Laos Vietnam Laos trip 2024

Impressions of Vientiane, Laos

I flew direct from Ho Chi Minh City to Vientiane. Vientiane is the capital of Laos. I arrived in the morning and took a taxi to my hotel after routine passport stamping at the airport. Sailomyen Cafe & Hostel (aka Sokdee Residence) wasn’t quite as central as I would have liked, but I didn’t find anything that was more central that was in my price range. This hostel was good though I had a private room and it had a nice café with a good free breakfast. It wasn’t a fun, social hostel though. The people that were staying there seem to really keep to themselves no matter. I had what I needed.

Sightseeing

Vientiane doesn’t really have much in the way of exciting things to do. It is sleepy and small and doesn’t feel like a capital city. Usually capital cities are bustling, or they at least have national museums or impressive art galleries. Vientiane has none of these things, but it does have a nice vibe. It’s pleasant for walking. It wasn’t too hot.

Laos is primarily a Buddhist country. Every few steps there was a glittering stupa, temple, or statue. Laos is a Buddhist country, and they seem to have made an effort to cram in as many gilded religious sites as possible into the capital. I have an astonishing number of photos of palaces and Buddhas and their glittering detailed interiors, but after an afternoon of popping into various temples, I kind of felt like I had seen enough.

The city itself also sort of lacks inviting restaurants or shops. I did find a couple of nice cafés that were good for a visit, but that took a bit of looking. There was good food, but I did not feel spoilt for choices.

I visited the night market, which had a nice energy with lots of people stretched out along the waterfront along the Mekong with rows of booths selling…mostly junk, but it was still fun to browse, and then there were food tents and a ferris wheel. It was fun for an evening wander, but it wasn’t extraordinary.

Really, if it weren’t for the Buddha Park and the COPE Visitor Centre, both of which I’ll get to you momentarily, I think Vientiane would be kind of skippable. I feel bad saying that, but it’s true for my perspective. On the plus side, it does feel like a real city; not at all touristy and fully authentic.

That said the two things that I liked, I really liked. I’m going to write about the amazing Buddha Park is a separate post.

COPE

The COPE Visitors Centre is a small museum and fundraising endeavour for the victims of land mines and unexploded bombs in Laos. It is located at the Centre for Medical Rehabilitation. And if I took away only one thing from Laos, I think it is this: the sheer numbers of people that were killed and named from land minds. It’s something that I was aware of already but as with many things, it doesn’t resonate unless you have some in person experience with it.

To put it in perspective, about 270 million sub-munitions from cluster bombs (aka ‘bombies’ – how cute for something so terrible) were dropped over Laos between 1964 and 1973 in between and they estimate that about 80 million of those failed to explode. It is estimated that about 50,000 people have been injured or killed since that time from these unexploded bombs. About 40 people are still injured or killed every year by happening upon them.

The museum is very small and relies on donations. It is free to enter, but they invite you to donate some money, which, of course I did once at the beginning and once at the end. It has films and information about the land mines and Laos, but it also has these arresting visual displays of bombs and rudimentary prosthetics that are made for these people who have lost their limbs or appendages. There were displays of objects that people have made out of munitions that they find in the fields, often with disastrous results.

I’ll say now that Laos is very poor and was devastated during the 1960s and 1970s by war and bombing, but it is also landlocked and communist and faces other challenges. That’s why Vientiane isn’t a Bangkok or a Ho Chi Minh. So the COPE centre raises money to help people with prosthetics and support after they’ve lost limbs due to bombs and land mines. How poor do you have to be to risk your life to try to salvage scrap metal from a live munition. It is upsetting but at least there is some help.

And now for the most awkward of transitions…

Smoking Cigars in Vientiane

Surprisingly, for a city as sleepy and smallest Vientiane, there were two cigar lounges. There was a newish one called “K2” owned by a foreigner whom I chatted with a bit. It was a decent little spot. It had a decent bar and some seating inside and on the patio. He also sold some cigars, but honestly, the quality was very poor and the selection limited. I smoked my own cigar and had a coffee. No one else was there when I visited, but I could imagine it being a nice spot when it’s busy if it’s busy. [2025 Update: According to Google maps it has closed.]

