When we visited Halong Bay on the second day of Intrepid Travel’s “Explore Vietnam” tour, I didn’t really know what to expect. I have to admit, it was a pleasant surprise.
“Halong” roughly means “descending dragon” in ancient Vietnamese, leading to the mythological story of the creation of the nearly 2,000 limestone peaks rising out of the water. The entire area was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. Archeological findings show humans lived in the area as early as 18,000 BC.
We left for Halong Bay during Hanoi’s morning rush hour. High taxes on automobiles make scooters and motorbikes the preferred mode of transportation among the nearly 3 million Hanoians.Along the way, we stopped for coffee and a quick tour of a small pottery and ceramics manufacturing company. A small area in the shade of the large vases was set aside as a break area. A low, narrow bench provided a place to sit and have tea or a smoke from a điếu cày (farmer’s pipe), basically a giant bong used with very powerful tobacco.Inside, a woman puts the finishing touches on one of the ceramic bowls. She worked quickly and precisely, creating a unique scene on each piece.Immediately upon arriving in Halong City, we boarded a boat and set course for a harbor on Bo Hon Island. The view back to the city over the Gulf of Tonkin was magnificent.Inside the limestone was a surprise… Sung Sot Cave (literally Surprise Cave). After climbing several stairs in Vietnam humidity, we descended a few steps inside the cave, when the area opened up into a theater of geology. Stalactites and stalagmites, natural hot springs and rock formations capturing the imagination (“doesn’t that one look like like a lion?”). In the late 1990s, the Chinese helped to install a pathway and colorful lighting to “enhance” the experience for tourists.From the overlook near the cave exit, many other tour boats joined us at the cave. A older Japanese man asked me in English where I was from. He really got a kick out of it when I answered him in Japanese and told him we lived there. Fortunately he was more interested in practicing his English than testing my Japanese!Fiddling with the nighttime settings on our new camera, I managed to capture the moon over the gulf on a cloudy evening.
More Photo of the Day posts from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam
On our first full day in Hanoi, we wandered the Old Quarter. With a history spanning more than 2,000 years, the streets are a living, breathing history lesson. Each street is named for the types of items sold on the ancient streetsーHang Gai (Hemp Street) is now a silk paradise while metal workers now reside in the shops of Lo Ren (Blacksmith Street).
We started the day at the Ho Chi Minh Museum, part of the Communist leader’s mausoleum complex. The museum leans heavily toward Communist propaganda, but with a conceptual art twist. The story of Vietnam during the Uncle Ho (as he’s lovingly referred to by the people) era is told through abstract sculptures and immersive pieces. It’s also full of school children who we were told visit the mausoleum annually.Uncle Ho’s Soviet counterpart, Vladimir Lenin, has his own ominous statue in a park across the street from Hanoi’s Army Museum. Workers are preparing for the 70th anniversary of Vietnam’s post-World War II independence.A woman selling vegetables on a busy street near the Old Quarter.A parked bicycle is transformed into a fruit stand on a sidewalk on the outskirts of the Old Quarter shops.The Vietnam flag flies proudly from many homes. There’s a widely accepted story about the origins of the flag, but we haven’t heard much about the conflicting accounts of that story.Another mobile fruit market attracts customers.A flower vendor sizes up a pair of bouquets for a customer on the ever-present scooterIn the afternoon, we took a street food tour through Hanoi. Our first stop was for Pho Ga Tron, made, a popular summer dish made with cold noodles, veggies and peanuts. For three hours, we ducked into various stalls, apparently-empty shops and even through a garage into the second floor of a shop/home for some of Hanoi’s best eats.Hanoi’s version of green papaya salad, a dish that’s also popular in Thailand. Our guide told us it’s called the “single woman’s snack” in Hanoi because it keeps women slim and also has bust-enhancing superpowers. Who knew?Vietnam is one of the world’s major coffee producers and they do some unique things with it. This artful drink is called egg coffee and is served with whipped egg yolk on top. It was surprisingly good!
More Photo of the Day posts from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam
After a week in Hong Kong, we headed west to Hanoi, Vietnam. After an easy flight, we boarded a city bus for a one-hour ride through countryside and small townsーthe only foreigners on board, although nobody seemed to notice. Soon, the roads grew more crowded and motorbikes appeared in droves as we approached Hanoi. We alighted at the final bus stop and walked through Hanoi’s Old Quarter toward our hotel. Along the way, the pace of life at dusk left our photos with blurs representative of the activity on the street.
The facades of the homes throughout northern Vietnam maintain influences from the French colonial era, while the sides of the home are often plain concrete. It’s hard not to stop and photograph each of them.We followed this balloon vendor for a few blocks as he tried to unload one of his many Minions.He finally made a sale of a red rooster!Hungry and in street food heaven, we stopped at the first banh mi stand that looked good. Banh mi is like a Vietnamese submarine sandwich, usually made with a pate spread on a fresh baguette topped with meats, shredded daikon (big white Asian radish), cilantro, jalapeños and mayo. We went with the fried egg and a couple local beers, which were served hot from a crate beside the stand.
