Northern Central Vietnam Ông Hà

®ng Hà is a gateway city. Largely unimpressive in its own right, but located in the center of the DMZ, the city sees an amazing number of tourists passing through on historically oriented tours each day. Most of them, however, don’t stay longer than the time it takes to eat a meal. Though it was the seat of a major US base three decades ago, the city today is entirely lacking in historical relics, and instead serves only as a stopover for visitors wanting to get a glimpse of the past in the hills surrounding it. Don’t overlook this place entirely, though—the locals there are some of the kindest, most inviting people in all of the country.

Transportation. Located at the intersection of Lˆ Van H™u and Lˆ Du>n, the southbound bus station runs buses every 15-30min. between 5am and 7pm. Buses leave when they are full, and tourists should expect high but bargainable prices from the drivers. Buses run to à N{ng (4hr.; 50,000-60,000), Hu\ (1hr.; 25,000), and Lao B=o (1hr.; 25,000-30,000). To catch a bus to any northern city, get a motorbike to drop you off along Hwy. 1 about 800m north of the ®ng Hà Bridge for 5000. From there, you will need to flag down a passing northbound bus to ·ng Høi (1hr.; 30,000-40,000) or Hà Nÿi (12-15hr.; 74,000-100,000). The train station is 700m farther south on Tr+n Phú; to get there from the bus station, head west along Lˆ Van H™u and take your first left on Tr+n Phú. Continue on this road until it ends. Five trains daily leave to: ·ng Høi (1-3hr.; 28,000-100,000); Hà Nÿi (9-10hr.; 185,000-622,000); HCMC (23-28hr.; 300,000-1,100,000); Hu\ (1-1hr.; 18,000-66,000); Vinh (6-8hr.; 82,000-303,000). Trains going south leave in the morning; trains going north leave in the afternoon. Sinh Cafe and the Qu=ng Tr¢ Tourist Company sell open-tour bus tickets to Hà Nÿi (US$7); HCMC (US$14); Hu\ (30,000); Laos (US$11-12); Ninh Bình (US$7).

Orientation And Practical Information. Pulsing from north to south, Highway 1 (known as Lˆ Du>n in ®ng Hà) is the city’s main thoroughfare. Heading in from Hà Nÿi, Lˆ Du>n flows over a bridge, passes the main market and the park, and draws close to a mix of housing options. Twenty meters south of the bus station is Qu=ng Tr¢ Tourist Company, 66 Lˆ Du>n, which operates from the Mekong Hotel. Qu=ng Tr¢ has excellent English-speaking tour guides and organizes tours of the DMZ (1-day tours US$10; 2-day single and small-group tours with guide and car US$45-50). An English-speaking guide with motorbike costs US$15-20 per day. Special remembrance tours, tailored for veterans of the American War, are also offered. (☎852 927; dmzqtri@dng.vnn.vn. Open M-Sa 7-11am and 2-5pm.) North up Hwy. 1, 800m past the market, is Dong Que Restaurant and Tourist Information Center. If you are interested in a personal tour of the DMZ by motorcycle, ask at the front desk of the restaurant for Hoan Chi\n. He speaks fantastic English, is incredibly knowledgeable about the sites, and does not rush through them as some other guides do (US$15-18 per day). Dong Que also offers open-tour bus tickets and DMZ tours by bus (US$10) and by car (US$45-50) for a maximum of 4 people. (☎852 303; dongqueqt@dng.vnn.vn. Open daily 7am-11pm.) Just south of the bus stop, facing the bridge, is Trung Tñm Quán, 201 Lˆ Du>n, where you can book DMZ tours and open-tour bus tickets. (☎852 972; ttquan@dng.vnn.vn. English tours daily 8am-4pm; US$10. Open daily 6am-11pm.) To change money or get MC/V cash advances (with 3% commission), hook a right immediately after the town park. The Vietnam Bank for Agriculture, 1 Lˆ Quy ®n, is right on the corner. (☎852 100. Open daily 7-11am and 1-5pm.) There are a couple of ATMs scattered along Lˆ Du>n, including ones at 183 Lˆ Du>n, in front of the Hi_u Giáng Hotel, and 189 Lˆ Du>n, behind the gas station. The Thu®c Tñy pharmacy, 10 Lˆ Du>n, is on the way from the market to the bus station. (☎851 919. Open daily 7-11:30am and 1-9pm.) To check email and avoid a hotel’s exorbitant prices, head to Dich Vu Internet, 177 Lˆ Du>n, across from M_k®ng Hotel. The computers there are good and the owner is friendly. (☎857 177. Fast connection 3000 per hr. Open daily 7am-11pm.) From the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture, continue straight for 1km until you reach an intersection with train tracks on the left. The huge glass tower in the center of the intersecting streets is the main post office, 20 Tr<n H™ng åo. (☎852 206. Open daily 6am-9pm; phone service available 6am-10pm.) A smaller post office, at 291 Lˆ Du>n (☎846 001; open 7am-9:30pm) offers Internet for 3000 per hr.

