Adventure Discovery of Northern Vietnam: Sapa, Halong Bay, Hanoi

Sapa, Halong Bay, Hanoi comes to mind when one mention Northern Vietnam. Just to give you an outlook of this amazing country, Vietnam. The northern portion of Vietnam is situated close to China and it stretches down south of Ho Chi Minh city with the Mekong River flowing through along the coast of South China Sea. Find more on the post on disovering Ho Chi Minh city here.

On this Northern Vietnam journey, I took 6 days to discover her wonders. Looking for a long weekend holiday? Yes, then you should be heading to Hanoi.

Getting There 

The gateway into North of Vietnam: Hanoi also the capital of Vietnam. Being an international airport, most major airlines have connections to this capital. Should you be flying from Singapore, there are several choices which includes Jetstar Asia, Singapore Airlines, Scoot, VietJet and Vietnam Airlines.

Explore Hanoi

 Most visitors to Hanoi would choose to stay in Old Quarters area, located at the heart of the city. Likewise, I had chose to stay in this district as well due to the fact that most of the tours, attractions are located within this area. If you are contemplating if should book your tours online before you step onto Vietnam soil, my recommendation is book your tours only when one is in Hanoi-Old Quarters. Reason? There are so many tour companies offering very competitive prices in Old Quarter. Most are tours heading to Halong Bay, Sapa trekking, Ninh Binh City and even to further area like Ho Chi Minh, Hue, Danang and Dalat.

Things to do in Hanoi within 1 day

Hoan Kiem Lake — The first attraction that comes to mind in Hanoi Old Quarter is the fresh water lake. This lake is whereby locals come to gather in the morning for their daily exercise. There situated a temple on a small island reached via a wooden bridge. Witness how the locals go about in their everyday life here.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum— A grand final resting place for  Revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh who reunited both North and South into one country. Although it was against his final wishes of having a mausoleum created, this place got to be one of the major landmark filled with historical purpose in Hanoi. There are a change of guard show performed daily in the mid-morning. I managed to catch it around 11am.

St. Joseph’s Cathedral — 19th-century Gothic Revival church that stands out from her old grace in the city. Do you know Hanoi is home to nearly 4 million Catholics in the country?

Hanoi Opera House — Built by the French, who once colonized the country, leaving it a European feel. One simply fall in love with the architecture.

Egg Coffee — One of the must try unqiue coffee in Hanoi. There are many cafes in old quarter area that boast selling egg coffee. However, to have the authentic one head to Giang Cafe. One can see a sign above a small alleyway, which you need to walk down to the end where the cafe will open up. Personal thoughts is that although physically the area is still quite an old charm, but it is now populated with so many visitors from around the world.

Address: 39 Nguyễn Hữu Huân, Lý Thái Tổ, Hoàn Kiếm 

 Đồng Xuân Market — Located in the center district of Hoàn Kiếm , a big market selling Vietnamese food, clothes, goods. Good place to have a feel of the Vietnam products. Other than that, almost every corner of old quarter is ideal for shopping with most popular being “North Face” brands of bags, clothes.

Hanoi Train Street — Twice a day a speeding train passes only inches from the homes of this residential neighborhood. One of the recent time gaining popularity due to Instagram shots taken. Do note train passes at 3pm and 7pm daily. This area is far too crowded in the noon time, so to capture the good photos without anyone in sight, recommend to head there early in the morning. Located between Le Duan and Kham Tien street in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. The exact lane the train passes along is called Ngo 224 Le Duan.

Water Puppet Theatre — One of the coolest thing one ought to experience in Hanoi. Spend your night after dinner to catch this Water puppet show in a way never seen before. Address: 57B Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Hàng Bạc, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội 100000 

Sky Bar — Head to the highest floor of Pan Pacific Hanoi to admire the night views of Hanoi at the rooftop bar. During winter, like when I was there in early January, bring a thicker clothing as the night might be quite cold when the winds gets strong.

SAPA

The next adventure in Northern of Vietnam would be the trekking of Sapa. There are mainly 2 different ways to get into Sapa, gateway to the trekking villages.

Method #1: By bus — By using this method, one save on cost and travel time. Day or night direct buses are available from Hanoi to Sapa town. One drive takes about 6 hours. A good saving tip is to take the overnight bus as one can sleep comfortably on it, arriving into Sapa early morning around 5am.

Method #2: By train– A four berth soft sleeper cabin is available. This is one of the comfortable method as the train cabin is quite up to tourist standard.

I recommend at least spending 1 night staying in the home stay villages. However, do not expect it to be staying among the villagers. In fact, I was a tad disappointed to discover that the home stay was actually like staying in a lower class kind of resort. We stayed in a dormitory style where everyone slept beside each other.

The first day of 12km trekking  bring us to visit Y Linh Ho and Lao Chai villages of the H’mong minority. Mid way the trekking journey, we had lunch at a local food outlet in Lao Cai. After which, we continue our trek to Ta Van village.

The trek was tedious with the cold and rainy weather. I was trekking Sapa during end December period. However, the views are indeed rewarding for us living in the urban area.

Should have more time to spare, one may stay another night in Sapa. Spend the entire day exploring Sapa town and also choose to either hike or take the cable up to Phan Xi Păng (Fansipan), the highest mountain in Vietnam and Indochina which is located only 10 minutes away from Sapa town.  Be warned that temperatures can dipped below freezing level during winter period (December- February).

HALONG BAY 

UNESCO World Heritage Site and dotted with more than 1,600 towering limestone islands, Halong bay is one of the must visit attractions in northern Vietnam. Spend a night on board the junk boat to fully experience and take in the beauty of this place. The name Hạ Long means “descending dragon”.

Itinerary:

Day 1: HANOI – LAO CAI 

– Arrive into Hanoi

– Take overnight train/bus to Lao Cai

Day 2: LAO CAI/ SAPA TREKKING 

-Arrive Lao Cai town at 5am

-Head to hotel in Sapa town for wash up

-9am: Begin trekking to local villages, overnight home stay

Day 3: SAPA TREKKING-HANOI 

-9am: Continue to trek

-1230pm: Arrive back to Sapa Town ; Explore Sapa

-9pm: Overnight train from Sapa to Hanoi

Day 4 : HANOI – HALONG BAY 

-8am: Pick up from hotel

-12pm: Arrive Halong Bay to board junk boat

-1pm: Lunch on Junk Boat, explore Halong Bay

Day 5: HALONG BAY -HANOI 

-12pm: Lunch on Junk boat, leave to Hanoi

-5pm: Arrive Hanoi

Day 6: HANOI 

Explore Hanoi

Categories: Asia Region