VietNamNet - The first ever Hanoi Cyclo Pub Crawl Tour was held last month, giving the growing number of backpackers a Hanoi night’s panorama. VietNamNet went along for the ride.

Fittingly Max and Chris, the brains behind the business, came up with the idea while sharing a beer.

The two Australian expats knew that the backpacker market was growing, yet despite the existence of walking tours, there wasn’t a tour devoted to what backpackers loved; alcohol and other backpackers.   

The night begins on the rooftop bar at the Hanoi Backpackers Hostel, where we are entitled to two drinks of our choice and an all you can eat BBQ buffet.

Some of the customers line up at the beer tap, enjoying the fact that they can pour their own beers from the open bar. By 7 o’clock nearly 20 people have arrived, and we embark onto the cyclos to the first stop.

As with every new business, mistakes are made and the leading cyclo driver makes a wrong turn, which is made worse when the 18 cyclo drivers behind him follow suit.

Nobody seems to mind except Max, who yells instructions from a speeding xe om (motorbike taxi), soon bringing them back on course.

The first stop, a relatively empty bar, soon comes to life as we all enter, laughing at our unexpected trip around the lake.

 

There are beers already waiting on the bar for the boys (the first drink is included at each pub), while some of the ladies order G & T’s and Kahlua and milks.

 

The group is a mixed bunch. Being the first ever tour, some ex-pats and tour operators have come to check it out.

 

There are also backpackers from Canada, England and two female captains from the US Navy. After the first stop is already looks as though romance is in the air, or at least some wish it was.  

 

At the second stop, a tiny bar, that has opened early especially for the tour, the close surroundings enable everybody to talk about their travels and future plans. It is rare to see travelers and ex-pats interact so openly. A couple of English lads play darts in the corner, but have had just enough beer to play badly.

 

After the third stop, which is a popular place for Hanoi expats, some of the guests choose to ride the cyclos and carry the drivers. The locals lining the road think this is hilarious and shout encouragement.  

 

The next bar is tiny situated down a narrow alley and is almost impossible to find. Chris, one of the creators of the tour, says “we like to take people to bars they wouldn’t normally find during their short stay in Hanoi. Some of these bars, even the ex-pats don’t know about”.

 

The bar is small enough that everybody in the tour can talk to each other comfortably, which is one of the tour’s assets according to Daniel, an Australian exchange student studying in Hanoi.

 

“I like it how at every stop I can talk to new people in the group. The whole idea is a great way to meet people, in a city which is pretty hard to do so”.

 

The last stop ends at a nightspot by the river, and hours later, people stumble out one by one, happy and obviously intoxicated… by the beauty of Hanoi’s pubs and the way in which they saw them.

 

Hanoi Cyclo Pub Crawl

Every Saturday from 6pm

Cost: VND200,000 per person

Bookings and enquiries: 04-828 5372

Email: hanoipubcrawl@gmail.com

 

Review and photos by Rob Redmond.