Discovering Vietnam One City at a Time

Ready to scratch a new country off our lists, we headed to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. We joined with 9 others as part of a tour group travelling by bus, boat, train, and plane across the entire country in just 10 days. As much as I loved some of the food I found myself feeling homesick not for Minnesota, but for Thailand. It’s funny how fast a place can start to feel like home.

Chaotic Streets of Hanoi

After saying farewell to the family, we flew from Bangkok to Hanoi on Vietnam Airlines. I was surprised that with such a short flight, just 2 hours, we got a full meal! We chose beef noodle and it came with some sort of raisin bread on the side, both were quite tasty.

This was an older plane where they only have overhead video screens and everyone watches the same thing. During the meal they had a miniature cooking show! It was really cute, they would even catch the fish (just showing tiny boots operated by fingers), harvest mushrooms and wash them in the stream, and had a super tiny mixer for whipping cream and oven for roasting the fish.

After getting some Vietnamese Dong at an ATM Mr. Wander used the Grab app to get a ride to our hotel, which is similar to Lyft or Uber in the US. The hotel was in the old quarter of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It was a relief for us northerners to have a break from the 95F (35C), it was about 65F (18C) and a rainy most of our time in the city. 

The first night after checking in and relaxing a bit we ventured across the street to find some dinner. Mr. Wander had his first taste of Banh Mi and I had some Vietnamese curry, which was different than most curries I have had. It was not spicy but had a lovely flavor. We also tried our first few tastes of Vietnamese beer called Hanoi. Most of the first night and following morning I spent getting the second Japan post and finishing and scheduling the first Thailand post for Krabi. I knew internet would be hard to find for a few days so I wanted to catch up a bit.

After finishing the post, Mr. Wander and I did venture out for a walk around the nearby lake (above) and a snack at Love Note cafe, where the inside is plastered with layers of notes. I had to leave one saying “Always be willing to wander”.

For Vietnam and Cambodia we booked a tour through a company called G-Adventures. We had been looking at a Mekong river cruise but as we were figuring out our schedule for the first month of the trip we couldn’t find one we liked that had space for the dates we were available. For the same price as a week on a cruise we found this tour for 17 days that included all transportation and lodging as well as many activities that would take us through both countries and bring us back to Bangkok at the end of the month. We liked the idea that it was a small group, maximum of 16, and it gave us a little break from having to plan any of the logistics.

The first night with the group we had an orientation and then went out to dinner together. Afterwards our tour ceo (chief experience officer) walked us to an area that became completely closed to vehicles at night (although a few motorbikes tried to go through). The bars and restaurants on either side had set out tables and small chairs – think preschool sized- in the street so there was only a few feet of space for people to walk down the middle. They were all trying to get you to go to their establishment and calling out prices for beers but our CEO had a specific place in mind.

Six of us stayed and took advantage of the 2 for 1 Hanoi beer and he walked the rest of the group back to the hotel before coming to join us later. Since we had at least 5 of us we all got a free shot on top of the beers.

Cruising Ha Long Bay

The next morning we checked out and boarded a bus headed for what I was most excited for in Vietnam, Ha Long Bay. We had a local tour guide with us for 2 full days and he gave us a general history of Hanoi, Ha long Bay, and other parts of Vietnam history including occupation and wars against China, France, and the US. We made it to the boat at midday and after checking into our rooms we were served a lovely lunch as we cruised between the islands. It was a foggy/hazy day so the islands seemed to pop out of nowhere.

I probably should have expected this but the sheer number of boats was a bit shocking, both for day tours and overnight through the bay. Our first stop was Tee top (spell) island, where we could climb about 400 steep steps to a 360 view of surrounding islands.

At the bottom was a small beach you could swim at, the only place where swimming is allowed in the bay. I didn’t feel like swimming so I just waded in up to my knees, the water was colder than I had expected but 1 person from our tour and people from other tours fully submerged themselves.

Then it was back to the small boat to take us to the main boat so we could change quick if needed to get ready for the next activity, kayaking or the bamboo boat that held several people at once. We opted for Kayaking because it is one of my favorite things to do. 

Back on the boat we could change or shower and then we were served an excellent dinner. There were so many pretty flowers made from vegetables and even a net made from carrots! At the end of the trip the chef gave us a demonstration on how to make these and tips for softening the vegetables.

We had a quick breakfast before shuttling to Surprise Cave that is the largest in the Ha Long Bay area. Vietnam is also home to the largest cave in the world, something to explore on another trip! ‘

Along the way, our guide pointed out many rock formations that looked like various animals or people. We had at least 200 steps going up and down so we did get some nice views out of the cave too.

Back on the main boat we were served yet another meal, a larger brunch, as we cruised back to port. I slept most of the way back to Hanoi on the bus and we arrived about an hour or so before some of us opted for a Hanoi Street Food tour.

