked things that have been washed in tap water, such as salad, and never eating anything that looks like it’s been sitting out for awhile. Generally, if you eat from busy places and order a hot meal, you should be good to go.

Trang An versus Tam Coc.

1. Amazing Experience

This tour was brilliant. The caves and temples were all spectacular. There were no hawker to hassle you or begging you compared to Tam Coc tour (it has become a big issue at Tam Coc). Be prepared to help out with the rowing.

2. Skip Tam Coc.

Option 1 has 9 caves and 3 temples all by paddle boat. The facility is clean and the views are breathtaking. We had three of us on one boat , that cost 200000vnd each person for about 3 hours. Our paddler guided us through low hanging caves like a champion. The caves and karsts rivaled Halong Bay. We gave 100000 vnd and the rowing ladies are not allowed to hassle us which are foreigners.

3. Better than Tam Coc.

Ok, we just went to Tam Coc yesterday, and then to Trang An grottoes today. You really don’t need to do both because you’ll see everything at Trang An, plus more. Trang An has the same boats with much more pleasant rowers. They aren’t allowed to ask for money. You also won’t get the naughty vendors like vendors at Tam Coc. There’s temples, more caves, and the Skull Island movie set to see/visit. The tour takes you around the entire park, made a u-turn and takes you back the exact at starting place. Overall, a much more better trip than Tam Coc. More to see and more to do, and more tranquil. You’re not forced to tip, but you should know that the rowing women have to wait their turn and only can work every 3 to 7 days. So tip money to them would be really appreciated.

4. Mesmerizing UNESCO World Heritage Site .

Trang An was one of our last stops in Vietnam and it was really the sugar icing on the top of a delicious cake. We had an amazing trip!

We were mesmerized throughout our 2 hour boat tour over the sparkling emerald waters, under towering limestone cliffs covered in lush rain forests. Our children loved rowing through the narrow grottoes and then discovering ancient temples and pagodas in the middle of all that natural beauty. Our photos not enough to describe this breathtaking destination. Visit Trang An grottoes yourself!

5. Tam Coc or Trang An : same or different?

You could visit both in one day. We did Tam Coc in the morning, then Trang An in the afternoon. The scenery is beautiful around Tam Coc but it's a shorter trip compared with Trang An.

Trang An is a longer trip through many caves, so the scenery is different. I preferred Trang An more, as it was just opening up to tourists (we visited in April 2010). There were no locals trying to sell you things you don't need while on the water then. Also it was more relaxing.

In general to compare from this place to another it is realy difficult, but after reading your thought, I can give you some thing about Tam Coc and Trang An. Tamcoc boats start from harbour then though 3 cave, then back the same route. It depend on what month you come to Ninh Binh, right now the rice-field is start, so it will be greener in 1month, means you can view nicer when rice-field is green. Some tourists love the ripened rice-field colour (mid May, before the rainy season?). Trang an is like same Halong bay, without rice field. Boats go through beautiful caves, and not back the same route, it mean we go round the area. Both Tam coc and Trang an have breathtaking scenery so if you have time, you should do both of them, when you visit Ninh Binh.