Day 1

Okay... we came to our familiar airport, KLIA. Having learnt a lesson in LCCT, we stood in front of the check-in counter even though it was not opened. We gained one more "wisdom". Seeing 11 of us jamming the counter, the KLIA personnel opened the counter for us to check in.

Flight from KL to Hanoi takes about 3.5 hours. On our 6D5N trip, we just managed to cover the northen part of Vietnam. Vietnam is a very long country where it's not possible to cover Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in a week. The distance from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City is about the distance from KL to Bangkok.

Having paid RM 770 for the Vietnam Airline ticket, of course we were served a proper meal on board and free-flow of beverages. KeiKoh was really a "drinker". He drank 2 cans of Calsberg + Seven-Up, 3 glasses of fruit juice (Apple. Guava, Tomato) and a glass of red wine.

The tour guide, Mr Tan fetched us from the airport. Everything was well planned. We were carried around on a big private van. Upon touched-down, we paid the full amount of the tour package. We couldn't be refunded for the 1 night hotel accommodation + dinner we've missed. After much discussion, we paid USD 276 for a 6D5N tour package, instead of the original USD 279 for a 7D6N tour package.

Eat...eat... and eat. We reached Hanoi at 6.30pm. It was eating time, again. We had our dinner in a very classy restaurant. It exuded the Malacca's Baba-and-Nyonya feelings. Drinks are not included in the tour package. We had to pay for our own drinks.

After dinner, we headed towards the railway station. Our train departed from Hanoi to Sapa at 10pm. We took the 1st class sleeping berths to Sapa. Each and every train compartment has many private rooms, a toilet and a washing basin. Each private air-conditioned room has 4 sleeping berths. Each sleeping berth costs USD 20.