Coming from the mountains of Sapa, the next stop of our adventure is a totally different place. We will now proceed to the majestic Ha Long Bay.

Our tour operator picked us up from our hotel around 8 AM. After picking up other tourist that will join our trip, we proceed to Ha Long Harbour. It took almost 3 1/2 hours to reach our destination which included a short 15-minute stop over for wash room break. We then rode a small boat to transfer to Lemon Cruise Ship.

Upon arrival, the tour guide briefed us on the itinerary before we checked-in to our rooms.


Lunch was served around 2 PM as the boat started its journey to Ha Long Bay. Fresh seafood was served with vegetables and rice.

Ha Long Bay, in the Gulf of Tonkin, includes some 1,600 islands and islets, forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars. Within Quang Ninh Province, in the northeast of Vietnam, it is 165 km from the capital of Ha Noi.

Halong translates as ‘where the dragon descends into the sea’, and legend claims the islands of Halong Bay were created by a great dragon from the mountains. As it charged towards the coast, its flailing tail gouged out valleys and crevasses. When it finally plunged into the sea, the area filled with water, leaving only the pinnacles visible.

Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994, a trip to Hanoi should never be without a visit to this place. The island's exceptional scenic beauty is complemented by its great biological interest. The mystical landscape of limestone islets is often compared to Guilin in China or Krabi in southern Thailand but in reality, Ha Long Bay is more spectacular.

Our first activity is visiting the Sung Sot Cave,which translates to "Surprising Cave" in English. During the walk, our tour guide shared different animal figures that can be seen around the caves. The cave was very big and well lighted, so pictures look great.

Light at the end of the cave

At the end of the walk we get to see top view of nearby islands.

Next we proceed to TitoV Island with white sand beach where people can go swimming. We also went for a short trek up the hill (around 420 steps) to get some more pictures of the islands. Warning: You need to be physically fit to go up the steps. Another warning is to be careful with monkeys around the area because they steal food and they may bite!

Our activities for the day isn't over! Up next we went for kayaking in nearby area as the sun is setting. It took a little bit of practice before we can move around with ease in our kayaks. 

As it was getting darker, we went back to return the kayaks to the crew. After a short rest, we then had Spring Roll making lesson from crew members. They then cooked the finished products for our dinner.

After dinner, we tried squid fishing but sadly didn't get any catch. Other people went for videoke but since we are tired from our previous day's trip, we decided to rest early.

Breakfast

The following day we woke up early to get a picture of sunrise. We then had a simple breakfast of eggs, jam, butter, bread and fruit. 

We then went for a tour at the Ha Long Bay Pearl Farm where they showed us how pearls are being made. We get to see several types of pearls that they are selling.

Relaxing at Cruise deck

We then proceed to check-out of our rooms while we wait for lunch to be served. We had lunch while on a slow cruise back to Ha Long Harbour. Upon arriving, we then took the small boat to bring us to the harbour where the mini van is waiting to take us back to Hanoi.

After touring the busy streets of Hanoi, the next destination for our Vietnam adventure is a trip to peaceful Sapa. We availed of our hotel tour package (USD 75) which includes everything (food, transportation and accommodation).

Our hotel arranged a shuttle bus to pick us up in going to the bus station. We arrived at around 7:30 pm and after awhile we started to board the bus. It is our first time to try a sleeper bus where the seats are reclined.

Sleeper bus with wifi

Sapa lies in a beautiful valley near the Chinese border. It is the north's main drawcard for tourists looking for magnificent scenery and a diverse mix of ethnic cultures in the countryside inhabited by various hill tribes. It was autumn when we were here.

It was raining on our way to Sapa and we didn't get much sleep on the bus because of the motion. We arrived at Sapa around 6 AM and a taxi picked us up from the Sapa bus station together with 3 other people. Upon arriving at the Grand View Sapa hotel, we were told that check-in time is at 2 PM so we were not able to shower. We had some rest and breakfast at hotel before starting the tour. A warm soup is really delicious on a cold and rainy day.

