Half and half make more than one!- Vietnam travel

An interesting aspect we noticed in Hanoi. We went for lunch at a Japanese restaurant in the Lotte Center in Hanoi; mostly pizzas are shared , or by slice ( there was an exception to this that we got in Switzerland- but later on that). This time, there was an option to make a full dish with two half pizza of different types. That was good - allowed us to try two options in one dish! Wish more restaurants do this. 

As far as the Switzerland issue goes, in Zermatt, the restaurant near the railway station made a pointed statement to us " no sharing". That may be the culture there, we don't know, as we wouldn't be there long enough, but that left a rough edge to an otherwise nice trip. 

The saddest part is the service charge of Euro 2 for serving tap water. On inquiry, we were told that it costs that much for the server to serve the water, which is essentially free from the tap (and not bottled which I understand would have a cost). This is such a contrast from India, which is supposed to be a poor country, where even the smallest restaurant or roadside eatery will serve water glasses for free. Something to understand, when we tend to play down India or play up the first world! 

A day trip in Ha Long Bay– Vietnam Travel

Islands in Ha Long Bay

Once on the waters of Ha Long Bay, it was a great day. The knifing cold wind notwithstanding, the voyage on the boat was nice. Although it was grey day in winter, it was sufficiently clear to see the green waters. On a clear summer day, the water would have really been a magnificent shade of green.

Typically, a day cruise covers Ti Top Island, Tunnel cave and Sung Sot (Surprise) Cave, before heading back to Tuan Chau marina, from where all cruises start. 

There’s lunch on the boat, which we found quite good in its quality and variety, especially the vegetarian dishes (rice, noodles, dimsum).

The famous "kissing Rocks" 

Ti Top Island

Ti Top Island is a sort of staging point on the cruise. It was so named because of a visit by a USSR cosmonaut Gherman Titov back in 1962, but otherwise earlier it was named after sailors who had perished in a shipwreck in the Ha Long Bay in 1905. The statue on the island is of Gherman Titov. 

Ti Top Island

The island is steep wooded on one side and a slope going down to a beach on the other side. This seems to be man-made beach (quite neat and clean) nice enough for a swim if you planned for it; else you could climb the many steps to the top of the island and have a look around the bay. We climbed halfway to a stage, and got a view, but most people take a quick walk up. Takes about 20 minutes, but we weren’t the heavy outdoorsy type. 

People were also kayaking, and we understand you could also do some paragliding- check with your cruise operator, or the people on the island. 

Luon Cave entrance 

There’s a smallish restaurant and a rooftop where you could lounge around as well. The bathrooms were clean enough- just don’t expect 5-star cleanliness as there are simply too many visitors to the island.

Beach on Ti Top Island

Luon Cave

Leaving Ti Top, the next stop is an island formation with a secluded cove called Luon Cave, reachable thru a tunnel that’s got carved in the side of the island. You get transferred to a smaller boat which takes you into the tunnel and into the cove inside the island. 

A short scenic ride in a small boat with travelers wearing life vests. You could kayak thru the cave as well. This cave entrance must have been carved by years of erosion from the sea (see the photos).All in all, quite a neat nice excursion.

Sung Sot Island - Surprise Cave

This was the really surprising part of the trip. From outside, its just one of the many islands in Ha Long bay, but climb up on the steps and enter the cave, and its gigantic within. Its apparently called Surprise cave because the French who discovered it were surprised by the sheer size and scale of it. In the local language, its called Sung Sot Cave. 

The soaring ceiling of "Surprise Cave" 

The steps are many, and go thru the grotto and up and down thru the mountain, finally descending to sea level after about a half hour walk. Its not very easy, but there are more steps than slopes, so those with knee or heart issues may well be advised to skip this part.

But important notice! The boat that brings you to the Sung Sot cave does not wait there- it leaves after dropping off the passengers and goes to the other side of the island where the exit of the cave is. So if you don’t want to visit the cave, do NOT leave the boat! The cruise operator does tell you this, but many people miss it. Be careful!

It’s a very huge place with water streams, green- and brown-coloured stones and pathways and a lot of Stalactites (caused by water dripping from the roof of the grotto). Theres also many stalagmites there, as the water keeps dripping onto a place and the minerals harden over time. Makes for dramatic landscapes and arches all over, highlighted by strategically placed lights.

