Hanoi, Vietnam Travel Blogs

Hanoi I - 30th anniversary
Apr 30, 2005 (11 photos)

... sure where it will lead, but it sounded genuine and encouraging. Incidentally, the big holiday coming up is April 30, Vietnam's Independence Day. Because all government including schools will be closed for four days, I left early for my next stop. It ...

Onwards to the capital of Vietnam....
Dec 19, 2008 (6 photos)

... very shrewd at business and it is a little more difficult to try and haggle with someone here than it is elsewhere in Vietnam. After a day exploring the sites we booked ourselves on a cooking course and also a trip to Halong bay.  One thing you ...

Hanoi - Mopeds, mopeds, mopeds
Feb 24, 2009 (32 photos)

... teach us how to prepare and cook traditional dishes such as spring rolls, chicken and catfish. You can find Pho everywhere in Vietnam and our hotel offered it for breakfast. It's a sort of noodle soup with chicken or beef served with onions and chilli.& ...

Capital of Vietnam
Feb 24, 2006 (2 photos)

... amount of bus time, 24 hours on and off, and a full recovery from the hangover from hell, we arrive in the capital of Vietnam in the north of the country. Although the weather from Hue was wet, the weather here is noticeably cold (not compared to home), ...

Good Morning, Vietnam
Feb 2, 2005 (9 photos)

... wanted us to come eat at his restaurant. Which we did. All in all, you couldn't have scripted a more spectacular entrance into Vietnam. Let there be no mistake, the Americans have arrived. The train ride to Hanoi was scheduled to take 10 hours. We sat ...

Hanoi, second time around
Feb 16, 2005 (1 photos)

... of "ghost money" on the sidewalk-fake money which is burned as an offering to the gods. Despite my reluctance to leave Vietnam, I am also relieved (just a little) to be getting back "home." To all of the die-hard, ardent backpackers out there, I ...

Tour of duty complete
Jun 16, 2006

First flight in asia since arriving 3 months ago - the rest of the travels have been all overland.

Gooood Morning Vieeetnam :)
Oct 29, 2008 (25 photos)

... landing we walked from Arrivals to departures and within 2 hours we were on another flight, 3 hours later landing in Hanoi, Northern Vietnam.  On this flight i had the same scary experience i have had on a flight previously...Basically i drift off to ...

Hello Hanoi
Jan 24, 2005 (8 photos)

... There are also no lanes - it's simply who can out manoever the person beside him/her! Hanoi, population 3.5 million, is the capital of Vietnam. Vietnam's population is about 81 million, making it the 13th most populous nation on earth. Vietnamese are ...

Hanoi, Halong and Ho Chi Minh's Corpse
Apr 28, 2009 (40 photos)

... the anniversary of the fall of Saigon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reunification_Day) and also Labor day, so everyone in Vietnam is travelling around, hence tickets being hard to get... Luckily we had great success! We now have sleeper train tickets ...

The length of Vietnam in 21 days......
Jul 29, 2003 (12 photos)

... and have to wait for all formalities are complete before walking the 200 metres across No Mans Land (very strange scenario) into Vietnam. Catch the bus at the other side to HCMC and trek around the backpackers area of the city, eventually deciding to stay ...

Hue, Hanoi and Halong Bay
Sep 18, 2003 (8 photos)

... and maybe travelling to China with. From Hue we were all excited to catch the Reunification Express train to Hanoi, as we've only used buses so far in Vietnam. It was to be a 12 hour overnight journey and we'd booked a sleeper carriage...however upon ...

Back in Hanoi - Cooking up a feast....
Dec 22, 2008 (6 photos)

... couldn't notice the difference.  Besides we needed another day sack for going on our trek when we arrive in Laos. Vietnam is a great country to visit with lots of sights to see and many a bargain to be had.  The people are warm and ...

New Years
Jan 4, 2005 (6 photos)

January 4, 05 Northern Vietnam is spectacular in its diverse scenery and people. I caught a bus to Halong Bay the day after I arrived. I was a day behind the group I had met, but figured I would catch up to them in the bay somewhere. Our first stop ...