Grand View Sapa Hotel Lobby & Restaurant

Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup and Sapa Honey Pancake

The first day of our Sapa adventure is a visit to Bac Ha Market. It takes around 3 hours from Sapa to the Bac Ha Market. This market is open only during Sundays where different people (Flower H'mong (Red H'mong), Black Dao, Tay, Nung, La Chi, Phu La and other minority groups) from Northern part of Vietnam come here to buy and sell stuff that they need for the week. There are a lot of colorful ethnic clothes, bags, jewelries that you can buy. People are also selling livestock, vegetables, meats and fruits. You can also try different Vietnamese street foods.

Bac Ha Market

We had our lunch at a restaurant nearby that was prepared by our tour guide. From there we were driven to Ban Pho village where we took a short walk around the village where Flower H'mong, Tay and Nung minorities live. We get to see how they cook their food, the places where they sleep and typical village life.

Ban Pho Village

Then we went to visit the Lao Cai Border Gate and Den Mau Temple. Lao Cai border gate is only 1 km far from the railway station. Here you'll see China (Yunnan Province) clearly, take pictures, have some drinks right at the Thuy Hoa park next to Red river.

Lao Cai Border Gate

Den Mau Temple

After the tour, it is now back to our hotel. Evening is free time to visit nearby shops. Dinner at hotel with tour group.

The itinerary for 2nd day is trekking to different villages nearby Sapa. We woke up early to try to catch the sunrise but it was foggy. We stayed at the topmost floor and we have a great view of fansipan when in the rooftop terrace.

At Rooftop terrace

Banana-chocolate Pancake and Vietnamese Pork noodle soup

Around 9 am, our tour guide fetched us from the hotel. She is a member of Black H'mong tribe which is one of the largest ethnic group in the region. They make up one third of the district's population. H'mong women are commercially minded, selling their embroidered bags, hats and jewellery to tourist. She and her tribe accompanied the tour group to their village - Lao Cai village. From here we passed by a stretched of buildings/stores with European feel, then we enjoyed the stunning views of rice terraces and had lunch with the ethnic minorities when we reached their village.

Trek to Lao Cai Village

After lunch, we toured around the village and our guide explained to us how they make their clothings and shared us some stories while heading to Ta Van Village.


When in Ta Van Village, we visited the home stay accommodation before going home. To our surprise, it is not a place where you sleep on the floor / dirt and eat with your hands. It is actually a decent place to stay with proper mattresses, electricity and even wi-fi. We tried their so called "Happy Water", this is what they call their alcohol because it makes them happy after drinking it.

Drinking "happy Water" at homestay

The bus picked us up from the village and sent us to the hotel. 

Please check out the video of our trek.


We came back to the hotel around 3 PM. Now it is time for downtown Sapa self-exploration. We get to see a lot of shops selling trekking gears, Winter wear and shoes. They are very cheap but we aren't sure of its authenticity. Walking around we see churches, some statues and a big lake. We then headed back to our hotel for dinner.

Sapa Market

Church

After dinner, a taxi took us to the bus station for our trip back to Hanoi.

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Hanoi served as the capital of French Indochina from 1902 to 1954. From 1954 to 1976, it was the capital of North Vietnam, and it became the capital of a reunified Vietnam in 1976, after the North's victory in the Vietnam War.

We were not exactly sure what to expect of Hanoi until we visited the city, we found it was a quaint, chaotic and full of life city with such an enthralling street.  Although Hanoi doesn’t have the nightlife of Bangkok, or the trend culture of Tokyo, it has a distinct flavour and energy of it’s own, it has the atmospheric charm of French colony. The cluttered streets of the Old Quarter are filled with swarms of motorbikes and on every corner there’s boiling pots of street food and vendors selling Vietnamese drip coffee. Lots to see, lots to do, and lots to eat.

