Hanoi

The Vietnamese capital city, HANOI…
The first trip to Vietnam in 2010, we set the visit to see as much as we could from Head to toe. We flew from Bangkok to Hanoi where we got to see the most beautiful Halong Bay then flew down South to visit Ho Chi Minh City.

For Hanoi, we didn’t buy a tour package, only explored the town by ourselves (following the travel book).

Here are some ideas from our experience…The first day, we took a taxi from the Hotel to the town. We walked to Ngoc Son temple where the Hoan Kiem Lake (or Lake of the Restored Sword).

I wasn’t sure but the people over here like the turtle, as it brought back the sword back to the emperor from its history… The lake is huge with green color like jade…Nice atmosphere.

Hanoi city is the best place to shop in Hanoi (don’t expect to shop in Halong Bay..) but I think people in Hanoi don’t speak English as well as people in Ho Chi Minh, so it’s a little hard to communicate when I tried to make a deal with them.

Eating in Hanoi is what I called an experience, the local food is local food – no English signs! So weird I thought this is the capital! But don’t forget the CRAZY Yummy Ice-cream…I don’t know why the shop is crazy like that and why they have to have the microphone man to control the traffic and control the people to stay in line!

Then the water puppets – yes it’s the puppets show in the water!
Walking in town among about a billion scooters, it’s not just noisy but it’s dangerous too!

I finally called this town “The scooter town”!

I think if you come to Hanoi only – it’s just fun city.  But if you come to Hanoi and go to Halong bay, it’s the perfect trip!

From Bangkok to Hanoi, there are Thai Airways and Air Asia that operate the direct flight. 

We flew with Air Asia, the ticket was 4,500 baht per person (one way trip, because we flew domestic airline from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh.  Then we flew back Bankok from Ho Chi Minh with Air Asia again)

The first night (4 Dec), we picked the Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake Hotel.
It was THB 4,037.20 (USD 129.36) per night. It’s huge, clean and full service. The Hotel is not in the city, but it’s easy to take a taxi (very cheap) to the town where you can walk and shop!

The day after, we took a trip to Halong Bay (3 hours away) – the full package cruise for 3 days 2 nights and then when we came back the Hanoi City, we stayed at the Hanoi Horison Hotel – Managed by Accor Group (7 Dec). It was THB 4,057.17 (USD 130.00). This hotel is in the city where we can walk to shop and explore the town for one more night before we headed to Ho Chi Minh.

Our prior expenses (Only in Hanoi) 

::::::::::MORE DETAILS FOR THIS TRIP COMING SOON!!! ::::::::::::