Stalactites in "Surprise Cave" 

Its worth a quick walk thru, if your health permits. Do note: you must be aware that this part of the trip can be difficult if have ailments.

There are other tours also- some with overnight stay on the cruise ships; some on hotels on the mainland, and some with more activities. But the one we took was just right without getting tiresome or boring. 

View from the exit of "Surprise Cave"

Of course, the weather was great, and that helped. The tour organization was perfectly fine as well, with good buses, ships and food. 

Hotel Review: The Tirant, Hanoi - Good hotel in a great location

The Tirant Hotel (pronounced "Tai-Rang") in the Gia Ngu Street,
also came recommended thru Club7Holidays. It was in the old quarter, very close to the Water Puppet show Theatre and right in the center of shops and coffee cafes, for which Hanoi is famous.

From the outside, the hotel and its sister hotel (Rex) are cheek and jowl with other buildings and a host of cars and retailers all around. Looks very much like Mumbai or Delhi, especially Delhi with its buildings with common walls everywhere between residences. But that’s the charm of many of these cities in Asia- so alive and vibrant, so tightly integrated and inter dependent. Very familiar to most Asians (especially Indians) and very exotic for the western world.

The lobby 

The Tirant was well done up inside. Quick check-in and well-appointed  room ( though it was a bit tight for three beds), but that wasn’t a major issue. The bathroom was quite large after the one in Siem Reap, and overall, it was a slick, modern hotel -quite surprising to many if they form an opinion of the surroundings of the hotel.

Breakfast was, as we had come to expect in Indochina, not very hep- but much better in its mix ( noodles / eggs/ breads etc). Its too much to expect completely standardized food but a judicious mix of International and local would be expected and welcome.  As good, seasoned travelers, we did carry our own food when the local cuisines got a tad too much, but that’s a personal preference.

Double room with extra bed

There were some key aspects we liked our choice finally. One, it was in the heart of the old quarter, the really original Hanoi, which we tend to see in all the pictures of the city. Full of souvenir shops at every corner. Two, very close to the Ho Hoan Kiem (lake) with its Confucius temple with a leafy nice walkway around it; three, walking distance from the Tha Long Water Puppet Theatre, of the really unique highlights of Hanoi ( more on these later), and four, absolute walking distances from several coffee cafes- Highlands, Giang for its egg coffee, The Note, Trung Coffee, Kafa, a hole in the wall cafe, and Timeline Coffee. There are many others. Vietnam is famous for its variety of coffee. Fifth, all buses for Ha Long Bay pass by this hotel and pick up / drop off within 100 meters of the hotel door. Uber is easily found, and they know the hotel as well. And of course, should you need Vietnamese Dong, there’s one of the many money changers right opposite the door of the hotel.

Clearly, this area -the old quarter has started getting“touristified” but its up to the visitor to be curious and absorb the culture and sensations. 

The Hanoi skyline

If you stay there, don’t forget to visit the rooftop restaurant. Beautiful airy place, with great views of Hanoi all around (see pictures). Unfortunately, it was simply too cold and windy in December to enjoy the outdoors, but it was nice nevertheless.

View from Tirant roof top of lake 

All said and done, The Tirant was a good choice, great location and for the brief 2 days we were in Hanoi, very enjoyable. 

Airline Flight Review: Vietnam Airlines - Siem Reap to Hanoi

The bridges into Hanoi 

We flew from Siem Reap (at the at time, the old airport , nice, small and neat, and close by from the city) to Hanoi in the evening flight of Vietnam Airlines ( 1950 hours) It was on time, and we landed Hanoi about 2 hours later in a coldish evening ( 2145 hours). 

The aircraft was clean and neat, with the airline coloured seats. Good enough flight. And the timing is such that you get almost the whole day in Siem Reap for sightseeing before you need to head to the airport around 430pm.  While this particular flight was fine, later on in Vietnam, we did have some delays, but nothing that disrupted the plans too much.

Hotel Review: Amber Angkor Hotel & Spa, Siem Reap, Cambodia

We were recommended The Amber Angkor Hotel and Spa by our long-time travel consultant Club7 Holidays. There were plenty of other options, across the city, but we finally settled on this one. It turned out to be a good choice. It was right in the centre of town, a little set back from the road and just near the Wat Bo (temple), and near to the night market, a short tuk tuk ride away.