Accommodations And Food. There is a surprisingly wide variety of overnight options in ®ng Hà. Backpackers will likely feel most comfortable at the original Phƒng Hoàng 1, 295 Lˆ Du>n, 300m south of the bus station. The singles (80,000), equipped with air-conditioning, TV, private bath, and a comfortable bed, are the best value in the city. Doubles (120,000) have nearly the same amenities in slightly bigger rooms. (☎853 359; phunghoanghotel2001@yahoo.com.) ®ng Hà Hotel 2, 16 Tr<n H™ng åo, stands opposite the Buddhist temple, slightly west of the town market. It has colorful, spacious rooms with air-conditioning, TV, fridge, and private bath. (☎551 670; fax 554 200. Singles 100,000; doubles 150,000; triples 200,000.) To live in luxury, stay a night at the Phƒng Hoàng II 3, 146 Lˆ Du>n, where king-sized rooms with beds to match, fridge, living room, and whirlpool tubs cost US$25 per night. Less upscale, though still spacious rooms have twin beds, fridge, and a sparkling private bath. Even smaller, but still comfortable doubles have clean baths. (☎854 567; phunghoang2001@yahoo.com. All rooms have air-conditioning and TV. Internet 20,000 per hr. Twin beds US$20; small doubles US$15. Prices may be slightly negotiable.) One kilometer south of the bus station, Nhà Khách 261 2, 260 Lˆ Du>n, has clean, affordable, and generic rooms with air-conditioning, TV, and private bath. (☎854 425. Singles and doubles 120,000; triples 160,000. Deluxe suites with an additional room 300,000.) Mekong Hotel 2, 66 Lˆ Du>n, located conveniently in the center of town, offers clean, fresh rooms with air-conditioning, TV, private bath, and a helpful staff. Rooms are a little more expensive than other hotels in the city, but offer equal quality. (☎852 292. Singles 150,000; doubles 200,000). Nhà Nghi Ga ®ng Hà 2, 2 Lˆ Thánh Tong, located right next to the bus station, is a good place to sleep if you get in late or are catching an early morning train. The sheets leave something to be desired and the paint is peeling a bit, but the rooms have air-conditioning, TV, and private bath with toilet. (☎857 756. Singles and doubles 130,000.)

The choice of restaurants in town is not spectacular, as most locals eat at streetside cafes—follow their lead and try out some of the ph and c£m shops along Lˆ Du>n and in the market. As usual, these shops serve great food and are extremely cheap. For those craving the comfort of an English menu, there are a few restaurants in the city, especially along Lˆ Du>n heading south from the bus station. On the corner across from the station is Tñn Ngßc Sang 1, 72 Lˆ Du>n, where the Vietnamese food—mostly glorified street food—is decent, but no better than the food stalls. (☎853 366. Cooked beef and rice 25,000. Open daily 5am-10pm.) Many DMZ tour and open-tour buses make a rest stop at the Mekong Hotel restaurant 2, where decent meals come at slightly inflated prices. (☎852 292. Breakfast 8000-12,000; lunch and dinner 15,000-25,000. Open daily 6am-11pm.) Trung Tñm Quán 1, 201 Lˆ Du>n, doubles as a ph and c£m shop with a friendly staff. (☎852 972. Vegetable soup 7000,000; rice or noodles with meat 13,000.) Some other hotels, like the Phƒng Hoàng II restaurant 2, 146 Lˆ Du>n (open daily 6-8am and noon-midnight), and the ®ng Hà Hotel restaurant 2, 16 Tr<n H™ng åo (open daily 6am-8pm), offer Western food options. Both offer lunch and dinner options ranging from sautéed chicken to American steak (25,000-40,000).

