As I outlined in my post on my Vietnam itinerary, I decided to start my ten day trip to the nation in Hanoi, the capital city in the north, and then make my way down the long, narrow country. As the second-biggest city in Vietnam, Hanoi features a bustling Old Quarter and the beautiful Hoan Kiem Lake. I couldn’t wait to experience the energetic spirit of the city and eat all of its fresh, delicious food.

Day One: Checking into the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel and Food Tour #1

I landed in Hanoi at 11:40am after a long and exhausting trip. While I was technically already in Asia, it wasn’t exactly easy to get from the remote Park Hyatt Hadahaa to Hanoi (boat ride and three flights, resulting in nearly 20 hours of travel in total). I had pre-booked a private transfer from the airport to my hotel through Vietnam Transport Service for the very reasonable price of $15, and would 100% use them again next time I’m in Hanoi.

Although I felt sleep-deprived and worn out on the car drive into the city, I couldn’t help but get excited by the energy of Vietnam, as endless streams of motorbikes whizzed by, honking incessantly. There were one, two, three, sometimes four people (well, two adults and two children) piled onto the motorbikes on the crowded streets. It all seemed chaotic and dangerous to my untrained eye, but somehow the people had a system that worked. I was already falling in love with the place.

Upon arriving at the legendary Metropole Hotel (now under the Sofitel brand), I was relieved to learn that my room was ready for an early check-in. As much as I wanted to explore Hanoi, first I needed a nap.

Our room in the Historical Wing of the Metropole wasn’t over-the-top luxurious, but it felt classy and very comfortable
Our bathroom featured this heart-shaped bathtub, which amused me to no end
View of the Historical Wing from the hotel pool
Looking down at the lobby from our floor

After sleeping deeply through a two hour nap (I never sleep as hard as I do when I’m jet-lagged), I was ready to get out and see Hanoi. My plan for the night was a small group food tour in the Old Quarter from 6-9pm, then a return to the hotel to greet Vicki, whose flight was scheduled to land at 9:40pm.

There is no way to describe Vietnam’s motorbike culture in words. It is ubiquitous, loud and crowded, but also surprisingly organized.

I met my guide Hanh and fellow travelers (all from the U.S. or Europe), and we were off.

Let the Vietnamese feast begin! This is banh xeo, basically a crispy stuffed rice pancake wrapped in rice paper with fresh herbs and dipped in a delicious sauce. I had never had banh xeo before, but it quickly became one of my favorite dishes in Vietnam.
This is a vegetarian version of bun cha, a famous dish from Hanoi, typically served with pork. Chilies are provided on the side so that diners can add their preferred amount of spice.
The locals looked at me like I was crazy when I added all these chilies, telling me it was too much. Not the first time I’ve had to prove that when it comes to spice, I don’t have a white girl palate.
Regretting that I didn’t take better notes on these dishes. They were all incredible.
My vegetarian version of banh cuon. Note that when I call dishes “vegetarian” in Vietnam, I really mean pescatarian since it’s nearly impossible to avoid fish sauce in their traditional recipes. Thank god I’m not picky about these things.
In addition to the fresh chilies, another hallmark of Vietnamese street food is the fresh limes (among many other fresh things).
At our final stop for the evening, we had the option to try durian. Ever since my first visit to Asia, I had been incredibly curious to taste durian, known for its potent stench (it reminds me of turpentine mixed with something rotten). I didn’t love the smell, but the complex, slightly sweet flavor and soft, creamy texture turned me into a durian convert.
One last dessert: egg coffee, named as such because of the egg yolks beaten to create a creamy consistency. Condensed milk, coffee, and sugar are added, resulting in a sweet, rich treat of a drink. It was a bit much for me.
Once the tour was over, I took a long, meandering walk through the Old Quarter and around the lake, delighting in the people-watching and attempting to burn off as many calories as possible. The area was bustling on a Saturday night, and I felt completely safe walking on my own. You can see that the locals were dressed in jackets, but I felt comfortable in a summer dress and sandals.
Apparently, it was quite popular for teenagers to gather on the streets of Hanoi and perform choreographed dances for the crowds walking by. I was particularly captivated by this group.

