Hanoi Babylon Garden Hotel & Spa. Its location worked great for us, only 5 minutes walk from Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square. We don’t really remember price/ night but it’s a 4 stars hotel with very polite staff. In Hanoi we stayed 2 nights/ 3 days.
Day 1 in Hanoi
We arrived in Hanoi in the evening of the next day, Saturday 13th October full of energy, looking for adventure. A young man holding a sign with our names on it welcomed us at the Hanoi airport. He was sweet and funny but “why was he driving like a crazy man?”. After a couple of hours we would realise he wasn’t the only crazy driver.
Alright, so let the adventure begin! We checked in at the hotel, we had a shower and we hit the roads.
The hotel was 4 mins walk from the popular Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc square. It’s a very busy square where people hang out at night. We spent about 20mins there, not because it was something remarkable but because we couldn’t cross the street. Correct, you may think I’m exaggerating here but not at all. There were motorbikes and cars everywhere, there were no stop signs or maybe there were but no one cared much. After 20mins waiting to cross the street we took the risk, a determined step to the street and there we were. With remarkable maneuvers but always with the hand hitting the horn the drivers were avoiding us. I was impressed! I thought they were the worst drivers in the world, but no, they were the best!
After risking our life, we made it to another popular place, the Hanoi Night Market. Extremely busy you could find there everything from traditional delights, clothes and accessories.
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Turning right, turning left, we love “getting lost” and we ended up at the Phung Hung Street.
Phung Hung street is in the Old Quarter Hanoi and has been revived with beautiful mural paintings of Vietnamese and South Korean artists showing how life in Hanoi was in the past. In the 200 metres length of the wall you will see the culture of Hanoi in realistic paintings. it would be worth visiting in one
of you walks in Hanoi.
If you’ve read a couple of stories from our joined trips you will realise that Daphne is all about the food. Food is a very important cultural characteristic, she says, so she does much research around what we will eat everywhere we go. She didn’t have any suggestions around the area we were but the instinct of a big food lover got us to Phố Gầm Cầu street. Gam Cau in Vietnamese means “the roar bridge” and now we understand why.
It’s a very small, a bit dark street under the bridge with street food restaurants and many locals. That’s the clue, we were the only tourists there so there was no question, we had to try it. There quite a few options, I cannot really tell you where we sat as there were no signs with the names of the restaurants, but it was towards the middle of the street.
We sat at the very low plastic chairs and as we couldn’t understand any Vietnamese and they couldn’t understand any English they just started serving us. They brought us a grill hotpot, some kind of butter and a platter with vegetables and meat. We didn’t ask much after a quick “let me show you how it’s done” representation we started grilling the food. And there it was, not even 3 hours had passed that we were in Vietnam and we broke our first two rules. We ate street food (and we loved it!) and we had ice cubes in our refreshment. With the confidence in the pills that we had with us to prevent any stomach issues we just loved our first experience as local Vietnamese.
We were for sure overcharged there but it was so cheap that we were happy to support the family who were running the business.
Tired and with full bellies we got back to our hotel with a smile on our face. We already knew that we were creating memories we would never forget.
Tip: Don’t pay any attention to where they are washing the cutlery and the vegetables, you will freak out. Have in mind that their standards are so much different to the European ones. Try to ignore that and enjoy a local experience.
Day 2 in Hanoi
Sunday, 14th of October. A good breakfast at the hotel, where we are now friends with the very polite staff, and we are out on the streets again. Hanoi by day, warm and humid, but no complaints here we were living in London back then.
In 3 mins walk from our hotel we arrived at Dinh Tien Hoang. The full of cars and motorbikes main road closes down during weekends and it becomes a sidewalk full of activities. What a great idea! It’s a nice walk and a big part of it is by the Hoan Kiem lake. First stop is the Temple of the Jade Mountain or Den Ngoc Son temple. There is a red, wooden bridge leading you to the temple, the Huc Bridge or the Rising Sun Bridge. The great location of the temple makes it an attraction, as the pagoda is in the middle of a small island in the lake. The temple is predominately dedicated to war hero General Tran Hung Dao who defeated an armed force of 300,000 soldiers sent by Mongolian Emperor Kublai Khan in the 13th century to invade Vietnam.
We crossed the Rising Sun Bridge and we were back to the Dinh Tien Hoang road again. We were watching kids playing, teens dancing, couples doing their wedding photoshoot, we were staring at people and photographing others and ourselves.
About 30 mins walk to the west and we arrived at the Temple of Literature.
The temple was built in 1070 and it was a university dedicated to Confucius. Only aristocrats, the elite and members of the royal families were accepted. It’s very well reserved temple, with ponds full of fish and water lilies, blooming gardens and beautiful traditional-style Vietnamese architecture. We were lucky enough and there was a graduation photoshoot happening where we visited, the history of the temple got connected with the present.