The other cigar room was the Smoke & Oak Cigar Lounge at “The Beer House”. They had a little side entrance with a decent cabinet humidor that was well stocked, and you went upstairs to a couple of small adjoining rooms that were decorated with local art and pictures of cinematic tough guys and leather sofas. They basically left you up there to smoke your cigars in peace, but you could press a little button and request some assistance if needed. It was kind of an odd place, but I was the only one there again and it allowed me to at least get some work done.

There was another one called Club DPlus, which is just an objectively terrible name for anything. This was in a building that was either a mall or a casino very near the COPE visitor centre. I approached its opulent looking entrance but didn’t go inside as there was a sign that stated that it was strictly for members. I don’t know what one has to do to be a member but I’m certain I didn’t qualify.

*a cigar and a lemonade at a local restaurant*

That’s largely how I spent my two and half days in Laos, just walking around aimlessly and exploring and then doing my little day trip to the Buddha Park, which I will write about in the next post. It was a bit underwhelming, but decent for a short time. Fortunately, there was lots to look forward to in Laos, starting with the weird and wonderful Buddha Park.

*That Dam Stupa, a* *16th-century Buddhist stupa*

Vietnam Vietnam Laos trip 2024

Hanoi: Vintage Motorcycle Tour

On my second evening in Hanoi, I realized that I had done most of what I wanted to do but that I still had a half a day before I went to the airport the next day. So I looked into what sort of walking tours perhaps I could do. But I found something even better: a tour of Hanoi on a vintage motorbike. This was offered by Hanoi Backstreet Tours and I booked it immediately.

I was picked up at my hotel by a fellow riding a vintage-looking army motorcycle. We were joined by another two guides each with a guest on their motorcycles. A couple from Japan. And off we went. It was terrific. It took us through areas of the city that I had not visited and gave me some small photo opportunities. They also took us through tiny little back streets, that we skilfully wound through on the motorbikes. They took us to some interesting shops including one that made wedding cakes and another that made replica luxury goods out of paper for burning to achieve good luck in the afterlife. We went to a market and saw chickens and fish and other creatures. A lot of interesting historical details were shared.

We even left the city at one point and went across a bridge and saw some of the shantytowns down by the river.

While near the market, we passed a small square where young men were smoking big bamboo pipes. I had seen this already the day before in my walk around but I wasn’t sure what they were smoking in them. The guide explained that they were smoking tobacco, called thuoc lao. It’s not cigarette tobacco. It is closer to the sort of tobacco that you would use to roll a cigar, though it is not fermented in the same way. The pipe, made from bamboo and called a điếu cày, Is kind of like a water pipe. Of course I wanted to try it.

The guide spoke to one of the young men who agreed to let me try his pipe. He lit it for me, got it going, and then handed it to me. I placed my mouth over the end and inhaled deeply, taking in a lungful of the potent smoke. I am a daily cigar smoker but I have never smoked cigarettes, so inhaling is not a natural thing for me. I immediately started coughing and laughing at the same time, much to the amusement of the small crowd of young men that had gathered around to watch the idiot tourist try the giant pipe. Below is a still from a humiliating video of me trying the pipe. Still, it was a fun experience I’m glad that I tried it.

It all wound up with an excellent lunch. It was superb. We covered more ground on the motorcycles, and it was just fun.

Rather than having them drop me off at my hostel, I asked her to drop me off at the La Casa del Habano, that I had passed earlier. I had just enough time for a cigar. I went in and had a Quai d’Orsay in a very civilized environment before catching a Grab back to my hostel and a taxi to the airport. It was a terrific way to wind up my time in Southeast Asia on this trip.

My next trip would be to Eritrea and Djibouti, via Cairo.

Vietnam Vietnam Laos trip 2024

Historic Hanoi

I flew to Hanoi from Luang Prabang, Laos. Really, it would have been cheaper and made more sense for me to fly back to Vancouver via Ho Chi Minh City, as that was where I had flown through on my way to Laos. But I hadn’t been to Hanoi, and this seemed like a good opportunity, so I booked the ticket.

Arrival

I arrived in Hanoi late on a Friday night. I had my e-visa and had paid a little extra to skip the queues so I could get to bed as soon as possible. I took a taxi from the airport to my hostel: Old Quarter View Hanoi Hostel, which was, of course, in the Old Quarter.