More Photo of the Day posts from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam
Update: As of February 2016, Cascadian Abroad reader Linda from Yokosuka has verified American passport holders can still apply for 10-year visas at the Chinese Embassy in Roppongi. Read on for more information and thanks to Linda for the update!
I like to think I’m pretty good at the internets, but when researching our next adventure, I hit a major roadblock trying to figure out the visa process for China. Our situation is a little unique because we have Japanese residency but U.S. passports.
Older posts indicated that we could go directly to the Embassy to apply. Newer posts said that you could no longer apply directly at the Embassy and needed to go to a travel agency. Comment after comment mentioned being turned away at the door. Even semi-official websites suggested going through a travel agency.
I turned to crowdsourcing and asked a Facebook group focused on foreigners living in Japan. Four of the five commenters replied that I’d need to apply via a travel agency.
The price difference between the Embassy and a travel agency was around $200 USD, so I figured it was worth a shot to try the Chinese Embassy first.
The Results Are In!
American passport holders living in Japan CAN apply for a Chinese tourist visa directly through the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo.
And it was actually pretty easy! While passport holders from most countries can apply for short-term tourist visas, Americans tourists can only apply for a 10-year visa. Here’s a few tips to make the process go as smooth as possible.
Fill out the forms in advance
The current visa application form is called Form 2013. The website VisaRite has detailed instructions to help with some of the funky parts.
You’ll need the following items for your application packet:
Your passport with two blank facing pages (although they only use one).
Photocopies of the identification page of your passport and your Japan residence card.
The completed four-page visa application (Form 2013).
A recent color passport photo sized 33 mm x 48 mm.
Airline tickets showing arrival and departure from China. I printed the e-ticket for our arrival flight and the website confirmation page for our departure flight. Both were accepted with no problems.
A complete itinerary showing where you’ll be staying while in China. If you’re traveling with a tour company, this should be provided when you complete your booking. If you’re traversing China on your own, you’ll need to show a detailed itinerary with dates and addresses.
An invitation letter from someone residing in China. Again, a tour company should provide this. Otherwise, you’ll need to do a little bit of research on this.
At the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo
The Embassy in Tokyo is located in the Roppongi District and is open for visa application and passport pickup from 9 a.m. until noon Monday-Friday. There is very little signage in English, but some of the security staff speaks English, so if you get stuck, ask for help.
Pro tip: When you enter the building, you’ll pass through a metal detector and your bag will be searched. Make sure you’re not carrying your X-ACTO knife or scissors as they’ll be confiscated.
Head for the third floor via the elevator or stairs. There’s an information window just to the left when you exit the elevator. Get in this line. I went on a Tuesday and the line wrapped down the stairs back to the second floor.
The woman at the information window will quickly review your application and give you a ticket with a number. Take your number to the waiting area. You’ll be called to one of the two windows on the left side.
Pro tip: Watch the number and be ready to run toward the window as they don’t waste a lot of time skipping through the numbers.
The staff at the windows speak excellent English. Give them your passport and application packet. They’ll give you a receipt and a return date. Sounds like four days is pretty average.
Picking up your visa
When you return to pick up your visa, stay on the first floor and head toward Window #6 with your receipt. The person at Window #6 will give you a numbered tag and another receipt with the amount to pay.
Go to the purchase machine by the door—similar to the ordering machine at the ramen shop! Insert your money and push the button(s) for the amount you need to pay.
Take the ticket from the machine, the numbered tag and the receipt to Window #4 to collect your passport.
After I picked up the passports from the Chinese Embassy, I headed across town to the Vietnam Embassy to apply for visas for the final leg of our journey.
You can apply for a visa-on-arrival-sorta via several websites. Basically, you’re purchasing an invitation letter from a Vietnamese company. You’ll provide this at your arrival airport in Vietnam to get the tourist visa. We preferred to get the visa in advance so we wouldn’t have to muck with any of that on arrival.
The golden fork in the road. Stay to the right…
The Embassy is buried in a neighborhood about 15 minutes from Yoyogi-koen Station on the Chiyoda Line. When you approach the embassy, there’s a gold sign hanging on the stone wall. I was distracted by the shininess, but it actually has good information on it. The actual Embassy is up the hill to the left, but the visa application center is to the right of this sign.
All you need is your visa application, passport-sized photo (trimmed to 30 mm x 40 mm), your passport and a stack of cash. The embassy website has very little info about hours, price, etc. Some of the travel agency sites say it’ll take 4-5 days to process your visa, but it only took about 30 minutes! I walked out of the application center with two freshly-minted Vietnam visas in our passports!
