This is the 1st part in my Vietnam & Thailand 2019 series.

You can view my Vietnam overview page, as well as my Thailand overview page with links for all the cities I stopped at.

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Travel-wise, this year ended up being pretty packed, and expensive for me!

In May, I spent 9 days in Ireland, but several friends of mine had been singing Vietnam’s praises, showing my pics of their trips to Vietnam and raving about the amazing food, and I thought “Man, I need to do this”!

I think I tried convincing myself that doing Ireland and South East Asia would be so cheap, I mean after all I only spent 9 days in Ireland, and SEA is so super duper cheap, right?

Well, I wasn’t exactly wrong, but flying from Canada to basically anywhere is a real bank account killer, and of course I ended up spending quite a bit more than I had originally anticipated overall. But I mean, you only live once right? And as it turns out, Covid was about to show it’s ugly face, so I wouldn’t end up able to travel again for some time. It did take me a while to pay off the trip, but I’m so glad I did it, and I’m so glad I did it when I did.

Hanoi

Hanoi’s history goes back to the third century BCE, when a portion of the modern-day city served as the capital of the historic Vietnamese nation of Âu Lạc. Following the collapse of Âu Lạc, the city was part of Han China. In 1010, Vietnamese emperor Lý Thái Tổ established the capital of the imperial Vietnamese nation Đại Việt in modern-day central Hanoi, naming the city Thăng Long (literally ‘Ascending Dragon’).
Wikipedia

I started my South-East Asia trip with Vietnam, since I intended that to be my focus. Most people will do a North to South or South to North trip, and there’s really no difference. I decided to go North to South, based on no particular reason really, other than possibly Hanoi being the capital.

Day 1

I arrived in Hanoi close to 7pm, and still had about a 1 hour drive to my hostel.

Prior to heading out to Vietnam, I did my usual research regarding crime and scams, as well as what the cheapest ways of getting around are. That lead me to Grab, and the Grab app.

Grab

Grab is basically the Uber of South-East Asia, and it’s super cheap. One of the advantages of Grab is that you will see the cost of your trip up-front, and can therefore decide whether you like the price or not even before requesting a driver.

Grab also has a few different options, including Grab Bike, which I mistakenly thought meant bicycle rental, but is actually the motorbike taxi option, and is even cheaper then the usual Grab Car option. If you are like me and travelling solo, honestly, this is an amazingly cheap way to get around, and I highly recommend it.

I wasn’t familiar with Grab Bike when I initially landed in Hanoi however, so I had just opted for Grab Car, which was still cheap nonetheless and at about $15 Canadian for an hour’s drive, I wasn’t complaining!

I had read online prior to leaving for my trip that you can use credit cards with Grab, but it didn’t look like my Canadian credit card was supported in the app. So I just brought cash with me (Vietnamese Dong of course), and I’d always pre-count the cash for any rides before the drivers would arrive.

Hanoi Massive Hostel

June 2023 Update: I’m not sure that Hanoi Massive Hostel is still in business, as I can’t seem to find them anymore on any booking site. I’m not sure if this is due to Covid, or if they’ve just closed down.

While searching for the hostels I was going to stay at, as with my previous trip to Ireland, I wanted private rooms with ensuite bathrooms - no dorms for me thank you very much! 😜

I ended up booking a private room at Hanoi Massive, based on the reviews I saw, the cost, and the proximity to the Old Quarter.

While the room was small, and quite old looking, it was clean, and the staff were really friendly and helpful. The location was also great, and I was able to walk to most of the places I wanted to see from here.

Since I had arrived in Hanoi on the later end of the day, and because I was pretty tired from 20+ hours of flying, after checking in to my hostel I just showered and tried to get some sleep.

Day 2

Cheap walking tour of Hanoi

When I went to Ireland earlier in the year, I was able to find a free walking tour, which was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a free walking tour in Hanoi, but I did find a cheap one on tripadvisor.com, which was still pretty good. My only complaint is that while it was cheap, the listing noted no gratuities, but at the end of the tour, the guide told me they’re not paid anything, and that they rely on tips. I don’t mind tipping, but I don’t like being told one thing while booking, and then being told something else at the end of the tour. So it felt a little scammy to me.

I should also note that any places we visited that had an entrance fee, I paid for both mine and the guide’s entrance fees, including paying for any snacks we both had along the way.