The hotel itself is quite large, which isn’t immediately visible when seen from the road. Spacious ground floor and a simple enough lift. We had a triple room, which was quite roomy, though the bathroom was a little on the cramped side, but quite ok. The single room we saw was neat but small. You may be hard pressed to put too many bags. 

The one thing I always dislike in hotels is that one needs to climb into and out of bathtubs for bath. That’s not a good idea for older people, or for that matter, any people in wet areas. Fundamentally, I don’t even know how many people really use bathtubs in hotels! But presumably, a lot do, as I have seen bathtubs in hotel bathrooms across the world. Would this be considered a water wastage?

The restaurant was simple and roomy, but the breakfast quality left much to be desired. It simply wasn’t good enough quality, and variety. It gave the impression that a majority of the guests were usually SE Asian or locals- and even the few locals we saw didn’t look very pleased either. This is one area this otherwise nice hotel needs to drastically improve. The quality of breakfast we had in Helsinki, for example, was top notch- prices were more or less the same ( Cambodia is not a cheap destination contrary to beliefs that Asia is cheap).  

Water dispensers are on the ground floor, and you need to go fill bottles yourself. Nothing unusual in this. The rear area that backs onto the Wat Bo road has the swimming pool, quite nice and well frequented. 

The best part was Daniel, the manager of this hotel. Quick, efficient and polite, he arranged all the taxis and tuk tuk that we hired during the stay. His replies on email before we arrived were also comprehensive enough ( he in fact told us in detail of the small circle and grand circle tours, and arranged the taxi and guide as well). Eased any concerns we had quite bit and other wise made the trip far more enjoyable. On the last day in fact, we had to check out by 11am but our flight to Hanoi was around 7pm- Daniel was kind enough to arrange a single room for us to rest in.

All in all, a good stay- recommended as on December 2022. Readers need to go thru the latest reviews and take their own decision.

Business of Tourism : Indian Travel industry poised to boom!

India's second largest Online Travel Agent (OTA), EaseMytrip ( www.easemytrip.com) put out some interesting data points in its investor presentation May 24 2024.  

Source : Easemytrip investor ppt, slide 21, May 24 2025

Briefly, it shows how India , and Indian travelers are set to be key drivers of domestic and international tourism. 

The INR values themselves for the overall travel market are growing well : from INR 27,700crore in 2023Estimated to INR 40,400 crore Estimated in 2027. Within that number, air travel is estimated at 15% growth, on the back of new airports, planes, and generally better affordability. 

The key is the online market, whose spread, availability and convenience has impacts on many industries, not least travel itself which it will facilitate growing. Its expected to go from INR 18500 crore to INR 29800 crore from 2023 to 2027 E. That's massive growth, underlined by hotels, transport, F&B. It also suggests a strategy marketing - almost every travel player has migrated big time from print ( at one time the primary medium for advertising) to digital, since the chain from idea to execution is seamless and information for the same is easily available real time. 

These numbers also show international players like airlines and tourism boards an early glimpse of the future. 

There were 22.6 million Indian Nationals Departures (IND) as per the ministry of tourism, and 98% went by air. These are good numbers for a tourism destination, and the growth of internet, affordability, smart phones and easier visa regimes can only drive more growth.

Interestingly, Easemytrip said in their analyst call on May 24 2024 that they have adopted 4 heritage  landmarks for maintenance under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Adopt a Heritage 2.0 program: The Qutub Minar,  Delhi; The Konark Sun temple, Agra Fort, and Western group of temples in Khajuraho. Totally, these get over 6 mn visitors annually, not a bad OTS ( Opportunity to see), and may be even get business! 

The other aspect they seem to be doing is to train over 1.8 cr didis (women) in rural areas to use the app and book tickets. Even if 10% of these start using it regularly, it will open up a flood of travel bookings. 

Hopefully, the company will follow thru on these, and not just see it as PR; should be interesting to see if they declare progress on these in future investor calls. 

Ignore India at your own peril! 

Bakong Temple : one of the earliest in Angkor

Bakong Temple, Rolous Group

The Bakong temple is the Roulos Group, about 13-14 km from Siem Reap, and is generally covered as part of the day trip of Bantaey Srei (about 30 km away) and the group of temples called Rolous. These temples are the Bakong, Lolei,and Preah Ko and Prasat Prei Monti.