After my enjoyable walk back to the hotel, I grabbed a seat at the hotel bar for a nightcap while I waited for Vicki to arrive. Before I knew it, I was no longer a solo traveler (for the next nine days, at least). I was delighted to have a partner in crime to eat my way through Vietnam with.

Vicki and I were both exhausted when she finally made it to the hotel, so we called it an early night and planned to wake up to hit the gym before our 9am street food tour the following morning. One thing that I love about traveling with Vicki: she always ensures that we don’t let our workout regimen slip. I’ve done a trampoline HIIT class with her in Amsterdam, I’ve created wine workouts with her in the Hamptons, and I’ve run a half marathon with her in Nashville (okay, she ran the half marathon and I just ran a 5k, but we were both running a race at the same time so we were technically running together). One thing was certain: we were both going to prioritize our workouts, wherever we were in the world.

Day Two: Food Tour #2, Vietnamese Craft Beer, Thang Long Water Puppet Theater

With our workout complete the next morning, we were ready to conquer Hanoi’s street food scene. Vicki had booked a Sticky Rice tour that would take us through the local markets and stuff us with eleven courses, all before noon. I had actually experienced my first food tour ever with Vicki in Amsterdam, so it was fitting that we’d now be delving into the Vietnamese street food scene together. With so many options, Vietnam was an ideal destination for a food tour (or four).

The narrow side streets of the Old Quarter were only appropriate for pedestrians and motorbikes
A local fruit, vegetable, and herb stand
A local woman selling fresh herbs and vegetables
Motorbikes as far as the eye could see
We saw coconut worms but were not adventurous enough to eat them
Vicki in her element
Getting comfy on some tiny plastic furniture (the seating of choice for street food establishments in Vietnam) and enjoying some banh trang tron (rice paper salad)
Vicki, after trying her first taste of egg coffee. Do you think she liked it?
Me, trying fertilized duck embryo for the first time
Do you think I liked it?
Our guide Tu gave us a lesson on crossing the street in Vietnam: 1) Walk diagonally, not straight, 2) Move with confidence, and 3) Don’t look directly at anyone. As long as you move predictably and with a purpose, the motorbikes will know how to traverse around you.
My first banh mi in Vietnam! The vegetarian version of the dish included egg, Laughing Cow cheese, and fresh veggies and herbs.
To be clear, I wasn’t joking when I said we were sitting on tiny plastic furniture
This part of the tour was a little disturbing
Another day, another banh cuon
Eleventh (and final) course of the day and it wasn’t even noon
St. Joseph’s Cathedral, which dates back to Vietnam’s time as a French colony, is the oldest church in Hanoi.

Once the food tour wrapped up, we didn’t have plans until the afternoon. We were also stuffed, so we decided to walk around, explore, and attempt to work off some of the calories we had just consumed.

Ngoc Son Temple, in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake

After an hour or so of wandering, we got bored, so we decided to stop for some craft beers at the Pasteur Street Brewing Company.

The sampler was the way to go
The view from the Pasteur Street Brewing Co balcony

Back at the hotel, we had signed up for the historical tour of the property in the afternoon. The beginning of the tour was rather mundane (basics on when the hotel was opened, an account of all the famous guests who had visited in the past), but things got interested when we reached the secret bomb shelter. The bunker had been built during the Vietnam-American War in the 1960s, but had been forgotten until it was rediscovered during a renovation in 2012. We donned protective head gear (more to prevent us from bashing our heads against the low, stone ceilings than anything else) and crept into the dark, claustrophobia-inducing space. Sure enough, I bonked my head against the corner of the ceiling while making my way out of the cave.

The first picture depicting what would become a common trend during our time in Vietnam: protective gear. Helmets, life jackets… safety was no accident.

Our plan for the evening was to experience the show at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theater. We booked our tickets on the same day through the Metropole concierge and were rewarded with seats front and center. The show itself was… interesting. While I appreciated the traditional art form, we both had a difficult time following the plot without any English translation, and were trying hard not to nod off in the dark since we were feeling the effects of jet lag, food coma, alcohol, etc. I would have enjoyed the show a lot more with at least some explanation of what I was watching.