Itinerary

Date	Time	Place
Oct 3 (Fri) - Day 1	1:00 PM	Arrive at Noi Bai Intl Airport
	1:30 PM	Waiting for minibus to depart
	2:30 PM	Checkin at Hanoi City Hostel
	3:00 PM - 4:00 PM	Lunch near hotel
	4:00 PM - 6:00 PM	Hanoi City Tour: Old Quarter Don Xuan Market Hoan Kiem Lake Ngoc Son Temple
	6:00 PM	Dinner
	6:30 PM	Water Puppetry Theater
	7:30 PM - 9:00 PM	Night Market
	9:00 PM	Home Sweet Home
Oct 4 (Sat) - Day 2	6:30 AM	Breakfast and Checkout, leave things at hotel
	7:15 AM	Taxi to Ho Chi Minh Museum
	7:20 AM - 2:30 PM	Hanoi City Tour 2: Ho Chi Minh Museum Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Ho Chi Minh house Presidential Palace Flag Tower of Hanoi Vietnam Military History Museum Lenin Statue & Park Temple of Literature Hoa Lo Prison St Joseph Cathedral Turtle tower Trang Tien Plaza
	3:30 PM - 4:00 PM	Rest at Hotel
	5:00 PM	Early Dinner then back to hotel
	7:30 PM	Hotel Pickup to Sapa Bus Terminal
	8:00 PM	Bus Departs for Sapa
Oct 5 (Sun) - Day 3	5:00AM	Pickup from Sapa Bus Terminal
	6:00 AM	Checkin at Grand View Sapa Hotel
	7:00 AM	Breakfast
	7:30 AM - 8:30 AM	Drive to Lao Cai bus terminal to pickup other passengers
	8:30 AM - 10:00 AM	Proceed to Bac Ha Market which is only open on sundays.
	10:30 AM - 12:30 PM	Bac Ha Market tour (On our own)
	12:30 PM - 1:30 PM	Lunch
	1:30 PM - 2:00 PM	Tour at Hmong houses
	2:00 PM - 4:00 PM	Drive to Lao Cai Chinese Border and take photos
	4:00 PM - 4:30 PM	Drive to Lao Cai Bus Terminal to drop other passengers going to Hanoi
	4:30 PM - 6:00 PM	Back to hotel
	7:00 PM	Dinner
Oct 6 (Mon) - Day 4	7:00 AM	Breakfast
	9:00 AM - 11:30 AM	Trek with Black Hmong to Lao Cai Village
	11:30 AM - 12:30 PM	Lunch with villagers
	12:30 PM - 1:30 PM	Tour around Lao Cai Village
	1:30 PM - 2:00 PM	Ta Van Village
	2:00 PM - 3:30 PM	Van to hotel
	4:00 PM - 5:30 PM	Sapa City Tour (on our own)
	6:30 PM	Dinner
	7:00 PM	At Lao Cai Bus terminal to Hanoi
Oct 7 (Tues) - Day 5	4:00 AM	Arrive Hanoi
	8:30 AM	Hotel Pickup
	12:30 PM	Arrive Halong Port and transfer to Lemon Cruise
	1:00 PM	Check-in and lunch
	2:00 PM - 6:00 PM	Suprising Cave, Beach Swimming, Kayak
	7:00 PM onwards	Spring Roll Making, Dinner, Squid Fishing, Karaoke
Oct 8 (Wed) - Day 6	7:30 AM	Breakfast, cruising to Pearl Farm
	9:00 AM	Pearl Farm
	11:00 AM	Checkout and lunch
	12:30 PM	Back at Halong Port
	5:00 PM	Back to Hanoi City Hostel
	6:00 PM	Dinner at 69 Café
	7:00 PM Onwards	Souvenir Shopping
Oct 9 (Thurs) - Day 7	8:00 AM	Walk to Airport Shuttle Terminal
	10:00 AM	Arrive at Airport
	11:00 AM	Checkin to fly back to Singapore

Transport

Airport minibus - cost 5 USD per head from airport to your hotel in Hanoi city

Vietnam airline minibus - costs 2 USD per head from airport to Vietnam Airline minibus terminal in hanoi city, you may need to walk from here to find your hotel

Stay

Few months before our travel date, we search thru Agoda for hotels in Hanoi and contacted them via email to inquire about tour packages. 