The Bakong is actually  one of the earliest temples made by the Khmer empire, about 1600 years ago (apparently the first temple ever made was Preah Ko, which is also visited as part of this tour).

Bakong temple is a “stepped pyramid” (see picture), and was the state temple of the city of Hariharalaya, established by the first king of Angkor, Jayavarman II. But later the capital of the empire moved to Angkor, leaving this site on the sidelines but not entirely abandoned. 

The temple is a nice, quiet place (when we visited, we were the only people there).This temple was also reconstructed using anastylosis method (as was done in The Baphuon as well, in Angkor Thom).  Don’t miss the lions that guard the entry, and the huge trees around the moat. Climb to the first level ( the stairs are a bit steep, as usual), and check out the elephants and lions at the corners.

The key aspect is the top spire looks like the Angkor temples, while the rest of the temple is a different style. The access road goes almost till the moat, making this temple one of the easier ones to visit by car.

The Rolous Group + Bantaey Srei is a very nice day trip from Siem Reap. The temples are clean and cleared, and its worth just wandering around in the silence and ever-advancing jungle, knowing that its ready to reclaim everything given the chance! These temples are also part of the three day ticket for US$67 per head. 

Business of Tourism : Extent of tourism in numbers - the T/P Ratio

Overtourism is the current rage in the travel, tourism, government and social circles. There are cities being overwhelmed by visitors in particular months and empty in others; there are protests and water being squirted over tourists ( which is sad because tourists cant be blamed for local policies that enable them to arrive!).

That said , I thought it would be interesting to gauge from numbers exactly how bad is the problem of over tourism. I compiled a few numbers (see table) from various sources - the Ministry of Tourism India (2022 data) , UN tourism site, Euromonitor, Statista, ET, TOI, The Guardian, CNN and a few others). 

The "T/P ratio" is essentially simply Tourist- to- Population ratio. Just my way to grasp the scale of the issue. 

Not surprisingly, western Europe has some T/P  ratios that could be called alarming. The point here is that not all these millions are leisure travelers. Quite a large component will be business arrivals too. Still, the numbers are huge in already huge cities. Istanbul, for example, gets 25% more visitors thru its gates in a year than its resident population. London, nearly 2x, and Barcelona, the current hot topic, 37 % more than its population. These are serious enough "overruns" to stress out people, resources like water and sanitation, as well as transport. ( populations are measured differently in different cities - some take in only metro city areas; some the wider metro area including suburbs, but the core purpose of the analysis remains good). 

numbers in millions.
Sources: Euromonitor, Statista,
WTTO, UN Tourism Dashboard, media reports,
TOI, ET, Guardian, CNN

India : big on population, low on tourism

Ironically, in the second half of the table, you can see how under-developed India is on the tourism scale. India gets less than 1.7% of global tourism, and its FTA (Foreign Tourist Arrivals) are about 9 mn. Basically, the whole, huge subcontinent of India , one of the oldest and most diverse cultures on Earth, gets less tourist arrivals than any one of the cities in the table! 

India has tremendous potential for tourism - both domestic and international. There are some clear concerns, but they pertain to infrastructure, costs, general perception of safety, and that India is destination by itself requiring much time and planning). 

There's essentially no concern on overtourism for India! As it is, Indian cities are densely populated. A few million more may not even be noticed! 

Business of Tourism: Rising costs doesn't deter Indian tourists to Europe

Further to the discussion on if entry fees are an effective barrier to slow or stop tourism, take a look at the numbers from India to Europe, the most preferred destination for Indians.  

Source: schnegenvisainfo.com / TOI/ HT/ 
https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/

Take a look at the data for Schengen visas issued to Indian citizens (see table 1).  

There are three interesting data points here.

First, there was a smart recovery from the low of the pandemic years (2020-2022) and it really shot up post 2022.  

Second, in the same duration. the Schengen visa fee rose from Euro 60 to 80 per head and is today, in 2024, euro 90. Every three years or so, the EU revises this fee. The latest revision was effective June 2024. 

Third, check out the rejections. There was a smart spike in the rejection % as well. India now is the third most rejected country from European visas. There is no refund for rejections (I think that's unform for all countries, even India). The key data point is- how much Indians lost to rejections. In 2023, it was about Euro 12 mn  against about Euro 10mn in 2022. 

So, what does it look like, in money terms? See table 2 below. 

