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Entrance to Ho Chi Minh's memorial site |
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Ho Chi Minh's tomb in Hanoi |
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near Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi |
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great tasting caramel ice blends |
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A small street near our hotel in Hanoi |
Day 178
Jan 29 2015 Hanoi Vietnam
We spent
few hours reading about what we wanted to do in the next few days. We ended up booking a 2 day 1 night boat trip
around Halong Bay for tomorrow. We then
walked to the train station to see if we could get tickets on the night train
to Hue. When we got there they did not
have tickets for the train we wanted but for one that left 2 hours later. When we tried to purchase then we were
informed that we needed our passports which were back at the hotel, so back to
the hotel we walked. We took a cab back
to the station and purchased our tickets.
We had asked the hotel how much tickets would be and the quoted price
was$60 USD at the train station we paid
$38 USD. That is quite a mark up and it
would have been more as the quote you in USD then convert at whatever rate they
figure it should be in Vietnamese dong.
The tour agencies purchase most if not all the soft sleeper tickets and
mark them up. They have until day before
the train leaves to return the tickets for a 10% loss but with the markup they
charge it is well worth the bother for them.
We were lucky to be able to purchase the tickets at the train station. After the train station we took a taxi to Ho
Chi Minh’s mausoleum. It was closed by
the time we got there but we were able to walk around the grounds surrounding
it. The Canadian embassy was also in the
area so we stopped for a picture in front of the embassy.
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