Starting the tour

My guide met me at my hostel, and we headed first to St. Joseph’s Cathedral, which was just a few steps from my hostel.

St. Joseph’s Cathedral

She explained a bit about the Cathedral and it’s significance, and then we headed inside for a quick look. There was a mass going on at the time, so we couldn’t stay long.

Construction began in 1884, with an architectural style resembling the Notre Dame de Paris. The church was one of the first structures built by the French colonial government in French Indochina when it opened in December 1886. It is the oldest church in Hanoi.
Wikipedia

Hoan Kiem Lake

We then headed to Hoan Kiem Lake, which is a lake in the historical center of Hanoi, including Temple of the Jade Mountain (Ngọc Sơn Temple), and a tower (Thap Rua Tower) on separate tiny islands within the lake.

Hoan Kiem Lake is in the historical center of Hanoi. According to the legend, Emperor Le Loi was boating on the lake when a Golden Turtle God (Kim Qui) surfaced and asked for his magic sword, Heaven’s Will. Loi concluded that Kim Qui had come to reclaim the sword that it’s master, the Dragon King (Long Vuong) had given Loi some time earlier, during his revolt against the Chinese Ming Dynasty. Loi renamed the lake to commemorate this event. He renamed the lake from Luc Thuy (“Green Water”) to Hoan Kiem Lake (Lake of the Restored Sword). The Turtle Tower (Thap Rua) standing on a small island near the centre of lake is linked to the legend.
Tripadvisor.com

The lake is one of the major scenic spots in the city and serves as a focal point for its public life. On weekends (although I’m not sure if it’s all weekends, or just some), the streets around the lake are closed to traffic, and street vendors set up shop, and people come out to walk around the lake.

Café Giang

Next, we continued to walk along some of the main streets around the Hoan Kiem area,

and then headed to Café Giang, which is famous for it’s egg coffee. I had never heard of egg coffee before, but it’s basically a Vietnamese coffee, with egg yolk and condensed milk, and sometimes some added crystallized honey. I used to drink tons of coffee when I was younger, but stopped many many years ago, and wasn’t really interested in trying it at first as I’m more sensitive to caffeine these days. She was insistent though, so I caved. 🤓

Price: 50,000 VND for two cups

You can have it either hot or cold, so I opted for cold, since I was already drenched in sweat from Hanoi’s heat!

And you know what, it was actually really delicious, and I ended up loving it. I’m not sure I’d drink it all the time, but I’d definitely have it again. I’m glad my tour guide managed to persuade me to try it! 😄

Ma May Ancient House

After finishing our egg coffees, we headed to the Ancient House (Ma May ancient house), which is a ~200 year old house that has been preserved, and is now a museum.

Entrance Price: 10,000 VND for two tickets

It shows the old traditional way of living in Hanoi, and is really quite beautiful if you’re in to historical architecture. Vietnamonline.com has more details if you’re interested.

After that, the tour was pretty much done. I had a few more things I wanted to see, so I thanked my guide for the tour, and headed off on my own.

Tour Verdict

The guide I had was very nice, and the tour was a good quick at-a-glance view of the area. It gave me some ideas of the places I wanted to head back to and explore more on my own, and also gave me a good idea of the layout of the area, so I could find my way around. So I’d recommend it if you’re in Hanoi for the first time, and want to get a quick overview of the area.

That said, and as I noted at the top of this post, the only issue I had was when my guide advised me they aren’t paid for the tours, when that’s not what the tour listing on Tripadvisor indicated. I’m not sure if that’s a miscommunication between the tour company and the guides, or if it’s a miscommunication between the tour company and Tripadvisor, but it’s something to be aware of.

Grabbing some lunch

I was getting hungry now, and earlier had asked my hostel’s owner for a place I could grab lunch later. They recommended An’s Restaurant, which was just across the street from the hostel, so I headed there after the tour to get some lunch.

I ordered a beef and veg mix, with sticky shrimp-rice mix, and a fried egg. Not sure how traditional it was, but it was pretty good!

Price: 138,000 VND

Exploring on my own

After lunch, I headed back out on my own to explore Hanoi’s streets a little, but I was also on the hunt for some ice cream.

