Day 1 in Vietnam – Hanoi
To reach Hanoi cheaply, I had to fly through Singapore. As a result, I didn’t arrive until around 3:00. With limited time in Hanoi, I walked around the Old Quarter in Hanoi. I also walked around the French Quarter and around Hoan Kiem Lake.
I was lucky that I could see the night market, which occurs during only a couple of days a week. However, I did not have time to go around West Lake and see the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.
It was very hot, and there were a lot of motorbikes.
Day 2 and 3 in Vietnam – Ha Long Bay
On Day 1, I had made a reservation on one of the more “party” boats. There is supposedly one boat that is associated with one of the hostels that is known as thee party boat. Unfortunately, the boat only does 3 day / 2 night adventures. I only had time for a 2 day / 1 night adventure.
On my boat, there was a Greek couple, German couple, 2 Swiss friends, and 2 UK friends. The scenery was amazing. While the scenery was amazing, it was also a great time meeting all of these interesting people. We had beers and in the end, we jumped off the boat and sang Karaoke. The Greek man, Jianis, played guitar, which made it a perfect night.
The shuttle there and back took about 4 hours. After arriving at hotel at 6:00 pm, I left shortly later for my flight back to the US.
