Hanoi Day 1

2nd trip to Vietnam and this time round, to Hanoi, Sapa and Halong Bay. 

The 2-way airport transfer, the arrangement for trains, activities in Sapa and to Halong Bay were done with an agency which I googled on line. Read that the service was great and decided to engage them to help out with the transportation arrangement. This proved to be a good move for us as we worry about the booking of the transportation. Everything was done through email and deposit paid through paypal. That's it. We just have

So off we went and reached Hanoi in late morning. After we reached, the representative from the tour agency picked us up at the airport and brought us to the resting place which we left our luggage at. This was because we were leaving for Sapa on an overnight train and thus, we did not book any hotel for the night. The agency was great that they let out a room at their place for us to leave our luggage and to rest. 

Not to waste the rest of the afternoon resting, we engaged the service of Hanoi Kids which is a student-run voluntary organization organizing English-speaking city tours for tourists. This was great. The 2 volunteers whom we met were friendly and nice. The arrangement was to meet us at the travel agent's place and then, off we went to visit the city. 

We went to the Temple of literature. This place was the first university of Vietnam where the royal exams were held in the past. Then, we went around the city and to the Hoàn Kiếm Lake. A very pleasant place to be at, peace at mind despite the hectic traffic behind. Dinner was at a roadside stall which the volunteers recommended. First taste of the famous pho in vietnam. Yumz.  

Temple of Literature

Walking around the city

The beauty of the Hoàn Kiếm Lake 

Chicken Pho

Time to board the night train to Sapa. It was a comfortable ride, at least to me. I slept through the ride!