On our first trip to Asia in 2014 we visited Vietnam and Cambodia. We flew into Hanoi and focused on exploring northern Vietnam. Vietnam has so much to offer from its culture and history to the delicious local cuisine.
Hanoi
Hanoi is a bustling place with activity and life happening in every square inch of the city. Along the streets in the Old Quarter, vendors cook up delicious meals in pots and pans right on the sidewalk. Tiny plastic tables and stools serve as the dining area. Don’t embarrass yourself like I did and mistake the little plastic tables for sitting stools. The traffic in Hanoi is legendary and crossing the street takes a bit of bravery. The standard practice seems to be to walk right in front of oncoming traffic at the crosswalk and trust the traffic will swerve around you. If you wait for the traffic to stop completely before you cross, you will be waiting a very long time. This system somehow seems to work, possibly because much of the traffic consists of nimble motorbikes and scooters. There are some interesting museums in Hanoi and we made it to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology and the Ho Chi Minh Museum.
The dining options in Hanoi are outstanding. From the street food to the sit down restaurants, we did not have a meal in Hanoi that wasn’t absolutely delicious. Breakfast each day usually consisted of Pho Chay and for lunch and dinner we tried different local restaurants and street vendors. Com Chay Nang Tam was a lovely vegetarian restaurant we found with mostly vegan options and many faux meat dishes. It seemed to be a popular lunch spot with the locals. The tofu and vegetable dishes we had were delicious. The faux meat tasted quite good but it was almost too close to real meat in texture and appearance for us. We celebrated Rob’s birthday in Hanoi and our hotel decorated our room and gave him a huge birthday cake from the bakery next door. So sweet! We stayed at the Art Hotel in Hanoi’s Old Quarter and the staff there were extremely helpful and assisted us with arranging our train trip from Hanoi to Sapa to do some trekking.
Sapa
We left Hanoi on the night train for Sapa. We booked a private cabin with two twin beds and it was a reasonably comfortable ride although pretty bumpy and noisy throughout the night. After about 8 hours we rolled into the Lo Cai train station around 8am. Our guide Su (pronounced “shoe”) met us at the station and we piled into a shuttle for the one hour ride to Sapa. It was so foggy we could not see much of anything scenery-wise. At the Sapa Lodge we grabbed breakfast and a shower and then headed out on foot with Su for a day trek. After walking downhill for a while the fog lifted and we could finally see how beautiful the Sapa area really is. We hiked through several villages where the Hmong people live. We admired the women’s gorgeous colorful traditional clothing and the bright embroidered handicrafts for sale along the way. Our guide took us to an actual local home with a basic dirt floor and small fire pit on the floor for cooking. After a few hours of walking we went back to the hotel and enjoyed dinner and a good night’s rest.
The next day we began our two-day overnight trek. For some reason I didn’t realize I would leave my luggage at the hotel and would need to carry anything I wanted to bring for the evening and the next day so I bought a cheap (almost certainly counterfeit) North Face backpack to bring a water bottle, toiletries, and a change of clothes. Su asked if we wanted to rent mud boots for a few dollars and we took her up on the offer thankfully. We walked all day through Hmong villages surrounded by stunning terraced rice fields and gorgeous green mountains. At times the path was very muddy and we sunk down in the mud so much that our regular shoes would have been completely covered so thank goodness for the mud boots. Some of the local Hmong ladies kindly helped me along the way when I was really sinking in the mud and I thanked them with a little tip.
Late in the day we arrived at our homestay where we would be spending the night and we were shown to a double mattress on the floor in a loft area of the homestay that had tapestries hanging down from the ceiling on all sides of the bed to allow for a little privacy. We were given slippers to wear in the house and spent time in the homestay kitchen with the family who lived there while they made a huge dinner for themselves and all the homestay guests. The family did not speak any English so there was a lot of smiling and nodding. The other guests included several Germans who were trekking with a guide and about a dozen Vietnamese guests. We were served dinner family style and they made us a few special vegetarian options, mostly spring rolls and noodles. After dinner the host brought out some local rice wine and encouraged everyone to take as many shots as they like. The Vietnamese guests must have had somewhere to be early the next day as they were up and enjoyed a boisterous breakfast in the homestay at around 5am. With only tapestries for walls this meant we were awake at that hour as well. I often find that one of the biggest challenges with travelling can be just getting enough proper sleep due to unusual sleeping arrangements. Medication helps. The second day of trekking included more stunning scenery and rice terraces. Our guide told us all about each unique village as we passed through. If you go to Sapa be sure to trek away from town as much as possible. If we had stayed close to town we would not have seen much due to the fog and experiencing the villages feels more authentic the farther you venture from town.
Halong Bay
From Sapa we took the night train once again back to Hanoi and stopped in the Art Hotel yet again where we stored our large suitcases while we went to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is a natural wonder with thousands of towering limestone islands. A popular way to experience the Bay is to cruise around on a junk boat, which we did for three days and two nights. Our boat had about twenty-four guests and a staff of five or so. We were the only people from the United States on the boat and other guests were from England, Russia, Australia, Ireland, and Hong Kong. For three days we were served decadent meals and enjoyed kayaking, cooking lessons, and gorgeous sunsets from the top deck of the boat. Our cabin was comfortable with a private bathroom. It was a fun and relaxing way to experience magnificent Halong Bay. I would recommend staying in the Bay for two nights rather that doing a day trip and there are a wide range of junk boats from very basic to quite luxurious. We went with Paloma Cruise and were pleased with the whole experience. They gladly made us delicious vegetarian meals the entire trip and it was a well run operation with excellent guides and service.
