Category: Vietnam

After Brunei, it was on to Vietnam to meet up with my travel friends for a big party! We were starting in Hanoi. It felt a lot less overwhelming this time than it did when I visited in 2023. Part of that is that I have traveled a lot since then. That was my first trip in Southeast Asia. This time, I was coming back to somewhere I’d already visited, I had more experience under my belt, and I was traveling with friends, which made it a much more relaxed proposition than figuring it out on my own. After a flight from Brunei to Singapore, a long layover, and a second flight to Hanoi, we grabbed dinner and went for a massage.

The next morning, we were off to meet up with everyone else! We took a shuttle from Hanoi out to the Ba Vi National Park, where we were staying in a resort. It was so beautiful, and it was nice to see a little more of the countryside in Vietnam. It was also an interesting experience to do a little road trip through Vietnam – I was very impressed with their rest stops and food options when driving through the countryside.

We had various dinners and activities and cocktail parties while we were there. It was so much fun to have the whole resort to ourselves to spend time with everyone. I was able to catch up with people across a lot of different trips!

From there, it was off to Ha Long Bay. This was a long day, because Ba Vi is several hours west of Hanoi and then Ha Long Bay is several hours east of Hanoi. Plus, most of the bus was hungover from the previous night. But once we got on the boat, it was really nice. I have been to Ha Long Bay once before – I think we were in a different section, based on the activities that we had available, but I loved it then and I loved it now.

This one was Catherine Cruises, and I would recommend them as well based on my experience. The biggest negative was this absolutely appalling beer pour:

The wet floor sign on the rocks cracked me up as well.

We had two activities on the boat – one was the Sung Sot Cave, and the other was kayaking (which I don’t have any photos of, but was very enjoyable). Sung Sot Cave was incredibly crowded, especially at the beginning. Once we got into the larger cavern at the end, though, the temperature was so pleasant and there was room to breathe.

The rock formations were nice as well. I wish they would tell the tourists that there are more rooms of the cave – if people would go faster through the first part and spend more time in the third room, the whole experience would be so much more pleasant.

This is what it truly felt like ^^

Overall, it was a great trip to Vietnam. I had a lot of fun, I saw so many friends of mine, and I was in some beautiful areas of the country. With that, it was on to the next part of the trip: Myanmar!

Coming from the calm and orderly Singapore, Hanoi felt even more chaotic. Honestly, if I was doing the trip again, I would have structured the order slightly differently. I feel like my first experience of wandering around Hanoi was so overwhelming that I didn’t get the best first impression. But I figured out dinner, and the next day I went to Ha Long Bay, and by the time I got back, I was ready to embrace the city!

I was staying in the Old Quarter, so a lot of my exploration of the city involved wandering around the winding streets and trying to cross streets (which felt very similar to the video game Frogger). It was walkable to most of the bigger tourist sites, but I did use Grab to call cabs for a few trips since it was fairly hot and humid, even in March.

The first monument I visited was the Hoa Lo Prison, which I found fascinating. It captures a lot of the important periods of history of Vietnam. It was built by the French when they were colonizing Vietnam, and was a location where they held the “radicals” who wanted an independent Vietnam. The first half or so was all about the awful conditions in the prison. From there, it talked about how the prison was used to hold American prisoners of war in the 1960s, where it got the name “Hanoi Hilton.” Famously, the American politician John McCain was held in this particular prison. I am always interested to see how different countries represent history, and this one didn’t disappoint. This period of history is spoken about rather differently in the United States, and when I return to Vietnam, I will definitely want to go see more of the sites in the south closer to HCMC.

There were a lot of beautiful temples and older architecture as well. My personal favorite was the Temple of Literature, which was really pleasant to wander around. I also visited the Imperial Citadel, but that one felt like it was more focused on the archeological and preservation aspects of the site. That was interesting but not really what I was expecting when I visited. That was also one I went to right before I was supposed to go to the airport so I spent my time there a bit stressed about making sure I left on time to go back to the hotel and pick up my luggage. Nonetheless, always cool to see some of the older sites in a country. The Imperial Citadel is from 1010 CE, which is almost unfathomably old coming from the United States!

Another relatively touristy activity that I did was the water puppet theater! This reminded me of the Sichuan opera in China, although that one had a greater percentage of locals to tourists. That said, they’re both performances designed to capture specific local traditions, and while I’m not sure how much the water puppet theater is still performed in Vietnam outside of the tourist centers, it was legitimately cool. The stories were apparently about the founding and myths around Vietnam, and while I didn’t follow the parts that were told in Vietnamese, the puppets were beautiful and the effects were pretty impressive. It was also a nice few hours in an air conditioned theater, so it is a worthy addition to any Hanoi itinerary.

I managed to accidentally save my favorite experience for last. One of the interesting aspects of communist countries is the instinct to embalm their leaders and put them in a mausoleum for all to see. I didn’t go see Mao while I was in Beijing, although in hindsight, I wish I had. So while I was here, I made sure I went to go see Ho Chi Minh. When I showed up to Ba Dinh Square, it was clear that I had managed to time it to overlap with a school’s field trip, as I found myself surrounded by tons of Vietnamese children. After going through security and walking through a grand yet foreboding square – it does rather feel like Tiananmen – I went through the freezing cold mausoleum, and stared down at the man who, in death, looked like a kindly old Vietnamese grandpa. The giant Vietnamese flag and hammer and sickle were present on the wall behind him.

All in all, Vietnam was fascinating. I wish I’d had time to travel to everywhere in the country that I wanted, but it was a great taste of the northern part and I look forward to returning for the other places on my list someday!

Ha Long Bay was absolutely incredible! I took a two day one night cruise. It was my splurge of the trip, and it was so worth it. After a drive through the countryside from Hanoi, they took us out to the cruise on smaller boats and the adventure began.

One of the things I’ve noticed about Vietnam’s tourism industry is that they have a very hands-on idea of how to give good customer service. As we transferred to the ship, the employees sprinkled rose petals on our head. We were immediately treated to a meal with so many courses I lost count, and when I went to bed, there was a handwritten note and a rose on my bed! I found that the employees had this same instinct at my hotel in Hanoi. It’s nice but also a bit overwhelming sometimes.

The highlight for me of the whole experience was kayaking in the bay! I was the second person out on the water, which meant that for a while, it felt as though I had the whole place to myself. It was so peaceful and beautiful.

We also did a tour to Dark Cave and Bright Cave, where someone rowed us through the cave and into a new section of the bay. Unfortunately, this area had some trash in the water, which is always a bummer. It was still cool, but I thought the kayaking was better. We did see monkeys in the trees above the caves, which our guide said was a rare treat!

The two days one night cruise was amazing, but if I was going to do it again, I might have gone for the three day and two night version. I didn’t want to leave the boat when it was time to take us back to Hanoi!

Anyway. Highly recommend Ha Long Bay. The company I went with, Elite of the Seas, did an incredible job showing us around this UNESCO site, and I would absolutely go on a cruise with them again. It was my favorite part of Vietnam that I’ve seen so far!