Three Perfect Days in Hanoi, Vietnam

Vietnam has been on the top of our travel list due to my obsessions with Pho and boy did the food in Vietnam live up to my expectations!

When $500 round trip tickets from Newark to Hong Kong with United popped up on our twitter feed, we immediately booked our tickets.

Our first stop was in Hong Kong to visit my best friends and their adorable baby Olivia. Since this wasn’t our first time in Hong Kong, we just hung out with our friends and ate a lot of amazing food. If the first sentence of this post didn’t give it away a lot of this is going to be about food. Read our where to eat in Hong Kong page for more restaurant recommendations.

We flew VietJetAir from Hong Kong to Hanoi, some other budget airlines that fly to Hanoi are Jetstar, AirAsia but after all the flight issues lately better to fly with a reputable airline. 

Before you go to Vietnam, make sure you get an e-visa here. Make sure you use this link because there are other links that come up with the Google search that are not legit, for example the link my dad used. It only took Ross and 15 minutes to get through security and pick up our bags, while it took my parents 1 hour and 20 minutes due to this slight oversight.

My good friend Phat gave us a ton restaurant recommendations and you can find our review on the food we ate on our What to Eat in Hanoi page and What to Eat in Hoi An page. Spoiler alert: everything was AMAZING, thanks Phat!!

Day ONE.

Our first pho stop turned out to be the best pho we have ever had in our entire lives, the place was called Pho Ga Truyen Bat Dan. The line was pretty long but Phat had warned us that it’s so good that lines would be long. The line went by fast because the restaurant was just churning phos out. We were very glad that we stayed in line because it was the best pho we have ever had!

We stayed at the L’opera MGallery by Soffitel hotels which was an incredible location and connected to the historic Soffitel hotel.

Day TWO.

Our journey to Halong Bay was a bit turbulent because we hadn’t booked the tour until 7 pm the night before. I had contacted a company called IndoChina Junk before we left but there were so many different companies we thought we could get a better understanding of the tour once we landed. Unbeknownst to us, the only full day we had to do the tour was also Vietnam’s Independence Day so 99% of tours were booked!

My dad tried to book two different tours with a Chinese company, Ross tried to book tours through IndoChina Junk and I finally found one on Viator for $55/person but was very skeptical until the driver came to pick us up the next day at 9:10 AM (when they said they were coming between 7:45 AM and 8:15 AM, I was freaking out the whole time).

Side note: If you’ve never used Viator to book tours, they are a great cost efficient option for booking tours. Viator is owned by Tripadvisors and we haven’t had any issues with the tours we’ve booked through the website so far.

The drive to Halong Bay takes about 3 hours and it was pouring rain the entire time, we were so excited about making it onto a tour that it didn’t even occur to us that we might not be able to make it on the cruise due to the weather.

According to legend, the bay was formed when the gods sent down dragons to protect the Vietnamese from invaders. These dragons dropped jewels from their mouths into the bay, creating the islands and a sort of barrier against invading ships. Instead of returning to the heavens, the dragons plunged into the bay and remained resting in its waters. In fact, Halong Bay means “where the dragon descends into the sea.”

Once we arrive to the dock, our tour guide tell us that the government has shut down the ticket sales to all the cruises due to the weather but they hope that the government will lift the ban soon… Usually during these travel hardships I would be freaking out but I think I used up all my freaking out cells praying that the tour would pick us up that morning I thought, as long as we get a good photo of the bay the drive will be worth it.

About 45 minutes of standing in the rain, smelling the sewage, and fighting the local folks for a spot under the building awnings the government lifted the ban and we were on our way to our cruise boat!

First on our itinerary was a mediocre lunch which consisted of cucumber salad (which we were scared to eat), grilled shrimp, friend spring rolls, sautéed cabbage, a fish and a stir-fried chicken dish. Drinks were not included in the tour price.

The bay was beautiful but so many cruise boats were also on the bay it was hard to enjoy the serenity, maybe there are different tours that take a different route?

Our second stop was either a bamboo boat ride or kayaking, we opted for the bamboo boat so we could all be together. We enjoyed the bamboo boat ride immensely being closer to the water and able to see the beauty of the bay up closer.

The third stop was the biggest caves on Bon Hon island. Our guide pointed out special formations on the cave walls such as Santa Clause, a man peeing, and a nipple. The cave was also very packed but I guess this is what happens when traveling to a tourist spot on a national holiday.

Overall our voyage to Halong Bay was decent, the formations were beautiful but we would recommend you guys to look for either a more private tour or a tour to Cat Ba island. I wouldn’t pay more than $55/person to do the tour, the prices range from $35-$200 with the same views. 

When we returned to Hanoi we took a cab to Cha Ca Phan to try Cha Ca. The cab we took charged us $12 when it only cost $5 to go the same distance!

*PROtip: look for the green taxis for lower rates

And if you try Cha Ca but are still craving it when you get back, here’s a recipe on it!

Day THREE:

With only a half day before we had to head to the airport for Hoi An, we ate pho for breakfast then stopped by the following museums:

1. Vietnam National Museum of History

(Photo reference: Eviva tour)

A bunch of artifacts, not worth spending too much time but the ticket came with the revolution museum.

2. Vietnam Revolution Museum

(Photo reference: Wikipedia)

Lots of photos and interesting information about the history of Vietnam from the French Revolution through the Vietnam war to today.

3. Hua Lo Prison also known as “Hanoi Hilton”

Largest most secure prison in IndoChina where revolutionaries during the French Revolution and US Air Force prisoners of war were kept during the Vietnam war. Many high ranking persons in the later ruling Communist parties were tortured in the Prison and many photos of the US POW having a grand old time in the prison.

The architecture in Hanoi had clear French influence with great road infrastructure with embassies littered throughout the city. We learned that all the yellow buildings are government buildings and even though Vietnam is still a Communist country, it didn’t feel to be less developed than the other bordering South East Asian countries.

What kind of trip is complete without a famous Instagram spot, I had actually forgotten about this but my dad reminded me of the train street. Luckily the train had just passed by so we had 20 minutes for a full photo session. #everythingwedowedoforthegram

Hanoi has a population of 9 million people but can you guess how many scooters there are? ….. 6 million! And none of them follow the traffic laws!

If you find yourself in Hanoi, make sure to be prepared to fight for your life to cross the road. It was quite a stressful experience but we made it out without a scratch, our advice to you is to put your hand out when you’re crossed the street or just close your eyes and pray!

Our next stop in Vietnam is Hoi An, continue reading on our Three perfect days in Hoi An post.

If you have more time, you can also visit the Sapa rice fields. The photos looked beautiful but we didn’t have enough time, maybe next time!

(Photo reference: Chapter Travel)

XOXO,

Nina & Ross