Vietnam - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 853

ACCOMMODATION
The summer months can get very busy with domestic
tourists, so it's best to book in advance. For hotels located
along the main waterfront strip, we give the street number
in brackets. We've had complaints from travellers that
many budget hotels pressure their guests to take poor-
quality tours and can restrict hot water access, but
accommodation reviewed here was exempt from these
problems at the time of writing.
Cat Ba Dream (226) T 031 3888274, W catbadream
.com.vn. A central location, good sea views from the top
floors of this seven-storey building, and f rien dly manage-
ment make this hotel a solid bet. Double $15
Le Pont 64 Nui Ngoc T 031 3888353. Budget hotel with
a French-speaking manager and largely indifferent staff.
Rooms are comfortable enough and good value during
the week (doubles rise to $30 at weekend s). There's also a
cheap, fourteen-bed rooftop dorm. Dorm $5 , double $17
Phong Lan Hotel (214) T 31 3888605. Excellent central
location overlooking the harbour and a friendly, English-
speaking owner are bonuses here. The rooms are comfort-
able but unremarkable. Boa t tours with this hotel are not
recommended. Double $12
Thu Ha Hotel (205) T 031 3888343. Refurbished
waterfront hotel (try to nab a room with a balcony) with
e cient service and com fortable, if not terribly memor-
able, rooms. Double $15
★

The Good Bar (231). The most popular place with visitors
due to its laidback vibe and sizeable portions of Western
and Vietnamese mains. The banana and pineapple pan-
cakes (40,000VND) make a great breakfast, too. Daily
7.30am-11pm.
Green Mango (231). The ambitious menu of Western
and Asian dishes at this trendy restaurant fails to live up
to expectations, but the coffee is excellent and it's a
good spot for a happy-hour cocktail. Daily noon-11pm.
Pho Dac Biet (184) Busy local joint with plastic chairs
and sticky menus, serving ample portions of pho (from
30,000VND), deep-fried spring rolls (50,000VND) and
noodle dishes (30,000-60,000VND). Daily 7am-10pm.

11

The far north
Vietnam fans out above Hanoi, the
majority of it a mountainous zone
wrapped around the Red River Delta.
he region is mostly wild and
inaccessible, sparsely populated by a
fascinating mosaic of minority tribes
whose presence is the chief tourist
attraction in the area. he popular hill
station of Sa Pa is the main departure
point for treks to minority villages. Mai
Chau and Bac Ha are less-visited centres,
Bac Ha famous for its Sunday market;
those on Vietnam's war trail or en route
to Laos will want to stop in Dien Bien
Phu , while the northwestern circuit is a
di cult but rewarding trip that takes you
far off the beaten track.

Whisper of Nature Viet Hai Village T 04 39233706,
W vietbungalow.com. Located in the tiny village of Viet
Hai, in the Cat Ba National Park, this cluster of thatch-
roofed bungalows sits by a stream on the edge of the
forest; most house private en-suite rooms, with one large
bungalow acting as a dorm room. The setting is unbeatable
and getting there is part of th e fun ; contac t the manage-
ment before you set off. Dorm $15 , double $28

EATING AND DRINKING
At night, you'll find a cluster of bia hoi stands at the western
end of the strip and in front of the pier - an atmospheric
place for a cheap beer (25,000VND) or a sugar-cane juice.
The floating restaurants at Ben Ca harbour are best avoided
as they are renowned for ripping tourists off.
Bamboo Café (199). Delicious, reasonably priced fresh
seafood, including crab spring rolls (70,000VND) and mains
such as steamed clams with lemongrass (90,000VND) or
garlic prawns (125,000VND). Daily 8am-10pm.
Bien Dong 8 Nui Ngoc. Pick your dinner from the seafood
tanks at this local favourite and say how you want it done;
it doesn't come fresher than this. Mains from 120,000VND.
Daily noon-10pm.
Flightless Bird Café (189). Friendly Kiwi-run bar
serving a good range of international drinks, accompanied
by great stone-baked pizza (from 120,000VND). Daily
5pm-midnight.

THE NORTHWESTERN CIRCUIT
Highway 6 loops around Vietnam's
northwest, skimming the borders of
Laos and China, and passing through
some of the country's most dramatic
landscapes. he journey from Hanoi
typically passes through Mai Chau , Moc
Chau , Son La , Dien Bien Phu and Muong
Lay before finishing in Sa Pa or Lao Cai.
Terraced rice paddies, tropical rainforests,
stilt-house minority villages and markets
bursting with colour make a journey
around the northwestern circuit one of
the most spectacular in Southeast Asia.
However, there is a reason why the route
attracts so few tourists: the bumpy,
unpaved road swerves around hairpin