North Vietnam

Coming from Laos, there are two options to get to Hanoi, the hub of North Vietnam. The bus, which takes over 24 hours and costs around £15, and a flight, which costs around £90 and takes an hour. Now as much as I’d have loved to have saved some money, I was still suffering from Vang Vieng and 24 hours sharing a small bed with a random person was making my stomach churn. Off the the airport it was!

Landing in Hanoi, I had pre-booked a taxi via my hostel, as the shuttle bus to the city doesn’t run at night (I landed at 9:30pm), so it was an easy journey into old quarter, which is where many of the backpacker hostels are.

The Language

I’m sure I’ll pick up more when I get back into Vietnam, but so far I have picked up a few phrases that have come in handy (and not so handy)

Sin chow – Hello

Tam Biet – Goodbye

Gah mon – Thank you (it might be Kah mon but I can’t figure out which is correct)

Doy hihi – I’m 22

Doy la Hannah – My name is Hannah

Dee dee – Go away (literally translates to “go go”)

The Food

Vietnamese food is fantastic, like a lot of Asian cuisines it’s a noodle and rice based diet. But like Laos, they also eat a lot of bread (praise the gluten gods!!) in the form of Banh Mi. I’m pretty sure this just means sandwich here, but the Banh Mi everyone talks about is a baguette filled to the brim with meats, egg, coleslaw, salad, spicy sauce, and more meat. I couldn’t actually find one of those in Hanoi, but the meatball sandwiches I kept coming back for were incredible. Another Vietnamese favourite is pho. It’s a rice noodle soup, with thinly sliced meat (usually chicken or beef) and can be fantastic, or bland, depending on where you get it. The locals eat it for breakfast, but personally I prefer it for lunch!

Skip: Fermented Duck foetus, a delicacy that I’m told is just sour egg and cartilage.

Don’t Miss: Banh my P, 12 Hang Buom, Old Quarter, for the best meatball Banh Mi around (ask for extra cheese)

The Things to Do

In Hanoi, you’d struggle to be bored. There are plenty of museums to visit, some very classic, like the Fine Arts Museum, and others that are more specific to the country, like the Hoa Long Prison Museum, which I unfortunately didn’t have time to visit. If you’re looking for a more chilled out day, buy a Banh Mi and sit by one of the many lakes Hanoi offers, the west lake being the most impressive.

When you’ve had enough of the city, get a sleeper bus to Sapa. You’ll wake up with the sun, in a beautiful town, but also freezing cold – bring a jumper or two if you head up there at this time of year! Famous for its rice paddies and its mountainous terrain, it’s perfect for trekking. Families in the villages open their homes to visitors and offer authentic homestays in traditional Mong communities. Unfortunately, my trip was cut short when a friend badly sprained her ankle, and I volunteered to go back with her (oh no, what a shame, no more trekking for me!!), but what I saw really was beautiful, even without the paddies blooming.

Once you’re back in the city, you can book a tour to one of the many private islands of Ha Long Bay. I booked with Central backpackers, their tour is aptly named Hideaways. Leaving at 8am, we headed to our island on a Bus-Boat-Bus-Boat combo, and it took around 4 hours. Even with the weather worsening, Ha Long is incredible. We kayaked around the floating villages, which are exactly as they sound. These families grow up here, marry here, have their own kids here and grow old here. Their livelihoods are fishing. They mostly sell their catch on Cat Ba island, but sell also to the island resorts around them which meant the oysters we ate in the evenings couldn’t be any fresher. Cycling and trekking on Cat Ba was a highlight for me, or rather the views from the top were. The weather had cleared and you could see all across the bay for miles. Not a sight to miss.

Must see: The women’s museum in Hanoi, if nothing else, to learn about the badass women in the war effort.

Must do: DIY Box, a leather workshop where you get guidance and materials to make anything you want!

I’m headed to Hong Kong now to see Astrid for Christmas and New Year, so I’ll see you on the other side!