Our Adventures in Northern Vietnam

We left Da Nang and arrived in Hanoi for 13 days of fun in the north of Vietnam!

Bryce and I signed up for a day trip tour around Ninh Binh, Vietnam.

We got picked up early in the morning outside of our AirBnb and hopped in a van full of other travelers. After about a two hour drive we were in Ninh Binh.

First things first, the traditional Asian hats got passed out for everyone to wear during our day of exploring. Bryce and I were excited for these hats after we found out they were included with our tour.

The first stop of the day was Hoa Lu - the ancient capital of Vietnam. While there we saw a large pagoda where locals were praying and the Temple of King Dinh. It was a quick walkthrough with commentary on the history of the capital from our Guide, Hung.

Ourselves and the 11 other tourists piled back in the van destined for the next location.

About 10 minutes later we arrived at the nearby traditional Vietnamese village. Here we all got on bikes and explored while seeing how the people outside of the city live. It was pretty cool to see everyone's houses, gardens and handmade boats. When we rode past a fenced in house, three dogs came and stood at the entrance and barked while we passed. The littlest one came after me for a second.

15 minutes later and we were parking the bikes back in a restaurant parking lot before heading in for a buffet lunch.

This was our first Vietnamese buffet so it was cool to see what food we had to pick from. There was fried and steamed rice, fried veggies, spring rolls, prawn crackers, bread, salted peanuts, french fries, soup, and a handful of other foods I can’t remember.

After filling up we were back on the bus heading for a boat ride through caves.

We put on our life jackets and boarded our metal boat guided by a local woman.

A few minutes into the ride, someone from our tour in another boat pointed out that our guide was using her feet to steer and row the boat. We turned around to see and there she was using her feet to get us around. The boat ride was 1.5 hours, without breaks. I can’t even imagine how badly her legs were burning by the end of it.

The views on this boat ride were crazy. So beautiful. It was a little cloudy but it was still jaw dropping sights. We were surrounded by cliffs that reminded us of the Phi Phi Islands in Thailand.

The caves were cool to ride through. The longest one took a little over two minutes from start to finish and the two smaller ones you could see the way out from the start.

Around halfway through, before circling back, our guide pointed up to the cliffs and said something we didn’t understand. After scouring the mountain side looking for what she pointed to we saw five mountain goats scaling the cliffs!

Overall, the boat ride on the Ngo Dong River was peaceful, relaxing and memorable.

It is finally time for the last stop of the tour: Mua Cave. This destination entails a small hike that promises great views on top of the mountain. Our guide told us it is 500 steps to the top, “it’s not easy but it is not hard”. We began our ascent and Bryce started counting the steps on our way up the steep mountain. We came to a fork in the staircase and veered left to get to the main viewpoint.

Less than 20 minutes and 470 steps later we were at the top. We were greeted with stunning panoramic views. On one side, we looked down at the Ngo Dong River we were just on. On the other we saw a lotus farm and Ninh Binh.

Bryce went up to the tippy-top of the mountain that you have to climb some sharp rocks with over a 100 foot drop on both sides to get to (he was the only person out of the crowd of tourists to do that). At the top there is a dragon statue spanning around 100 feet in length. The mountain is nicknamed “Lying Dragon Mountain”.

After we soaked up the views we started our descent. Bryce wanted to quickly run up the other side of the mountain (the right staircase at the fork in the trail) so he did that while I watched from the other side.

By the time we got to the bottom we had about 20 minutes left until we had to be back on the van. We wanted to see the lotus farm and walk around the trails throughout it. Especially because we ate lotus seeds in Cambodia with our main man Bo Bo. We had to get an up close look at how they grew.

Quickly walking through the lotus farm and taking a few pictures while we looked up at the mountain and viewpoint we were just at was a great ending to our day in Ninh Binh.

A little less than a week after our day in Ninh Binh we were back in a shuttle (or “limousine”as they call it) on our way to HaLong Bay. We were looking forward to two nights by the water and away from the hustle and bustle of Hanoi. Joining us was Bryce’s friend Sara. We got a great two bedroom apartment with an amazing view of the ocean.

We arrived the first day in HaLong Bay around 4pm and spent the evening chilling, trying to find something to eat (slim pickings around there) and securing our tour for the next day.

Our full day in HaLong started early as we got ready and packed our bags for a day out on a boat tour of the bay.

A bus picked us up at our AirBnb and brought us to the international port where we waited for our boat to be ready before boarding.

The boat had two levels. The main floor was lined with dining tables on both sides and the upper deck had two benches for sitting and enjoying the view of the ocean and cliffs.

Upon the start of the tour we were immediately served lunch. Local food like rice, shrimp, veggies, fish heads, spring rolls and a couple unidentified dishes were on the menu. Largely sticking to the rice, veggies and spring rolls, we filled up on what we could.

The first official stop/activity of the tour was kayaking. Bryce and I got in a tandem kayak (Sara in another with an expat from Thailand who is originally from Houston, Texas) and we headed towards the cave. We passed through a short cave before popping out the other side into a section of the ocean surrounded by mountains forming a circle around us. It was quite a fun experience. We kayaked around for about 30 minutes before it was time to head back to the boat.

Next: a quick ride to Sung Sot Cave (a.k.a. Surprise Cave). It was found by the French in 1901 and is the largest cave in HaLong Bay. You don’t anticipate how vast it is until you are in it. I’m assuming that's why they call it ‘surprise cave”.

