Hanoi Travel Blogs, Travelogues and Travel Journals - Page 3

This morning I said goodbye to the French couple after breakfast.  Luyen helped me hire a taxi for the day so I could see as much of Hanoi as possible.  First I went to the hospital for Pediatrics, but the person I was supposed to see was in a meeting.  They told me I could just look around the onocology ward.  It was incredibly depressing.  There were about 6 families per room.  In what I assume was the iso room, the family members all wore gowns, but the door w…

In the early morning we set out again in a  taxi to the Hanoi airport. This time we had no difficulties like those we encountered on arrival - our driver had been arranged by the hotel, the destination was clear and the price establixhed. The departure process was quick and easy and after a short wait we departed in a Vietnam Airlines Airbus for Vientiane, Laos. We had originally planned to stop in Vientiane but the Tourism Authorities from all of the ASEAN countries were meeting there a…

The weather in Hanoi was extremely hot when we returned from Halong Bay. In fact for the next few days we couldn't do much during the day at all, as the temperatures were reaching well over 100F The evening before my birthday we got together with some of the people we had been to Halong Bay with, and went out for some food. We were delighted with the food after the seafood overkill of the last few days, oh I still dream about that bacon cheese burger.....! After the meal we we…

I am now in Hanoi, Vietnam and the stickiest I think I've been so far on this trip. This city is actually my favorite so far of the major cities we've visited--just Bangkok and Chiang Mai in Thailand until now but more to come. The architecture is amazing--you can definitely tell it was colonized at some point by the French--and the amount of motorbikes plowing through the streets is pretty astounding. All you hear are motorists zooming by, honking their way through in order to alert pedestri…

We arrived at Hanoi Train Station at around 5.30am in the morning and after saying our goodbyes to everyone, Gaby & I took a taxi to the Prince Hotel only to find that because we were so early our room wouldn’t be ready until check-out at around midday. However, the manager phoned the sister Sunny Hotel where there was a room free for us. A quick taxi ride paid for by the hotel and we were checked into our room. The US$25 got us a 'proper' shower with a cubicle, two double beds, satelli…

It's Sunday and I'm sweating my way through the noisy afternoon streets of the Old Quarter, flip flops slapping loud. As usual I'm sticking as close as I can to the side of the narrow road. The pavement is blocked with parked scooters, hawker wares and piles of random crap: fruit skins, plastic bottles, filthy scraps of paper all discarded by passers by and residents alike. The traffic is a little quieter than a weekday but not that …

This trip essentially began with a week in beautiful Sydney, Australia. I wasn't sure of my itinerary, but I did pick up a Vietnamese Visa in Sydney, so after a few days visiting friends in Perth, I headed that way from down under. After Vietnam, I revisited Bangkok and Frankfurt to complete my Round the world adventure!

Hanoi was wet and cold.  This was quite a shock to my system after spending over two months wearing shorts and sandals in south India and SE Asia.  But, it actually felt good to "feel" wintertime for a moment.  In my normal life, I would be in San Francisco right now waiting for rainy days so I could jam up to Tahoe for fresh powder days.  Originally I wanted to spend a lot of time in Vietnam and follow the coastline from north to south.  But, I changed my…

So on the way to the airport from Hanoi in our taxi while listening to heartbreaking music, we get in a car accident. The sad part about it was that Regina and I were totally unphased. "Oh, maybe we should put our seat belts on now." Actually, what was really sad was the driver nearly got into an accident at first, turned around to say sorry, then actually hit the guy. Which sucked big time for him. Regina and I being the unconsiderate jerks that we usually are asked each other "Does thi…

yeah i made it... my hotel in hanoi still had my bag in storage and even a room! unfortunately the same as before so again a lot of steps up... nice after the up and down hikes in sapa train ride back to hanoi was not that pleasant... i noticed that the ticket guy made a mistake when writing my seat number, in compartment 4 there is no bed 1... so i pointed that mistake out to 3 different people but they were all 'ok ok ok ok'.. so i didn't bother and just went to the ticket lady at…

My last days in Vietnam, at least for now, were relaxing and just walking down the streets, reading a book by the lake, drink a cup of coffee,... and all over again. Although the city is busy and crowded, I did have this relaxing feeling over there. Just sitting by the lake for hours, meeting people from the Halong Bay-Cat Ba trip again...was magically relaxating. Where I'm a person who's mind is running so many times, it's a miracle how well my reading is going on this trip, even in crowded …

At stupid o'clock in the morning of 28 Jan, I had to wake up to get myself to the Bangkok airport with my boyfriend. Our flight to Vietnam was smooth. The first thing that I experienced after we landed in Hanoi is that it was very cold. Oh!! no!! too cold for Thai girl who rarely gets cold. Luckily, I checked the temperature before and brought a lot of warm clothes. We got a taxi to the old quarter and the taxi dropped us at a fetid hotel. The hotel wanted to charge us over the correct price.…

This is again the business trip, but I am so excited to visit Vietnam for the first time! I have to be in Hanoi for three weeks but hope I can explore it and the surrounding areas. Will keep you posted!

VietnamIf you happen to arrive in Hanoi on the eve of Tet then there are a few things you’ll need- a moped, a huge red balloon and as big a branch of peach blossom as possible. Once you’ve assembled everything, then simply squeeze onto your moped with at least five other members of your immediate family and launch yourself into the beautiful chaos that is Hanoi traffic. It’s this unbelievable two-wheeled traffic that first hits you upon arrival in Hanoi- literally if you don’t watch w…

I spent a couple of weeks in Philippines, and VietNam. I was in Thailand for over a month. There were a few days of fun passed in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and at Angkor Wat in Cambodia.