The stage before the water puppet show began
We ended the evening with a drink at a rooftop bar overlooking St. Joseph’s Cathedral
Then we encountered this magical scene! An entire street was closed off and lined with Power Wheels-esque electric cars that little kids could drive around. They even had cars directed by remote control for smaller children who couldn’t yet operate a toy vehicle on their own. My four year old self was in heaven, and I was tempted to climb into a tiny car, but figured that wouldn’t be a very respectable thing to do, especially as a visitor.
I was equal parts jealous and joyous while watching these lucky kids

Day Three: Ha Long Bay Cruise

Cruising through Ha Long Bay is a must-do activity from Hanoi. It is rather touristic, but the scenery is dramatically beautiful. There are multiple options available: day cruise, overnight cruise, multi-night cruise, etc., but we chose a day tour through Ha Long Sen Cruises. It would have been nice to experience the bay more privately and extensively with an overnight or multi-day excursion, but we were operating under a tight time schedule.

The day started with a morning pickup at our hotel (fortunately, we were the last to be picked up, which gave us some extra time to sleep and hit the gym). The drive to Tuan Chau Harbor took a few hours, but the bus was comfortable and spacious. As we neared Ha Long Bay, we observed a region that was clearly expanding quickly in an effort to support tourism: lots of construction, new high-rise buildings, and a disproportionately high percentage of billboards advertising paint brands (I had never seen so many ads for paint in one place, and was oddly fascinated by the phenomenon).

Then it was time to board our “cruise ship” for the day. The ship was really more like a small yacht, and with less than twenty passengers onboard, the vessel was operating at a small percentage of full capacity. No complaints from me.

Onboard our ship for the day

We started the cruise with lunch; while the food was bountiful, I found the dishes underwhelming after all the incredible street food in Hanoi. Next, we headed up to the top deck to enjoy the views.

There was no shortage of tourist cruise ships in the bay, but the area was large enough that it didn’t feel crowded
Me, admiring the views
Our guide told us that this rock formation is called “Fighting Cock Rock.” We also saw “Dog Rock” and “Duck Rock.”
The limestone rock formations really were a sight to behold, and we lucked out with perfect weather on the day that we visited the bay

Next up was the Ba Hang fishing village (well, it used to be a fishing village, but now many of the locals work in tourism). Here we could kayak on our own, or take a small boat ride through the caves. Vicki and I decided to delegate the rowing work, donned some life jackets, and climbed into a row boat.

Reminder that safety is no accident. They didn’t give us helmets for this tour; we had to be smart enough to duck our heads when floating through the low caves.
The cave really was quite low
View once we safely made it through the cave

Once back on our cruise ship, we headed to our final stop of the day: Thien Cung cave. To see this cave, we had to be on dry land. We docked at the small harbor, trekked up a number of steps, and entered the creepy cave.

View from the harbor
Entering the cave
While the cave had been known to people in the local area for years, the entrances had become covered with jungle vines until 1993. Then, it was rediscovered by some fishermen caught in a storm (through the entrance pictured above). Obviously, it has now been developed into a tourist attraction.
The stalactites were quite impressive
No safety gear needed for this experience!

After our tour through the cave, we boarded the cruise ship for a final ride and a “cooking” class. I put cooking in quotes because we really weren’t cooking anything; we simply took a number of fresh ingredients and wrapped them in rice paper to make spring rolls. I didn’t mind donning the provided chef’s hat and doing my best to get into the role (or roll? Sorry, that was a really terrible joke).

Let me present Chef Vicki
And Chef Andrea

After a long drive, we found ourselves back in Hanoi, with one last night to experience Northern Vietnamese cuisine before flying to Hue the next morning. What did we decide to have? Why, Cha Ca, of course. One of the most famous dishes from Hanoi, Cha Ca now has an entire street named after it. The dish is comprised of turmeric-marinated fish fried table-side with an abundance of fresh herbs (most prominently, dill). It was my kind of experience, as we were given a bunch of sides (vermicelli noodles, peanuts, the aforementioned herbs, and fresh chilies), then given free reign to produce our own culinary masterpiece.

So. Freaking. Good.

After gorging ourselves once again, we decided to call it a night and wandered back to the hotel. Our flight to Hue was at 8:30am, and we wanted to be well-rested for our only day in the Imperial City of Vietnam.

So long and farewell, Hanoi! I would’ve been happy to stay another few days (at least), but Hue beckoned.

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