This was our third and final trip to Hanoi and last stop in Vietnam before heading to Bangkok. The bus ride was much smoother as we went with a different company who were so much better. They gave us each a water and a couple of snacks!
Every time we’ve been to Hanoi we’ve had a different experience even though we’ve mostly stayed around the Old Town. It’s definitely a polarizing place. Julia doesn’t like it (way too chaotic and overwhelming with the amount of people), but Jack surprisingly thinks it’s a great city for those reasons. So many people moving around everywhere on scooters, running tiny little shops out of their houses, and an insane amount of good food. Not laid back at all, and you have to be ready to have your senses overloaded.
After we arrived in Hanoi, we walked around and explored some of the areas we hadn’t seen before. We went to St Josephs Cathedral, which was designed to look like Notre Dame in Paris. After having just recently been in Paris, they do really resemble each other! The Hanoian variant is much much smaller in size though. As luck would have it, we found ourselves in a massive rain storm yet again (what’s with Hanoi and the rain for us?!?!?). We sought out shelter in the Uniqlo, which had some cool Vietnam-specific items that we wished we could’ve brought along with us but passed on. While we waited for the rain storm to pass, we played cards and shared some ice cream.
Before coming to Vietnam, we had heard about the famous water puppet show that takes place in Hanoi and knew that we had to go. They’ve existed in Vietnam since the 11th century and originated in the flooded rice fields and they’re still done to this day in Hanoi. Totally worth seeing if you’re in town. The show lasts for less than an hour and they provide descriptions of each scene in English which helped us follow along.
We were pretty hungry after the show and craving some banh xeo, so we found a local spot for some, which were delicious. This dish was one of our favourites that we tried during our time in Vietnam.
As we were walking back to our hotel, we realized that we walked right past the Hanoi train street, and the train was scheduled to come in 5 minutes. Our first experience with the train had been disappointing, but we decided to give it another shot. After all, it was supposed to come in 5 minutes so what was the harm in waiting. We found a spot on the street, away from the overpriced bars, cafes and chaos. We waited 10 minutes and still no train. Then another 20… 30… We were getting antsy but the local people kept saying that it would only be another 5 minutes, so we didn’t want to give up hope. Finally, the train came after an hour, and it was a much more exciting experience this time. It wasn’t just one car but rather an entire train with too many compartments to count! Julia took a video of the train passing and the video was longer than 2 minutes! We were happy that we waited it out.
On our final day in Vietnam, we woke up to rain (of course) but we started the day with some delicious coffee (for Julia) and a strawberry matcha (for Jack). The coffee and matcha has been unreal everywhere we’ve gone. Jack had one final delicious banh mi for and Julia had a yummy smoothie. We went for huge walk around town and got ready for our second country!
Vietnam was a great place to start off our adventure and we’re already planning our next trip to come back and visit the places we didn’t get to see this time. The people, food, history, culture and nature made this one of our favourite places we have ever visited. If you are planning your own trip to Vietnam, these are our top must visit places of the ones we experienced:
Julia:
- Ninh Binh/Tam Coc (breathtaking nature and natural beauty)
- Hoi An (rich in culture and history plus amazing food)
- Cat Ba (Ha Long Bay is an absolute must visit)
- Pu Luong (tranquil and peaceful, with stunning rice fields and nature)
- Da Nang (beautiful beaches and laid back feel)
Jack:
- Ninh Binh/Tam Coc (an incredible natural wonder with laid back vibes)
- Hoi An (amazing food and the lanterns at night are stunning)
- Hanoi (so much delicious food, and the city truly feels alive at all times)
- Ha Long Bay (we stayed in Cat Ba and took a day trip here, but if you have the budget then I’d suggest booking a multi-day cruise to take it all in. Lots of tours leave out of Hanoi)
- Da Nang (stay right in the tourist zone – lots of cool cafes and a great beach that stretches on forever)
- Pu Luong (you have to see the rice fields. Lots of people suggest SaPa and that might be a better option with more going on but we didn’t get to go on this trip)
Thank you for following along on our adventure so far! If you want to support us, please consider buying us a coffee 🙂
Adventures with Jack and Julia 
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