The Heart of Hanoi
Feb 20, 2006 (19 photos)

... manipulate painted wooden puppets over a pool of water--the stage. Immediately, the choice of water made sense: Northern Vietnam's people are intricately connected with water, whether through growing rice in paddies, fishing, boating, or raising ducks. ...

A Return to Vietnam
Nov 16, 2008 (2 photos)

... took a 2-day boat trip on Halong Bay.  So punctuated by all of that, in the right circumstances, Vietnam is an incredible destination, and Hanoi is the price we pay for that.  But these particular two days in Hanoi just shopping for some winter ...

Hanoi in a day
Apr 27, 2008 (13 photos)

... from. It is Bun Ga Ri. I'm no longer a stranger! I come from the land of roses, ..and Stoichkov! I knew it! Vietnam still loves us Bulgari!   I only brought the little camera. It is broken. It can't focus. I kind of ...

A Few More Photos from Hanoi
Feb 19, 2007 (4 photos)

From our walk to the train station.

Hanoi Over Night
Sep 16, 2008 (10 photos)

Just an over night after getting back from Halong Bay. We booked the train ticket the following morning to Sapa. Went to Mao's Red Lounge again. Our local in Hanoi : ).

Temple Tour
Feb 20, 2007 (5 photos)

I had gotten sick after the Perfume Pagoda trip. I had a cough and a fever. I had a sore throat. I had the bird flu. I had Japanese encephalitis, yellow fever, West Nile virus, and malaria. I had a cold. I took cheap antibiotics and DayQuil. I spent a ...

Nam maN! - mirror?
Aug 15, 2004 (5 photos)

... of 3) made our excuses and left. I made loose arrangements with Gary and James to meet the following day as we were all off to Vietnam.... I left thinking i'd never see them again! So, there i was, sat on a bus with a, what turned out to be 36 hours bus ...

The Dong Xuan Market
Feb 7, 2007 (11 photos)

... weren't any incredibly exotic goods.  It's mostly dishes, dresses, shoes, and brand name jeans for low prices courtesy of Vietnam's proximity to China.  Some people we met said they saw a meat vendor selling dog, but we missed that.  It ...

Exploring more of Hanoi
Mar 1, 2006

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Long Bien Bridge
Feb 7, 2007 (15 photos)

... side for foot and motorbike traffic.  It spans the Red River and was of great strategic importance during the Vietnam War, providing a communication link to China.  The structure was repeatedly bombed by Americans and then hastily repaired by the ...

Hanging out in Hanoi
Jun 12, 2006

... the one daily bus had already left by the time we arrived (7am) so we were left with the option of hanging around Hanoi for the day and catching the night train instead. I thought I'd take advantage of the free ride into the old city and piled into a ...

Another day doing absolutely nowt!!
Aug 26, 2008

After a good lie in this morning followed by the free buffet breakfast, we had to decide whether we wanted to actually get off our asses today. The decision was - maybe. We knew we had to go and collect our visas today at 3pm, so we will probably set out ...

At long last - RAIN!!! We needed it!
Aug 18, 2008 (37 photos)

... to get some sightseeing done without collapsing through dehydration every 10 yards! So off we set. The first port of call was the "Hanoi Hilton". You will probably know that this is not a hotel but a war prison used by the French and then the Vietnamese. ...

From Hillbillies back to City Slickers
Aug 24, 2008 (27 photos)

... a pool, so we may just park up on their drive for about a week!!! That will scare them. It's been a fantastic tour of Vietnam and one I would recommend. We had a really good group of people on the tour as well and hopefully we can stay friends with some ...

Hanoi and what annoys!
Jan 16, 2008 (28 photos)

... in 1904 by the French colonists in Vietnam for political prisoners. American POW's were imprisoned here during the Vietnam War and nicknamed it the 'Hanoi Hilton.' One of the young pilots shot down was John McCain (US Senator). Display cases show ...

Noerken in der Koerken
Mar 2, 2005 (4 photos)

... from Saigon to Hanoi was romantic in a Paul Theroux's 'Great Train Bazaar' kind of way. We met people from not only Vietnam, but Japan and Holland. From the windows we saw tropical jungles and factories, then went to sleep and woke to rice paddies from ...