1/11-Wednesday in Hanoi

After breakfast we sorted out our next destination and booked an overnight boat trip to nearby Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island. I’ll take some Dramamine tonight just in case there are rough seas.

And then, for maybe 4 hours, we walked around some different districts (areas) of Hanoi. Dirk was looking for the somewhat historic Railroad Cafe and I wanted to check out the Dong Xuan Market which I thought would be an interesting craft market.

As usual we didn’t quite find what we expected but enjoyed all the different sites along the way.

We continued toward the market and the area got increasingly more crowded with motorcycles and people. Crossing streets became a game of “you wouldn’t really want to hit me…” as we dodged the vehicles and got braver. We came to streets dense with outdoor markets made more so by the coming New Year celebration.

The Dong Xuan market was not as expected – it’s in a large 3-story building and seems to be mainly a wholesale marketplace – but still interesting to see so many similar items being sold in the same area by many sellers. It is huge!

We were ready for a good lunch and found a local restaurant that also serves vegan meals – that was a treat. (I have to remember to take some food photos!) The name of the restaurant is Cai Mam Vietnamese Restaurant.

The walk back wasn’t quite as energetic and we rested a bit, did some errands, and took it easy. That’s about it for second day/third night in Hanoi.

1/10 Tuesday Hanoi

After traveling 26 hours from Boston to Saigon to Hanoi we arrived at our hotel tired but fine around 10am last night. I did manage to take one photo before showering and heading to bed.

Today we headed to Hanoi’s Old Quarter which begins about 15 minutes from our hotel and contains both historic tunnel homes and other small museums, streets and sidewalks packed with motorcycles and small markets, old temples and street food. We walked along the small Hoag Kiev Lake as we headed to and from the area as well.

Being a bit tired from our journey we managed a half day of exploring before heading back. Dirk was amazed at the narrow streets with buildings practically touching each other. I thought it lucky that we avoided colliding with a motorcycle given the somewhat random way they weave in and out the streets.

Narrow street – shops for bulk sales of same items

Plans

Our Vietnam trip (Vietnam is on the east side of South East Asia) will begin in Hanoi where we will say for at least 3 days, settling into our new time zone and exploring sites in the city. We will check out the old capital Nihn Binh while in the area. We may visit Hai Phong nearer the ocean while up north as well.

We don’t have a fixed agenda but know that at some point we’ll travel south about 9 hours and visit Vin Moc Tunnels near Phong Naha and then go further south to explore the areas of Hue and then DaNang.

Our plans are even less clear after the above, but we will visit Saigon and at the end of our visa month in Vietnam, take a river cruise to Phnom Penh in Cambodia and then visit Angkor Wat, the famous 12th century temple complex. More plans will be developed as we go.

We travel by bus, train or plane, find places to via Booking.com, etc, before we go to a new spot, and often get wonderful suggestions from other travelers that may add to our travel plans.