Hanoi

My first stop in Vietnam was Hanoi, in the North - I was planing on spending 4 weeks in Vietnam and working my way from North to South. I’ll admit it was a bit of a shock to the system as it was cold and a bit grey. I guess it was similar weather to what I’d had in Hong Kong. But at least I could now wear the jeans I’d been carrying around in my backpack for the last nearly 2 months!! 

I stayed in Hanoi a total of 5 nights (4 in a row then 1 after my 2 night Ha Long Bay cruise - which I’ll do a separate post about next!) this probably was a little too long to spend in Hanoi especially as the weather wasn’t great but it was nice to explore and not feel rushed. I stayed in the old quarter which is where all the backpackers stay and was really near to everything you’d want to visit, it was also only a 40 minute bus ride from the airport. My hostel had free beer from 6pm-7pm every night so that was great.

I enjoyed exploring the streets of the old quarter in Hanoi, going to the night market, beer street, looking around all the shops, trying the famous egg coffee and drinking lots of their iced coffee (I’m now obsessed!) one day we even went to see a water puppet show which was amazing to watch, the whole show was in Vietnamese so I couldn’t understand any of it but by the end of the show you almost forgot they were puppets - they were very life like! 

My favourite coffee shop I went to was called ‘The Note Coffee’ and was basically decorated in loads of post it notes with little messages on. I even added my own to the wall which was fun! 

One day I went to explore the famous train street in Hanoi. I wasn’t there when the train went past but I’ve heard there really isn’t much room when it does! It was a bloggers haven with lots of people taking photos with their tripods and having outfit changes - I stuck to just the 1 outfit!! There was lots of shop and cafes along the train line so I stopped for my first Vietnamese pho which cost me £1.13!! Bargain. 

On another day we went to explore the Temple of Literature, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (didn’t go inside as the que was too big) and the Ngoc Son Temple in the middle of the Lake which you get to via a bridge. 

My next post will be all about my visit to Ha Long Bay!