Vietnam: Hanoi & Halong Bay
- Will Boddington
- Feb 25, 2018
- 3 min read
Our time in Hanoi was split into two parts as we did a three day trip to Halong Bay while we were there. We arrived into Hanoi at 4.30am, but luckily our hostel let us sleep on the beanbags in the movie room for a few hours. We spent that day walking around Hanoi and around Hoan Kiem lake. The next day we left for the Halong Bay tour at 8am. The journey was quite long but broken into several parts - a 2.5 hour drive to the ferry port, a 15min ferry to Cat Ba Island, then a 30min bus ride through the national park to another port. From here we took another boat around Halong Bay and went swimming before getting to Hideaway Island.
The next day we took a boat back to Cat Ba island, where we cycled 5km to Viet Hai village then did an hour's trek through the jungle to a viewpoint of Halong Bay, before heading back down and cycling back.
The morning before we left the island we went kayaking around the bay. Turns out we're pretty speedy kayakers! We arrived back into Hanoi at 6pm and headed to our hostel to grab some food and an early night. After a slow start, we visited Hoa Lo Prison which was used by French colonists for Vietnamese political prisoners, and later during the Vietnamese War by North Vietnamese to house US pilots. During this time it was known as the 'Hanoi Hilton' due to the reasonable living conditions and freedom given to the prisoners there. It was a vast contrast to the treatment received by the Vietnamese previously - we could see strong similarities between the torture methods used by the French and those used by the Khmer Rouge years later in Cambodia.
Our route back to the hostel took us past the impressive St Joseph's Cathedral, a 19th century neo-gothic style building with similar architectural design to the Notre Dame.
The next day in the rain we visited the citadel and spent a while walking through the command bunkers and archaeological sites. Built in the 11th century, several renovations have happened since but several original features still remain, such as the flag tower of Hanoi.
We then headed past Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and the Presidential Palace before reaching the ceramic mosaic mural.
Our last day in Hanoi (and in Vietnam) was spent mainly at markets, but first we walked across Long Bien bridge. Opened in 1903, this bridge was one of the longest in Asia and connects two districts of Hanoi; Long Bien and Hoam Kiem. It was heavily bombed during the Vietnam war as it was the only bridge across the Red River, connecting Hanoi to the main port of Haiphong.
On our way back we strolled through the market, which was very local! The majority of stalls were selling bags, fruits and silks.
We definitely made the most of our 30 days in Vietnam, but we're both excited to get our flight down to the Thai islands in the morning!
Accommodation: Central Backpackers Old Quarter, 1 night, VND for a bed in a dorm room.
This was a fairly big hostel with a movie room and rooftop bar. The dorms were clean and comfy, although slightly stuffy as ours didn't have a window. Breakfast was included and the bar had a free beer hour which we made the most of. 8/10.
Hideaway Island, 2 nights, included in the tour price.
We were surprised that these beach hut dorms were really clean and comfortable. We had great views of the bay and some of the showers had unlimited hot water which was amazing! 9/10.
Flipside Hostel, 4 nights, 255,000 VND for a double bed in a dorm room.
This hostel was really similar to our previous hostel in Hanoi - a similar size and standard, again with a rooftop bar. Breakfast was also included and they did a good hash brown! The dorm beds had curtains around them which was a nice change. 8/10.
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