Progressive Dinner, Hanoi Style

We were taken to 5 different places for a progressive dinner, starting with an appetizer where you make your own spring rolls. The place was across the street a few doors down and I wouldn’t have given it a second glance because they were cooking it right in the doorway. The guide recommended the shrimp and beef filling for the crunchy omelette containing mostly bean sprouts. To make the rolls you put one cut piece of omelette on your rice paper, smashed it a bit to break up the crunchy shell. Then you added your herbs and lettuce, and tried to roll it as tightly as possible, and dipped it in the light fish sauce as you ate it. It was so tasty, and I loved the texture! I also really loved the dipping sauce, I might have to find this kind of fish sauce when we get home.

The next spot was Pho, which is what I was particularly excited for. They served it a bit different, they called it “dry” for summer. Instead of all the ingredients being in a broth, you had a chicken salad that you customize with herbs and sauces to your liking and eat as-is. The broth you would have a spoonful or two as you went so you didn’t get quite so hot. It was very tasty but I wish I would have been more daring with the spice.

Then we had the other food I most attribute to Vietnam, Banh MI. Mr. Wander and I split one though because we were both getting full and were barely halfway through! Next stop was a draft beer to wash it all down. We sat on the sidewalk, sometimes just a foot from the traffic jam that occurred around rush hour.

Dessert number one was sticky rice with mango or ice cream. We did ice cream since we had so much sticky rice with mango in Thailand and it was delicious. They had coconut chips and fresh coconut on top, and the sticky rice was green since it was flavored with Pandan leaves.

The last stop was Egg Coffee, but they had a “decaf” option to get egg chocolate instead, so that is what I opted for as I don’t really like coffee. We also were given a demonstration and the full recipe on how to make it! I first thought it was an egg put into coffee like something Gaston would drink, but instead its an egg yolk meringue made with happy juice (aka Bacardi) sitting on top of the coffee so if you have a very strong or bitter type of coffee, as you bring a spoonful of the coffee up through the meringue it sweetens it. The Egg Chocolate was borderline too sweet, if you made a more bitter hot chocolate underneath it would have been really nice. 

The guide we had for the food tour was amazing, he grew up in Hanoi and was talking about how some of these places had evolved overtime. His aspiration was to become a tour guide for G Adventures, which says something about this company. He was especially good at helping us navigate these crazy streets. Sometimes there are too many motorbikes or shop inventory on the sidewalk so you have to walk right alongside traffic!

Southbound and Down

After the tour we were bussed to the train station where we had tickets on an overnight train to Hue. Two of the group had picked up wine bottles so 5 of us women hung out in one of the cabins for a few hours after we were underway and got to know each other more and share differences between our respective countries, Canada, Ireland, and the U.S. We had 6 people on our tour not able to join us due to visa issues so Mr. Wander and I managed to get a 4 berth cabin to ourselves. This was especially good because I had started to feel ill by about midnight, and kept Mr. Wander up most of the night. The train did give us a bunch of snacks though!

We arrived in Hue at 8am and dropped off our bags at the hotel, it was too early to check in yet. We went to breakfast nearby and tried a local food, Bun Bo Hue and I had ginger tea. A local tour guide joined us for the day and we were taken to a pagoda, the site of the old palace, and to a temple. He also explained that the Buddhism common in Vietnam is influenced more by China, so it’s a bit different from Thailand. You might visit a pagoda to pray for your family or your health, but you go to a temple to pray for your business.

We also toured around the imperial city of Hue, where the King used to reside in the 19th century.

At the end we had a lunch at another pagoda, the money we paid went towards feeding the monks and the food we had is similar to what they would eat, all vegetarian. It was really delicious but as I was still recovering so I could not eat very much.

Mid afternoon we made it back to the hotel and I took the opportunity for a nap. We found some pizza and fried rice we split for dinner and called it an early night. Mr. Wander did find some Vietnamese hard cider, and I had a ginger soda they made at the bar, with pieces of ginger in the bottom, yum!

The next day we had nearly 4 hours over the Hai Van pass to Hoi An. When we stopped near the top our CEO introduced us to a snack with sesame seeds and peanuts that really tasted good called Banh Dau Phung.

I might have to make it someday! Or at least if I find it at an Asian grocery back home now I know what it tastes like.

I realize some of why I was starting to feel homesick was because I was feeling sick and wanted comfort food. While the food was really tasty and definitely full of healthy veggies, it didn’t exactly qualify as comfort food, maybe if I had found more Pho. In the next post we’re getting to what became my favorite part of Vietnam, Hoi An, and then onto a bit more heavier topics, learning about the Vietnam War. I am also starting to feel better (finally) and by Cambodia and the return of more curry dishes the homesick feeling finally drifted away. Until next time!