Inside the cave there are a lot of lights illuminating the walls, stalagmite and stalactites. Overall, a breathtaking site with a just-as-picturesque view of the bay from the top upon your exit of the cave.

Lastly, a little 420 step hike up Ti Top Island for a panoramic view of the bay.

We jumped off the boat and made our way to the start of the hike to the top of Ti Top Island. We had an hour to check out the view and enjoy the water. Just like the hike in Ninh Binh, it was a steep one but not too bad. Once at the top there were gorgeous views of the water filled with boats surrounding the island. We broke quite a sweat hiking up and down so we spent the rest of the time relaxing and enjoying the water while talking and taking in the stunning scenery.

Just like that, our day in HaLong Bay was done. We spent the next hour and a half cruising back to the port as the sun set over the water. It was a great day exploring HaLong Bay and experiencing what it had to offer.

The next day we got up slowly and walked to our shuttle back to Hanoi.

One day in Hanoi we walked to the nearby Hoa Lo Prison. This prison was initially used for political prisoners by the French colonists and was later used by North Vietnam for U.S. Prisoners of War during the Vietnam War. Over time it gained the nickname “Hanoi Hilton” by American POWs.

The only piece of the original structure of the prison left is the gatehouse. The rest of the property now has a tall apartment complex built on top of it. The museum itself was largely reconstructed to mimic what the prison looked like.

Inside there were cells that depicted prisoners restrained by their ankles to the long wooden benches everyone slept on together, there were worn prisoner uniforms, solitary confinement cells, and old personal belongings, bullet shells and coins. We saw holes in the ground where people would use the bathroom without any privacy. There were chunks of the old sewer system that prisoners used to escape the confinement of the prison. We also saw an entire American’s parachute uniform (with the parachute) on display which was tattered and stained, telling its own story without using any words. Lastly, the heaviest relic from the prison that we saw was the guillotine. Knowing that it had been used to murder many men and women was an indescribable and uncomfortable feeling as we stared up at the heavy blade looming feet above the lunette people were forced to put their heads in.

Hanoi in itself was an experience and a half. It is a busy city with packed streets and constant noise.

After walking around for a little it does not take long to realize that the streets seem to be organized by what they are selling. One is filled with sunglasses, one with shoes, another with industrial kitchen equipment, giftwrap, seasonal decor, kids toys, and door handles and padlocks. Seriously, store after store of all the same stuff for blocks. It is crazy to us but I guess it works for them.

One of the most memorable streets for us was the food streets. There were veggies, fruits, flowers, grains, seeds and more sitting out in street stalls. It was the locals’ grocery store. People pull up on their mopeds, tell the stall owner what they want and it gets brought to them. The most shocking street of course was the meat street. Everywhere you looked it was just raw meat sitting out all day long (for who knows how many days) waiting to be bought. There were your typical, everyday cuts of meat, like chicken breasts, steaks and fish. Then your *sort of* normal, entire chickens (I’m talking ENTIRE chicken, not just like the rotisserie one from Hannaford), fish heads, chicken feet, etc. Then out of nowhere BOOM, there's whole tongues from God knows what animal, pigs feet, animal intestines, hearts and other assorted organs. Talk about culture shock. But it was really interesting to see.

Another fun memory from Hanoi was when we were walking around the lake nearby to our place and these Vietnamese kids came up to us and asked if they could practice their English. Admittedly I was a little hesitant, not sure if it was a scam or something but it wasn't and we got to talk to the kids for about 5-7 minutes. They had sheets with conversational questions that they asked as their teacher/other sister to one of the kids recorded them. The girl I was talking to was rapidly firing all of the questions at me as Bryce’s kid got to talking all about the planets. It was a fun moment on the trip that we won’t forget.

The food in Vietnam was fun to try too. The most popular Vietnamese dish is Pho. Pho is a soup made up of broth, rice noodles, meat and herbs. It is very good and is even good in the instant noodle version (that we bought and ate often).

The next Vietnamese dish we tried was the Vietnamese pancake. And no, it is not the fluffy breakfast food dripping in syrup that we all know and love. The Vietnamese pancake is a large crispy and round sheet of rice flour, coconut milk and turmeric (think a crepe), stuffed with chicken, bean sprouts, and scallions. Served alongside the pancake is rice paper, sticks of carrot, pineapple and cucumber, and assorted leafy greens such as lettuce, mint, and basil. Eating this dish is sort of a process as you have to cut the pancake up into strips (the waiter does this at the table), then you roll a strip of the pancake and all of the leafy greens and veggies together in the rice paper before dipping into fish sauce and enjoying. This was Bryce’s favorite dish in Vietnam.

The last meal specific to Vietnam that we tried was Bun Cha. Bun cha is grilled pork, vegetables and onions served on a steaming platter. On the side, noodles and rice paper is also served. Much like the pancake, you assemble this meal into a rice wrap, dip in fish sauce and eat.

Overall, Hanoi was great to us. We loved watching the street below from our balcony as we chatted at night, loved walking around as we took in the culture, and we loved the food, drinks and memories made both day and night. One of our favorite things to do in Hanoi was simply walk around the Old Quarter, “the heart of Hanoi” and see what there was to see. We absolutely loved our time spent in Hanoi.