There was no question in my mind that I wanted to stay in the Old Quarter. It had all the historic neighbourhoods and markets, as well as lots of restaurants and cafes. What I didn’t appreciate, was how incredibly crowded it gets on the weekends. My taxi wasn’t able to take me right to my hostel and dropped off about four blocks away. I was irritable that he wouldn’t take me the rest of the way, but I understood once I saw the crowds. The entire neighbourhood of the Old Quarter was shoulder to shoulder with drinkers, diners, and drunks. They spilled out of the bars and restaurants on to tables on the street and then filling every footpath. It was loud and crowded, and honestly, annoying. I was tired and I had just gotten off a plane and just wanted to go to bed. I snaked my way through the raucous streets to the hostel.

The hostel was perfectly serviceable. I had booked a dorm room, which was a super bargain. ($15 a night CND.) If I was doing it again, I might have gotten myself a private room, only because a dorm in this neighbourhood means that your bunk mates are all people that are out drinking until the wee hours. When I woke the next morning I saw girls quite literally passed out in their clothes half on the bunks and half off in various states of disarray. I might be getting too old for this stuff, but I can’t resist a bargain.

Of course, I did go for a walk before bed and enjoyed a cigar.

Morning and Coffee

The next morning. I was up and out early and excited to explore the streets.

Hanoi, the Old Quarter anyway, is beautiful. Very inviting streets with a million cafes, and shops selling lanterns. Leafy trees, colourful rickshaws, and historical buildings. It’s delightful. I didn’t have much of a plan, but I decided to visit some temples and neighbourhoods, and stop for as many coffees as possible en route.

And I did just that. Hanoi is a coffee drinker’s dream. Even better than Ho Chi Minh City. There are charming and picturesque cafes serving everything from espressos to every conceivable iteration of Vietnamese coffee. I don’t typically like iced or sweet coffee or coffee with cream in it, but I put aside my predilections and I tried several unusual coffees including coconut and even the dreaded egg. None of them really taste like coffee to me. They all taste a bit like dessert, but the allure of a nice coffee on such a hot day was hard to resist.

Here are three of the best cafes I visited. There are so many more.

*Giao Mua Coffee* *for an espresso & Vietnamese iced coffee*

*Vi Anh Cafe for egg coffee and a small cigar*

*Loading T Cafe for an iced Saigon coffee*

Temples and Markets

I visited the Ngoc Son Temple, which had a moderate entrance fee (~$1.50 CDN), which was worth the price as it was quite beautiful and walking distance from where I was wandering anyway. It was set on a small island, accessible by the Huc Bridge.

I visited the market and eyed the exotic fruits and colourful vegetables. I stopped in at a cigar store and had a cigar with the owner and some of his friends. I sought out a street that had murals of historical Vietnam.

I also visited the amazing “Train Street,” but I have written about that in a separate post.

Getting Around

This was all on foot. It was an excellent city for walking, but it was very hot. So by the end of the day, I offered for a Grab back to my hostel. A Grab is like an Uber but, fantastically, it gives you the option of having a motorcycle pick you up. This is clearly the best option. They provide a helmet, and you get to feel like you’re being taken on a little tour of the city.

Cigars and Summing Up

I think I like Hanoi better than Ho Chi Minh City. And I really like Ho Chi Minh. Hanoi had a bustling energy. It is 8.8 million people. Plus, it has historic charm and interest going back centuries. There are slightly fewer cigar lounges, but still enough to keep me happy. Plus, I had no trouble finding bars and restaurants that would allow the smoking of cigars. This one was my favourite.

I had only a day and a half in Hanoi. I felt happy with what I was able to see in that time. One day of wandering, two nights of smoking and relaxation, and on the second morning before going to the airport in the afternoon, I did a classic motorcycle tour of the city, which I’ll write about separately. Had I more time in the city I would have done at least a day trip to Halong Bay, which is not far away. For this reason, I have a feeling that I will be back in Hanoi someday, but on this trip, Hanoi was my last stop and, although brief, it was satisfying.

(Previous Post: here. Next post: here)

Vietnam Vietnam Laos trip 2024

Finding Train Street in Hanoi

The number one thing that I wanted to do in Hanoi (see my main post about Hanoi here), was visit “Train Street.” If you’re the sort of person who is reading this post, you probably already know what Train Street is, but just in case you don’t, it is a section of train tracks in the Old Quarter of Hanoi where trains pass through multiple times a day just inches from the businesses along the tracks. It has been this way for as there were businesses there, but has become kind of a phenomenon since Instagram where people can see the exciting videos of trains zipping by inches from packed cafes.