Among them we found Hanoi City Hostel offers the best travel package and excellent service. We stayed here for our first and last night, the rooms were great and most of all the service is excellent no wonder it tops 2014 Trip Advisor list. They helped us arranged for tours to Sapa and Halong Bay and we frequently seek their advise on going around the city. A room costs from 14 to 18 USD.

See

Old Quarter – If you only do one thing while in Hanoi, take your time to wander the busy, hectic and utterly charming old quarter. The maze of streets are filled with tiny shops, each street dedicated to a single type of merchant, it’s utterly riveting walking around all day and felt relatively safe to do on your own (although, as usual, keep your wits about you and be careful of vehicles).

Don Xuan Market -  is a market in the center district Hoan Kiem of Hanoi, Vietnam. Originally built by the French administration in 1889, it has been renovated several times with the latest in 1994 after a fire which almost destroyed the market. Nowadays, it is the largest covered market of Hanoi where the wholesale traders sell everything from clothes, household goods to foodstuffs. If you like markets and haven’t been to any others in Vietnam yet, definitely go. But for souvenir shopping, there are better places elsewhere.

Hoan Kiem Lake – (Vietnamese: Hồ Hoàn Kiếm, meaning "Lake of the Returned Sword" or "Lake of the Restored Sword", also known as Hồ Gươm - Sword Lake) is a lake in the historical center of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. The lake is one of the major scenic spots in the city and serves as a focal point for its public life.

Ngoc San Temple

Welcoming Morning Sunlight Bridge

Ngoc Son Temple - or  The Temple of the Jade Mountain, is located on Hoan Kiem Lake in central Hanoi, Vietnam. From the shore, the Welcoming Morning Sunlight Bridge (Cầu Thê Húc) leads to the island. Buildings of the temple include the Pen Tower (Thap But), the ink-slab (Dai Nghien), the Moon Contemplation Pavilion (Dac Nguyet) and the Pavilion against Waves (Đình Trấn Ba), all of which have symbolic meaning.

The temple is a popular spot for visitors to Hoan Kiem Lake.


Turtle Tower (Tháp Rùa) - also called Tortoise Tower is a small tower in the middle of Sword Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam

Water Puppet Show

Thang Long Water Puppetry Theater - water puppetry art is a special traditional art of Vietnam which is performed by artist of this theater in 57b Dinh Tien Hoang. The puppets are made out of wood and then lacquered. The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers, who are normally hidden behind a screen, to control them. Thus the puppets appear to be moving over the water. When the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other using this form of puppet play. Ticket priced at 60000 VND

Night Market

Night Market - Since it was a Friday, there was a large night market right on the street in the quarter. It is setup on the very street vehicles passed through on busy days. For the night market, this street was blocked off to motor traffic (a very good idea), and the market flowed for several blocks up to the Dong Xuan market building. The market was mainly made up of vendors selling under a line of tents pitched in the center of the street. On both sides, vendors were also there and stores were selling their stuff, making for a very lively scene.

Ho Chi Minh Museum

Ho Chi Minh Museum - It is a museum dedicated to the late Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam's revolutionary struggle against foreign powers. It was constructed in the 1990s. The museum is often regarded by some as a propaganda tool of the Vietnamese Communist regime, used to whitewash both the Communist Party and Ho Chi Minh's legacy and historical image. It is conveniently located in the Ho Chi Minh complex. It can be combined in your day trip to visit Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, One-pillar Pagoda, Ba Dinh square and the War Memorial. Admission is 25000 VND.


Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum - The building is dedicated to house Ho Chi Minh’s preserved body and a place where visitors can express their admiration and gratitude towards the national hero. It is closed on fridays and mondays.

Ho Chi Minh's Vestige in the Presidential Palace Area

Ho Chi Minh House

Ho Chi Minh house - For most of his tenure as President of North Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh lived in a modest stilt house behind the grandiose Presidential Palace in Hanoi. It sits along a tiny lake in the wooded park. He lived and worked here in incredible simplicity from 1958 to 1969. Built of tek, the little house is an architectural gem, and many of his personal things remain on display. Admission fee is 25000 VND


Presidential Palace- is a three-storey structure located on the north of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Presidential Palace stands as a memento of French contribution to the architectural splendor in Indochina. This mustard-yellow palace was built from 1900 to 1906 to function as the living and operational bases of the governors-general of Indo-China. Located on Hung Vuong Street and Hoang Van Thu Street, the designs of this palace were conceived by Auguste Henri Vildieu, the French architect officially appointed for Vietnam.


Flag Tower of Hanoi (Cột cờ Hà Nội) -  is a tower in Hanoi, which is one of the symbols of the city and part of the Hanoi Citadel, a World Heritage Site. Its height is 33.4 m (41 m with the flag).This place was built between 1805 and 1812 under King Gia Long and is over 2 centuries old. It resembles an old stone fortress and has steps leading to the top where one can get a good view of the city. There are old cannon sitting at the base of the place at grand level.

Vietnam Military History Museum

Vietnam Military History Museum - This repository of Vietnam's military history includes rooms full of war propganda, photographs and documents from wars against China, France, and the United States. The grounds feature several captured aircraft as well as a central structure build from the wreckage of French and American planes. Visitors may climb the flag tower, with great views from the top. Admission is 40000 VND

Lenin Statue (Behind)

Lenin Statue & Park - located at Dien Bien Phu St, across from the Army Museum. One can always feel the diversity and liveliness of Hanoi there.

Temple of Literature

Temple of Literature -was founded in 1070 and established as the country's first university six years later. The courtyard features numerous stone tablets, each mounted on the back of a tortoise, with the names of graduates over the centuries. On the bottom right of the photo is Jon's photo bombing graduates photo session. Admission is 20000 VND

Hoa Lo Prison

Hoa Lo Prison - First built by French Colonialists to house political dissidents and then used during the Vietnam war to hold captured American POW’s, this prison has a chequered past. A museum has been built in what was the gatehouse and it’s an interesting insight into the history of the place and the city itself. The seemingly happy coverage of the POW’s while in prison (note all the smiling American servicemen) seems to be at odds with accounts I have read elsewhere, but see what you think when you go.

St Joseph's Cathedral

St Joseph's Cathedral - this beautiful neo-Gothic building is the centre of Catholicism in Hanoi. Built in the early days of the colony at the expense of a revered pagoda that was demolished in the name of France's mission civilisatrice, St Joseph’s opened its doors to worshippers in 1886. Many of the buildings in and around the area were built in the service of the cathedral in the late 19th century.

Trang Tien Plaza (Behind)

Trang Tien Plaza - is a shopping center located in the downtown of Hanoi, Vietnam. The complex's construction began on April 30, 2000 when Vietnamese people celebrated 25th anniversary of The liberation of the south of Vietnam. The complex was finished after 18 months of construction.

Eat and Drink

The streets of Hanoi are full of sidewalk food stalls, and mind you it is not limited to Pho and Spring rolls. Here are some food we've tried in Hanoi (FYI: names of dish from Vietnamese friends as some don't have menu, i hope they are right)

135000 VND

Pho - Vietnamese noodle soup

Bánh Xèo Tôm Thịt (Nam Bộ)

Chả Giò Tôm Thịt

Bún bò Nam Bộ

Bún chả Ha noi

Che Ha Noi

Bánh cốm and Bánh Đậu Xanh (170000 VND)

For Sapa Blog