Saturday 12th November 2022
Today we get the bus to Hanoi, so had a breakfast of chicken pho (which we’d discovered was the best option), provided by our hotel, Tam Coc Vuthanh Friendly Family hotel.
We were supposed to be picked up at 9.30am, but at 9.15am a minivan reversed down the narrow alleyway that our hotel’s on. Sure enough, it was our transport to Hanoi and luckily we were ready to go. First impressions were good, the seats were spacious and comfortable. However it quickly went downhill there…..
After driving around the bumpy roads of Tam Coc for 30 minutes, picking up passengers, we finally got onto a main road. However we didn’t get very far until the bus pulled over. They started telling people to get out one by one. It looked like the whole bus was disembarking, so we went to get out, but were told no, wait on the bus. Not sure why, as eventually they got to us and we also had to get off. Apparently everyone was transferring to a new (but identical) bus! The driver of this new bus was also a bit of a crazy driver. We kept overtaking vehicles on the wrong side of the road (with vigorous beeping of horns!), and there was a lot of swerving and sudden braking. So definitely not the smoothest ride! On the positive, the journey to Hanoi took much less than the advertised 2.5 hours.
We pulled up in the outskirts of Hanoi and then had to wait for a car to take us into the city centre. We’d paid to be dropped off by our hotel, but in hindsight we would’ve been better off ordering a Grab car – it’d have been cheaper and probably quicker too.
We eventually reached our hotel, the Veshia which is just outside the Old Quarter. It’s a lovely hotel, with big comfortable rooms (the bed was amazing). We dropped our bags then walked to Hoan Kiem Lake. It’s a lovely lake, very pleasant to walk along. In one area, there’s a little section with a few sculptures (more like blocks sticking out the ground at various angles, but they looked quite cool).
We then visited Ngọc Sơn Temple, also called Temple of the Jade Mountain, which is on an islet in the lake. It’s a nice temple, reached by crossing a pretty red bridge. However, the thing that really makes it stand out is the giant turtles housed within the temple. There’s a legend surrounding the lake, involving a giant turtle that gave the emperor a sword so he could defeat the Chinese. Since then, large soft-shell turtles have been spotted in the lake, although there are now very few of them around. The last known individual was found dead in January 2016, and the body is now displayed in the temple.
We saw a few much smaller turtles when we were there, but I assume they’re a completely different species from the giant ones.
We then walked back to our hotel as we had a food tour starting at 6pm. It turned out to be a bit of an odd food tour though!
The first stop was Nướng Lẩu Hà Linh. Outside, was a big table laid out with raw meats, vegetables, and some fish ball things. You helped yourself to whatever you wanted, then went back to your table and were given a gas stove and a tub of butter. It was fun cooking everything at the table over the stove, and the meat was very good. We also really liked the fish balls, I’m not usually a fan of processed meat or fish, but these were actually very tasty.
After we’d finished, Tam (our student guide), asked if we were still hungry. We said yes, and we were looking forward to the next places we’d visit. To which she looked confused, and said it was an all you can eat buffet, so we can just get more here. If we’d not booked a food tour expecting to try different dishes, we’d have been happy to stay there (it was very good!). However we’d been looking forward to experiencing a few different places in Hanoi where locals ate, so we asked if we could try the best Bahn Mi instead (we do love our Bahn Mi!)
Tam took us to Bahn Mi 25, and we ordered two pork Bahn Mi between the three of us. They were very good Bahn Mi, with crispy, fluffy bread and very fresh and flavoursome ingredients. Not quite as good as the very best we found in Saigon, but certainly in the top tier.
Tam asked if we wanted to try one final dish – Bahn Xeo. We’d had these on the Saigon food tour and found them a little disappointing, so we were keen to see if the Hanoi ones were better.
On the way there, we passed a guy on the street frying some kind of fritters. Tam told us they were banana or something similar to a potato. We decided to try one of the “potato” ones, but it turned out to be a sweet apple pastry. It was delicious!
We continued walking to Nha Hang Mr Bay Mien Tay, for our Bahn Xeo. We were very impressed by it, much crispier and less greasy than the one we’d tried in Saigon. I’d definitely recommend if you’re even in Hanoi.
After eating, we said goodbye to Tam and went for a walk around the Old Quarter. We went past St. Joseph’s Cathedral, which was lit up and looked stunning in the dark.
We then continued to the lake, which was buzzing with life – it was a great atmosphere. In one area, they’d set up a few speakers and people in the middle were dancing.
We watched for a short while, but didn’t join in (I’m not much of a dancer). Also, we needed to get back to our hotel to pay the deposit on our Halong Bay cruise. I’d booked it through a recommendation on a Facebook travel group, and the booking was made via messenger. We had to pay 50% of the $475 cruise price up front (5.8 million VND) and Hoa Ta (who I’d booked with) wanted the deposit in cash and would send her husband to our hotel to collect it.
It made me slightly nervous handing over that much cash, but it looked legitimate (the travel agency had lots of good reviews) and we had a booking confirmation and formal looking receipt, so we paid and hoped for best! By this time it was late, and time for bed.
Emma and Pete’s Asian Adventure 