Table 2: 

Source: schnegenvisainfo.com / TOI/ HT/ 
https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/

So, this clearly shows the price inelasticity for Schengen visas in India. Expect this price to cross Euro 100 by 2026, possibly. The point is, increasing price barriers - visa fees / hotel taxes / entry fees/ fines only cause the demand table to readjust to a higher cost level and go on as usual. Dips if any, will be limited and short. 

So how do you slow down over tourism? I believe more long-term damage to image and attractiveness of a destination will be done by singling out genuine tourists with embarrassment, financial losses, or violence (actual or threatened), like we saw in Barcelona. The latent hostility is even more concerning. Many people will pause a bit, and wonder.  Should I spend my money in a place that's clearly hostile? Or at the very least, disdainfully tolerates me for my money? 

Tricky, knotty issue, it sure is! 

Business of Tourism : What enables over tourism?

Over tourism remains a topic of great debate. in an earlier post, I tried to understand what could be done about it (taxes, phase out, new destinations and so on) .  Here, I wanted to explore another closely related issue : permissions and approvals.

Its easy and convenient to say tourists mess up , clog up and in general ruin the place.  That in itself is a broad generalization and not always true. 

But how and what enabled so many to visit so many areas for so many days? 

Some key factors: local authorities, logistics and prosperity.  

To start with, isn't it local authorities ( municipalities, state governments and national ministries) who allow the proliferation of short stay apartments? 

How does a tourist enable / force / cause flats or apartments to be converted into short stay tourism accommodation without active support,  frame work and planning by landlords and city authorities? 

Does a tourist have any say in housing or zoning or public transport policies of the destination? Clearly, no. 

In all the arguments raging across media, I don't find much debate on the role of authorities in allowing the shift of housing for locals into short stay for tourists (Barcelona did say they would ban all short stays, but after 4 years).  They welcomed the money that came in ( both local landlords who rented out and governments who got taxes and income).  

But perhaps it went overboard?

No one fault can be pinpointed here - it is the responsibility of authorities to grow their economies, and they simply used one economic lever. But then to turn around and blame transient visitors  almost entirely for this problem is a bit rich. Local protestors would be aware of this. Surely they would be asking hard questions of their administrators. 

The other enabler is of course, logistics or access. The expansion of low cost airlines suddenly opened up new destinations otherwise out of budget. Here again, landing / docking rights are the economic assets of the destination-its entirely there prerogative to control them. The tricky balance is to get more money in, without messing up the works- economic, cultural, business. 

The third enabler is the growing prosperity of the middle classes elsewhere in the world that puts more money and enables them to travel, supported by vastly expanded air, sea and road links. In India, at least, foreign travel is no longer a luxury, The moment the young people have excess funds and/ time, they will travel. Its just part of being the new Global Indian culture and imagery that has crystalized over the past decade. And India isnt even the largest source markets for many tourism-troubled destinations- not yet. 

Just look at India only (not even that other big source market - China) . 1400 mn people- of which the middle class would be 500mn. To put that into perspective- that would be more than the population of Scandinavia and most European countries, and quite big chunks of S/ S E Asia as well! Even if 10% of these 500mn are able to travel, that's 50mn. Europe holds the pride of place for every Indian- and even within Europe, certain destinations are always top of the list- Switzerland, UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy for sure, Next layer for the more discerning would be eastern and central Europe, and for the jaded Indian, Scandinavia/ Iceland. 

Another interesting aspect is FOMO - the fear of missing out in travel and tourism. Just consider India again. With 65% of its population below 30 years and infrastructure still shoddy for tourism, the longing for the "first world lifestyle" means that a whole mass of people are traveling- and putting on social media that " they made it" . That perfect insta photo/ that perfect facebook post. It all adds to the allure of travel. Its a good thing in many ways for Indians - exposure, style, perspective, confidence. But only if done correctly.

The fourth enabler I would say are the investments into the tourism infrastructure by a lot of players, from hotels, to transport, to F&B and governments. The rapid expansion of chain hotels and Air B&B stays opened up vast accommodation options and allowed more stays for longer. Its a matter of another debate if hotels are better for a city or short stay rentals. Hotels are usually more expensive but offer a control point for the destination. 

In sum, it was a perfect conjunction of circumstances and enablers that drove excessive tourism numbers. There are hard solutions in hand, and some soft, long term. But perhaps the travel industry will find its right, if an uneasy and flexible, balance sooner than later!