I don’t know when I became aware of Train Street but as soon as I did, I had to go. I love trains and I like weird things, so this seemed perfect for me. The difficulty is figuring out how to do it. I had an old Lonely Planet this showed me roughly where the Train Street access was, but it was an old book and since about 2019, the police have really clamped down on tourists visiting Train Street. I’m not aware of anyone actually being killed, but you could see that there’s a possibility if someone would not fall the rules. And there are stories of close calls, usually from tourists trying to take the perfect shot and waiting too long to leave the tracks. The other difficulty in visiting Train Street was figuring out when the trains pass and on which day. This is something that changes, so I scoured the Internet looking for a recent post from someone who had been and I just hoped that their information was accurate.

I walked along the train tracks by “224 Lê Duẩn Street” (this is the small street along the tracks; not the larger Lê Duẩn Street running parallel) until I found an access point up onto them. This was a part of the tracks where there were businesses only on one side of the tracks. I sat down and had a coffee trackside. But there were two problems: one there was a policeman who yelled at me anytime I attempted to take a picture of the train tracks; and two, the tracks only had businesses on one side, so it didn’t give that atmosphere that I was looking for. I decided to abandon my post and walk further down. (The header image on this post if of this side of the tracks.)

I did walk further down, and I found another access point, however when I tried to walk up the hill and across the tracks I was stopped by police officers. One woman grabbed my arm trying to pull me up onto the tracks to take me to her cafe, while the policeman grabbed my other arm and tried to pull me back down. I shook them off and yelled “get the fuck away from me” before walking away.

At this point, I was feeling dejected. Maybe it wasn’t possible to visit Train Street anymore. Or maybe the whole experience was just too unpleasant. I was walking along, and I turned a corner, and I saw what looked like a little repair shop, but I saw a picture of a train and an arrow and some little steps and I decided to follow it. I walked through the repair shop and up the stairs and found myself in a cafe along the train tracks at a perfect spot. It looked just like how I imagined with two-story rows of businesses on either side of the tracks just a foot or two away. And lots of hustle and bustle. This was near where “224 Lê Duẩn Street” meets “P. Khâm Thiên” street. Right about where the yellow star is on this map.

*map detail showing where i eventually and successfully accessed train street*

The proprietor of the cafe was happy for business, and I was happy to have found a good spot for the train. He also had a train schedule posted on the wall and I could see that I was only about 45 minutes away from the next passing. I sat down and ordered several coffees and enjoy this car. Other tourists came and sat at the tables, and we chatted a bit which was fun. Also fun was just watching all the people on the tracks posing for pictures, shopping for souvenirs, and enjoying the atmosphere. It felt very festive. If I had had to sit there for an hour or more waiting for the train, it wouldn’t have been a hardship.

At a certain point, a siren went off and people began herding the tourists off of the tracks. Everyone obeyed. Then we heard it coming. The train snaked around the corner and came close. I mean it really came close. It was less than a foot away from my head as it zoomed by. It was really cool. This was not one of these things that you do and you kind of think “OK well that’s something that I’ve done.” I loved this I thought it was exciting and different and while normally I would be irritated that there were so many tourists there, in this case I didn’t, it just added to the fun.

I actually ended up going back to Train Street (although a different quieter part of it) the next day as part of the motorcycle tour that I went on, but this time where I had to find it myself was much more fun.

So many of my very memorable travel experiences involve trains, whether it’s overnighting on former Soviet trains, or riding on top of the iron ore train in Mauritania, or smoking cigars with locals on an overnight train in Myanmar. There’s just something romantic and exciting about them. And so this was another experience to add to the list.

I’m not going to bother posting the train schedule, because I’m sure that changes. If you want to visit Train Street I think the best thing to do is find the access points on a map, but then try to find the most recent information that you can from social media or blogs about what time the trains go by. Obviously, I can’t speak to what the security situation will be. The police seemed pretty set on keeping tourists out, but the business owners keep finding ways to let them in. But I think it is definitely worth doing for as long as they allow it.

The next day, my final one in Hanoi, i would go on an excellent motorcycle tour.

Wandering North

Impressions of Vientiane, Laos

Sightseeing

COPE

Smoking Cigars in Vientiane

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Sightseeing

COPE

Smoking Cigars in Vientiane

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Arrival

Morning and Coffee

Temples and Markets

Getting Around

Cigars and Summing Up

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