Hanoi
We arrived early in sleepy Hanoi to find out that there had been a mess-up in our hostel booking. Luckily, the hotel manager, Tian (Legend), found us a spot in one of his friend’s hotels. The transfer was pretty scary as he proceeded to load us (one after the other) on the back of his motorbike with our big backpacks on. And was driving against traffic. The driving in Hanoi is worse than in Ho Chi Minh, which we didn’t think was possible.
We spent 5 days in Hanoi overall with a quick break to the island of Cat Ba to go see Lan Ha Bay.
Our time in Hanoi was spent eating Banh Mi, roaming around the lake and the old town, watching the train pass through train street and generally just wandering the busy streets of the old city.
We also met up with some family friends for dinner and got to see the sunset over the city from the Pan Pacific Hotel.
Hanoi is a beautiful city full of life but also a great place to just chill. We enjoyed what felt like 5 Sundays here. After an action packed month this was the perfect place to end our trip in Vietnam.
Cat Ba/ Lan Ha Bay
Our mini-break to Cat Ba island was amazing. Instead of visiting Halong Bay, which we had heard was totally crowded, we decided to go see Lan Ha Bay. We didn’t regret our decision for a second.
We booked a full day kayak tour with Asia Outdoors and got to explore the beautiful bay, its lagoons and floating fishing villages. We had a lovely lunch on the boat and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the bay.
Cat Ba island itself was nice but more of a base to go explore the surroundings, rather than a destination. Epic spot for a sunset though!
After a full month in Vietnam, it was already time to go! Next stop: Bangkok for Christmas!
A Year With The Sullys 