Disclaimer: This is a late post. Very late post.
Another year, another travel outside the Philippines. My mother and I been planning to go abroad every year as our annual goal. And this time, we chose Vietnam -- specifically Hanoi, and we've been eyeing to go to Hanoi since our first trip to Thailand. And we officially did it!
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| Map of Vietnam (c) Google |
There are two best places to land when you are in Vietnam -- one, Hanoi, then two, Ho Chi Minh. I purposely left out Da Nang since Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh are the two most popular spots to land whenever you get to travel to Vietnam. And we chose Hanoi. Why Hanoi you ask? I personally do not want to visit a city if going to Vietnam. Hanoi is I think is way laid back than Ho Chi Minh. And it is more culturally built as there were a lot of preservation of infrastructures and I guess old houses...? But I think that is my most specific reason.
Hanoi is located somewhere around the north of Vietnam. It is when the French occupation based their soldiers and made them it's barracks. The reason why the very middle of Hanoi or rather the very capital of Hanoi is nestled in the Old Quarter, where we stayed. Our plan is to go and explore the Old Quarter and its nearby tourist areas such as Ninh Binh (which we visited eventually) and immerse ourselves on how the Vietnamese live their lives everyday.
FIRST DAY: ARRIVAL IN HANOI, ACCOMODATION
We arrived in Noi Bai International Airport around 8:00 AM (Hanoi time) and since we haven't had exchanged our money, we decided to withdraw money from the ATM which is Agribank since it is the only bank ATM that can dispense maximum of 3,000,000 Vietnamese Dong using an international card (in our case, we used GoTyme card which is a Visa card). Then off we go to the second level of the airport to claim my ordered simcard with 7 days of unlimited data since i'd be using the sim card in my TP-Link pocket Wi-Fi so Mama and I can share internet data together. Tipid hacks ika nga.
Since its way too early, we saw a local restaurant near the sim card redemption area and we ordered one classic beef Pho and one authentic Banh Mi. To be honest, this is my first time trying Pho even though its popular in the Philippines already. And we are incredibly satisfied as it was super delicious! The taste itself is comparable to the salty levels of Filipino cuisine. It's a must try!
After which we decided to take the Public Bus going to Old Quarter than hailing a Grab Car. It's cheaper at 45,000
Vietnamese dong per head so we just paid around 90,000 Vietnamese dong en route to Melia Hotel stop. The bus is located at the left side upon exit the arrival area of Noi Bai International Airport. Bus sign is going Ga Hanoi, and bus number is 86. It only took us an hour to arrive in the Melia Hotel stop. The Melia Hotel stop is the nearest bus stop if you plan to go around St, Joseph Cathedral which is a very popular tourist spot in Hanoi.
Since we walked around 10 minutes from Melia hotel stop to St Joseph Cathedral, we decided to take a risk in doing an early check in at our hotel which is Serenity Diamond hotel which can be walked around another 10 minutes from St Joseph Cathedral. Take note, I've been pushing a luggage and my backpack around so the exhaustion is real.
While walking along the streets of the old quarter, I've been trying to get used to how the Vietnamese people speak; its quite harsh really, Very strong intonation with a little bit of conviction and you can really feel it. So it took time for me to get used around how they speak as they were quite frightening, really.
Upon arrival at the hotel, we took our chance, and we got it. It's around 11:30PM and the very nice lady of the front desk allowed us to do early check in. Our check in should be at 2:00PM, but they allowed us. I think they took pity on us since we arrived sweaty LOL.
So we rested for at least 3-4 hours. We made ourselves back on the streets around 5:30PM. This is something I didn't included in my vlog; I thought we were scammed when we decided to eat at the restaurant beside Bun Cha Dac Kim; a very famous street restaurant were Bun Cha, a local cuisine is served. Since Bun Cha Dac Kim is crowded, we tried the one beside it. Forgot the name though. The food is indeed delicious, but we thought it was just the right amount for one person, but it turns out its good for two in one order. So we said two, and charged around 250,000 Vietnamese dong which is a lot! Lesson here is, make a thorough research first. I never knew that the dish would cost us a fortune though. But its alright. Charge to experience.