Sights. Though the city was once a military base, the remnants of US occupation that survived the NLF were destroyed by inhabitants who returned to reclaim their ruined homes. Now the only war-related sight within the city limits is a trio of US tanks abandoned in 1972. After the war, the tanks were retrieved from the DMZ and brought to the city center, and they now sit opposite the main post office. The other sight of interest is an old Buddhist temple, whose vibrant colors and walls engraved with ancient tales seem out of place among the gray, weathered buildings and simple modern structures of the city. To reach the temple from the post office, head down Tr<n H™ng åo towards the market. Alternatively, head down the curving road that starts at Lˆ Du>n to the left of the market. The temple is about halfway between the post office and the market. Though it is not a tourist attraction, the curious can peek respectfully through the temple door window to get a glimpse of the inside. The friendly monks are usually happy to show visitors around despite their limited English. The town market sits about 1km north of the bus station at the fork where Lˆ Du>n splits into Hwy. 1 and Tr<n H™ng åo. The city’s central location between Hu\ and Hà Nÿi makes for an interesting market, surprisingly large and filled with goods from all over the country, including electronics, clothing, and the requisite packaged and fresh food.

Border Crossing: Lao B=o. No more than a village, Lao B=o is a small post to the west of the DMZ attractions. Though not a destination in itself, the city receives a sizable number of visitors passing through the border to Laos. Most of them choose not to step out of their vehicles in this small, unmemorable village.

About four or five hotels offer housing, primarily for those who get stranded in Lao B=o waiting for the bus or want to rest before heading on. The best value is Hoá Binh Hotel 2, on Hwy. 9 near the market, which offers clean, spacious rooms with tall ceilings, air-conditioning, TV, minifridge, and private bath. (☎777 348. One person 130,000; two people 140,000.) A small family-run hotel, Thiˆn Nga 2, has comfortable rooms with air-conditioning, TV, and private bath. Veer right as Hwy. 9 splits into two branches; the hotel will be on your left about 100m up the hill. (☎877 282. One person 150,000; two people 180,000.) The B=o S£n 3, visible from Hwy. 9 and across from the bank, is 700m from the border. The staff speaks little English, and the rooms are standard, clean, and comfortable, with air-conditioning, TV, private bath, and faded paint on the walls. (☎877 848. Check-out noon. Singles and doubles 160,000.) Both B=o S£n and Hoá Binh hotels have attached restaurants 3 serving Vietnamese and Western fare. (25,000-60,000. Open daily 7am-11pm.) For cheaper and often better food, visit the town market, where ph and c£m shops and a few vegetable and fruit stands are interspersed among standard goods. This huge market is really the town’s only sight of interest. Inside, alcohol, fake designer shirts, electronic goods, and perfumes, all rumored to be smuggled from Thailand and Laos, attract hordes of Vietnamese shoppers.

To reach Lao B=o, head west on Hwy. 9, which runs perpendicular to Hwy. 1 from ®ng Hà into Laos. Buses leave for Lao B=o from the ®ng Hà bus station irregularly every 15 minutes (1hr.; 20,000-30,000). Tourist companies in ®ng Hà and Hu\ run buses between the two countries for US$11-13 with no more than a rest stop in Lao B=o. Most of the town itself lies on Hwy. 9. The bus station (☎877 503; open daily 5am-7pm) lies in the center of town near the market, off Hwy. 9. Daily buses go to ®ng Hà (1hr.; sporadically every 15 min. 5am-7pm; 20,000-30,000). Turning left off Hwy. 9 before the bus station and market leads to the Agribank, where you can exchange dollars and kip, Laos’s adorably named currency, or receive a Western Union transfer. (☎877 246. Open M-Sa 7-11am and 2-4pm.) The border crossing lies at the end of Hwy. 9, about 1.5km (a 15min. walk or a 5000 motorbike ride) from the town market. You can cross into Laos daily from 7am-9pm. If you don’t have a visa, it will cost you a half an hour’s wait and US$21 to get one. (Visa office open daily 7am-5pm.) Coming from ®ng Hà, there is a large blue-and-white post office on the right off Hwy. 9, a block before you reach the market. Inside you can send mail, make calls, or exchange US dollars for Œ·ng. Though the rate is not as favorable as in banks or at ATMs, the difference is usually less than 200 per dollar. (☎877 601. Open daily 7am-8pm.)