One the way, I was pretty surprised to see shops with Christmas decorations! Of course I knew a bit about the history of Vietnam, and that it was a French colony, but I didn’t realize that Christmas was celebrated there, or that I’d end up seeing so many shops with Christmas decorations. 😆

It was a nice little reminder of home, when I otherwise would not have been thinking of Christmas considering how hot it was!

Ice cream time

I can’t recall what I was searching for exactly when I was looking for ice cream … probably something unique, as I love fun and unique ice cream. I found a place called Kem Trang Tien, which is a famous ice cream shop in Hanoi, although I wasn’t quite sure what I’d find there.

I was a bit surprised to find that it was a very small shop, with only a few flavours, and the ice cream cones were pretty much all pre-made, and pretty tiny to be honest.

I went for a green tea one, as that’s one of my go-to flavours, and it was decent. I wouldn’t go out of my way to get it again though, and I’m not entirely sure what all the fuss is about - maybe I’m missing something?

I also realized a bit later in my trip that a lot of ice cream in Vietnam is less “ice cream” and more “ice treat”, as it’s often made with coconut milk, and is more like a sorbet. I’m not a huge fan of sorbet, so that might be why I wasn’t a huge fan of the ice cream here.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum / Museum area

After finishing my ice cream, I headed to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, which is a large memorial to Ho Chi Minh, the first leader of North Vietnam.

I wasn’t paying attention to the time though, and by the time I got there, it was already closed. I walked around the area a bit, and then headed to the Ho Chi Minh Museum, which was also closed! Oops! 😆

Since I was already here though, and had nothing else planned for the day, I continued to walk around, and found this cute little pagoda.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had already planned to come see this pagoda on my last day in Hanoi, so I ended up seeing it twice while I was in Hanoi!

I finished up the night by heading back to the hostel, exploring the streets and parks on the way back, and then chatting with some of the other guests at the hostel before heading to bed.

I had kept the day pretty light, as I knew I’d still be tired from the jet-lag for at least a few days, and wanted to keep the pace a bit easy before starting some of the tours I had booked in the coming days.

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Day 3

On day 3 I had planned another easy day, so that I could access everything on foot, and not have to worry about getting around the city.

Hoan Kiem Lake & Ngoc Son Temple

Based on the walking tour I had done the day before, I knew I wanted to go back to Hoan Kiem Lake, and explore the area a bit more. I also wanted to visit Ngoc Son Temple (Temple of the Jade Mountain), which is on an island in the lake.

Entrance Price: 30,000 VND

You do have to pay to visit the temple, but it’s not much, and it’s worth it to see the temple, and the views from the island. In Canadian dollars, we’re talking slightly more than a buck and a half - really not much at all.

From Hoan Kiem lake, you access the pagoda via a red bridge, which is pretty cool. The temple itself is also quite nice, and the views from the island are great.

There’s also a model of the Golden Turtle God (Kim Qui) from the myth on display once you enter the temple.

Imperial Citadel of Thang Long

After visiting the temple, I headed to the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and was the political centre of Vietnam for 13 centuries.

I had it on my list of places to visit, and saw where it was when I walked to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum the day before, so I had a pretty good idea of how to get there from Hoan Kiem lake, and it was only a 30 minute walk, so super accessible by foot. That didn’t stop all of the taxi “friends” from chasing me trying to get me to take a taxi though. 😑

On the way, I happened upon the infamous train street, which is a street where a train passes through twice a day, and the houses are so close to the tracks that you can reach out and touch the train as it passes by.

There weren’t any trains coming when I was there though, and they have signs now advising tourists to stay off the tracks. As usual, tourists ruin everything. 😆

Back to the citadel … It’s a pretty cool place, and there’s a lot to see. I spent about an hour or so walking around, and checking out the various buildings.

Entrance Price: 30,000 VND

Visiting pagodas, temples, and other old buildings is one of my favourite things to do when I travel, so I really enjoyed this place. Thankfully it wasn’t too busy when I was there, so I was able to take my time, look around, and imagine what it was like when it was in use in the 11th century.

Some of the buildings are in better shape than others, and it looked as though some areas/buildings were currently being restored.

Lunch

After visiting the citadel, I started making my way towards the Temple of Literature. I didn’t know quite where it was, and despite using Google nav for walking directions, it wasn’t quite bringing me to the temple’s entrance.