And we proceed to walk around the streets of old quarter heading towards the direction of Hoan Kiem lake and to find the famous shark jaw building (which is now being demolished for a reason) and were lucky enough to at least see the structure before it is planned to be taken down. After that, we returned at our hotel and took a rest.
SECOND DAY: WHOLE DAY NINH BINH TOUR via KLOOK
Okay, to be fair -- I'm having difficulty remembering the names of the places specifically where we made our tour around the town of Ninh Binh. So bear with me here.
I booked the entire tour in the Klook app as I always do. Since we were in Hanoi, I have to install a messaging app that is prevalent in the country. I chose WhatsApp, where the tour guide and I had a conversation regarding the pickup information and further questions.
We were picked up in front of our hotel around 7:30 in the morning with a diverse compilation of people inside the Limousine (as they call it) and there are only 5 Filipinos inside including us.
Our tour title is Bai Dinh - Trang An, Mua Cave Small Group Tour with English Speaking Guide. December 2, 2024.
Here are the photos.
Our last destination is the Hang Mua Cave where we get the opportunity to climb up the mountain and see Ninh Binh up and about. Unfortunately, it took toll on our bodies since it is the last destination and climbing up steep steps is not something to gag about. Did I even get a snapshot? I sure did, but I cant seem to find it. But I got a YouTube video to back up my claims.
Then as we got back to Hanoi after an hour, we just ate our dinner in a nearby "Thai chicken" restaurant then we get to sleep. The tour was exhausting but sulit.
THIRD DAY: HANOI DIY DAY TOUR
As for our third day, we planned to walk around the old quarter, the french quarter and some of its tourist spots. This is the moment where I get to use my GoTyme card to use as a cashless payment in trying to hail a Grab Car.
Our plan that day is to go to Tran Quoc Pagoda via Grab, walk around the vicinity then reach the Quan Than temple which is under renovation that day. After that we rested at a nearby highlands coffee just to kill some time and since its drizzling that time, we get to cover ourselves inside the café. After having a cup, we booked a Grab Car to the Vietnam War museum in front of the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and presidential palace (which we agreed not to enter since we're not that interested) then as soon as we reached the War museum and Flag tower, it was closed! So we opted to proceed to the nearby Citadel of Thang Long where we were able to enter and see their ancient war bunker inside during the Vietnam war. Then we had a late lunch at the nearby Ca Phe fastdood.
Then we walked around 15 minutes to reach the Temple of Literature. Which conclude our third day DIY Hanoi tour.
FOURTH DAY ROAMING HANOI AND LAST DAY MIDNIGHT FLIGHT TO MANILA
Our last day is probably my personal highlight of the trip. Not only we will be roaming the streets of old quarter with a deeper goal of buying pasalubong and souvenirs which we can carry.
Places we've visited during this last day is the Dong Xuan market, and areas around were we can really shop at cheaper stalls. Then we get to pass some time in Hoan Kiem lake and feel the whole local vibes for an hour. Then we headed back to our hotel to give some tip and gratitude to the hotel staff as they were super helpful during our stay. They can exchange foreign currency especially American dollars for emergency use. And we also had the chance to withdraw money again from an ATM machine in front of the shark jaw building.
At midnight, we booked a Grab Car to Noi Bai International Airport Terminal 2 as our flight back to Manila is 7:00AM of our fifth day. We left out hotel around 3:30AM.
Detailed moments of our trip is in my YouTube channel.
Our itinerary Map.
If we plan to go back, we plan to visit Sa Pa, Vietnam! And maybe and probably a side trip to Lao Cai which the Vietnam and China border is located. Part of my bucket list is to see two countries at the same time in one frame!
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