We had been planning this trip for months and finally being in Hanoi was almost like a dream. I don't know if any of you can relate to me on this but anytime I would hear about the country Vietnam my immediate thought was the Vietnam war. Never did I think I would have the opportunity to travel here and much to my surprise the country was beautiful. In many ways its a typical busy city, including street venders with just about anything you could ever want. Will and I had the best time shopping around and I have to say we got really great at bargaining with them.
Our hotel we stayed in was also a very nice surprise. Obviously I didn't have much experience in where to stay in Hanoi, but I found that if you research enough on the internet you can find the area suggested to be the best area, and then I just went from there. It was called the Apricot hotel and it was only built this past summer. I can't say enough good things about this hotel with the staff, atmosphere and location we couldn't have asked for much better. The first night we arrived we found the hotel rooftop bar with incredible views and a great way to really see where we were.
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| Rooftop pool and bar |
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| See through rooftop ceiling |
Since we were only in Hanoi, Vietnam for 5 days, we wanted to make sure we saw most everything we could. We signed up for a tour to Tam Coc which took us about 3 hours outside of Hanoi. It was an all day trip but it was worth it and amazing to see the countryside instead of the city. Our tour guide walked us around the area giving us history and showing us temples and shrines. After a quick lunch we got in a boat with a local vietnamese man who paddled us down the river for about an hour. The views were amazing and the it was definitely something we wouldn't have seen in the city of Hanoi.
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| Water Buffalo |
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| They paddle with their bare feet! (spot the photo bomb) |
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| Local women washing clothes in the river |
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| One of many caves we went under |
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| Mountain Goat |
Tam Coc was an amazing experience and we are so glad we decided to leave the city and see something different!
The next day we decided to do some more shopping, sight seeing and go see the Hanoi Hilton Museum, which was once the prison to hold Americans during the Vietnam War. Although it was tough to see most of it as you can imagine, we were glad we did it and got to be a part of this historic place.
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| Lunch with a view! |
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| Front of the Prison |
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| John McCains flight suit when he was captured |
The next day was exciting because we were headed on an overnight tour to Halong Bay, Vietnam. I set this trip up about a month before we arrived and I was excited to see what all the talk was about! We took a bus about 3 hours north of Hanoi and from there we boarded a boat that would be our home for the next 2 days. We got a room with a small balcony attached so we could have a view the entire time we were on board. We made a few stops at some islands along the way, went kayaking and learned to make Vietnamese spring rolls to name a few activities. I think we both agree that Halong Bay was our favorite part of Vietnam.
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| Our boat the Paradise Luxury |
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| View from our room |
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| Learning to make spring rolls! |
Sadly our Halong Bay trip quickly came to an end and we were back in Hanoi for one last night. Since we were pretty tired and we had an early flight the next morning to Thailand, we decided to lay low. We packed our room and went out for dinner and drinks with the locals in Hanoi. Will picked up his custom made 3 piece suit we had fitted for him 2 days prior and we bought a painting of Halong Bay for our home back in Japan.
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| Our painting with the artist |
Our next stop was Koh Samui and Bangkok, Thailand for the remainder of our 2 week trip. We knew Vietnam was going to be hard to beat, but 7 days at a resort in Koh Samui, Thailand sounded like heaven. Never thought these words would come out of my mouth but goodbye Vietnam, hello Thailand!
xoxo
Caroline and Will
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