As I was trying to figure out where the entrance was, it was around lunch time, and all I could smell was delicious grilled meat everywhere! I was getting pretty hungry with all those food smells, so I decided to stop for lunch, and try some of the street food.

I didn’t snap any pics, but I stopped at a street food stall that smelled pretty good. With no idea what the lady was selling, I motioned for one with the universal single finger gesture (using the index finger, not the other one!) 👆.
She then motioned for me to take a seat on one of those typical tiny little Vietnamese plastic stools at one of those typical tiny little Vietnamese plastic tables.

Price: 30,000 VND

After a short wait, she brought the standard assortment of herbs, a bowl of what I thought was soup, and a plate of cold noddles. A bit later, I got some type of grilled “pork”, and a couple of fried spring rolls. I say “pork” in quotes because I think it was more cartilage and non-meat stuff than actual pork. So I thought, ok, here goes … When in Vietnam right?

So I tried the “soup”, which was actually lukewarm, and man was it pungent! I’m somewhat familiar with fish sauce, although it’s not something I personally cook with, but I definitely recognized it in this “broth”. I’d say it was a mix of fish sauce, vinegar, some sweetener like honey or sugar, and some hot peppers. It was … an odd taste, and one I didn’t particularly enjoy at that time.

I now know that what I was sampling was of course not a broth, nor a soup, but a dipping sauce. And for those of you familiar with Viet cuisine you probably know of course that this was Bun Cha (Bún chả). And as it turns out, it’s actually now one of my absolute favourite Vietnamese dishes! 😋
Once I realized that I was supposed to dip the noodles and meat into the sauce, it was a whole different experience. It did take my now wife a few times to get me to try it again at better places, and after agreeing to have it again a few times, it really started growing on me. If I eat it once a week now I’m a happy camper! Funny how things work out sometimes. Hah! But that said, if you are travelling in Vietnam and you see Bun Cha on the menu, I highly recommend you try it! It really is delicious … just remember the liquid is a dipping sauce, not a broth! 😆

Temple of Literature

Ok, so after that initial first sampling of bun cha, I continued on my way to the Temple of Literature. I eventually found the entrance, and paid the entrance fee.

Entrance Price: 30,000 VND

Side note: So, in case you’ve been paying attention to the money I’ve been spending today, you’ll notice it’s basically been 30,000 VND for almost everything. I promise that’s not a typo! I made sure to keep good track of my spending on this trip, and it’s really just some odd coincidence I guess. 🤔

When you enter the temple through the 1st gate, you’ll enter into a large courtyard. Similar to some temples you’d visit in China, there are a number of buildings that you must pass through before you get to the main temple and central courtyard.

Văn Miếu is a temple dedicated to Confucius in Hanoi, northern Vietnam. The temple also hosts the Imperial Academy (Quốc Tử Giám, 國子監), Vietnam’s first national university. The temple was built in 1070 at the time of Emperor Lý Thánh Tông.
[…]
For nearly two centuries, despite wars and disasters, the temple has preserved ancient architectural styles of many dynasties as well as precious relics.
Wikipedia

After passing into the 3rd courtyard, you’ll enter a courtyard with a pond in the middle. The temple was actually quite busy on this day, although it might not be so obvious in my pictures.

Some of the inner buildings had so many people, that I stayed back a bit to wait for them to clear out a bit.

The buildings were quite beautiful, and the grounds were very well maintained. How much of the original materials are still there, I don’t know, but it’s still very impressive.

The actual learning area of the site is in the 5th courtyard, which I’m embarrassed to admit, I can’t recall if that was the below picture or the one following!

All in all, the entire site is really beautiful, and I’m glad I went. I definitely think it’s a must see if you’re in Hanoi and love ancient temples.

Finishing up the day

After spending a few hours at the Temple of Literature, I headed back towards my hostel to stop at An’s restaurant again to get some dinner (forgot to take pics this time).

Price: 128,000 VND

After which I just hung out with some of the other people staying at the hostel, and had a few beers with them.

Finally, I decided to head back out to Hoan Kiem lake to see it at night, before returning to my hostel to get some sleep.

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That was it for day 3! I was looking forward to day 4, as I had booked a tour to the Perfume Pagoda. I’ll cover that in my next post, which you can find here.