We crossed the temple off of our list and we were back to the streets. It’s almost 2pm and we had to hurry. Next on the list was the popular Train Street in Hanoi Old-Quarter. Twice a day, 3pm and 7pm, the train hurtles through the super narrow streets of the Old-Quarter.
The Train street is about 20mins walk from the temple so we had time to wander around and find the best spot for our photos. When we got there we were astonished. How do people live in such small houses, the one next or on top of the other with their yards being literally the railway lines?
In one moment, locals were preparing food, women were washing clothes, kids were kicking a ball, tourists were taking photos and after we hear the whistle of the train, we all disappeared, tight against the walls. The train rushed only a few centimeters away. Then, with an absolute calmness everyone got back out to the railway lines and continued what they were doing before. There are also a few places, quite touristy, where you can enjoy a refreshment.
There are many nice, little coffee places around there. We accidentally found the Tranquil Books & Coffee cafe and we enjoyed an iced coffee. It’s a very small cafe with nice music and many books to have a look at while you are relaxing.
After the coffee break we walked north to Long Biên Market and Long Biên Railway station. It’s a muddy, loud and busy market full of fresh fruits, vegetables and meats. Many locals were trading in that market and it gave us the impression that it was more for wholesale. There are also people with carts full of local delights to satisfy your cravings.
Next to the market, you will find the railway station with the historic Long Biên bridge.
The Long Bien Bridge was constructed from 1989 to 1902 during French occupation of the country and it’s a symbol of resilience and tenancy of the Hanoian people. It was considered one of the our greatest bridges in the world at the time it was built and it’s one of the five bridges crossing the Red river of Hanoi. The bridge was a connection point to transport tons of rice from Northern and Northern Central area of Vietnam to Dien Bien Phu battle and contributed to the win of Vietnam army against French in 1954.
We were the at the sunset, it’s a nice time to go to but also a bit busy. You will find many young people taking photos there. Daphne was a bit scared to walk on the railway lines as underneath them there was one of the main roads of Hanoi but every fear is in our mind.
A bit tired from the day we got back to the hotel, had a shower and then back to the streets for dinner at the famous Cha Ca Thang Long restaurant. Its Cha Ca dish, a traditional Vietnamese dish, features grilled fish that has been marinaded with turmeric, tossed with scallions and dill and served with vermicelli noodles and roasted peanuts, delicious!
With our bellies full, time for another walk in the Old Quarter (you never get bored of it). We visited the area and the Ta Hien corner more than once, of course. You cannot keep time there, you observe the cables on the electricity pillars all messed together, people with small plastic tables as a stand trying to sell anything they have, a refreshment, some candy, cigarettes. Then in the markets you cannot take your eyes off the fresh fruits and vegetables and then you notice the meat that they also have on the counters with no refrigerators and with rats running around. You might freak out in the beginning but think again, it’s just a different culture.
That night we went to the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre. The tradition of water puppet theatre is a part of the Vietnamese culture and it has its roots from the time when rice paddy fields were flooded and villagers would make entertainment by standing in the waist-deep water with the puppets performing over the water. We were exhausted of wandering around the whole day and we almost fell asleep during the show but to be honest, we found it too touristy for our taste but since it’s an important part of the local culture, we were happy we ticked that off our list.
Tomorrow was our last day in Hanoi, interested to know where we went? If yes, keep reading.
Day 3 in Hanoi
Day 3 in Vietnam and we’ve already walked most of Hanoi but since that was our last day there we wanted to make the most out of it.
Before anything, we got a pineapple from a kind lady on the street, Daphne wouldn’t stop asking for one if she didn’t get one. They were peeling them and cutting them in a way that hey were looking like lollipops. Daphne had pineapple, mango and papaya during our trip in Vietnam enough for the rest of her life.
Second stop, Cafe Dinh (13 Dinh Tien Hoang street). It’s a camouflaged traditional coffee shop that serves coffee with fresh egg, you need to try this! Despite of its fame, this coffee shop is hard to find and it has no signboard. It is placed on the 2nd floor of a small house, you will think that you are going into a house, but no, it’s a coffee shop.
Back to the streets and after about 3klm working towards the northern part of Hanoi we made it to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. We were a bit unlucky and due to some preservation work they were doing to the body of Ho Chi Minh the mausoleum was closed. Next to the mausoleum, there is also the Presidential Palace, a very different building in terms of architecture. It was built by French colonists so it has a very European style. Opposite to the mausoleum and the Presidential palace you will find the Ba Dinh square, the biggest square in Vietnam and where Ho Chi Minh announced the independence of Vietnam. As you can guess, the area around there is beautiful, the main street is very wide with big trees on both sides. Behind the Mausoleum and the Presidential palace, the Botanical garden lies. We had a break there and enjoyed some Vietnamese snacks we had bought. There are so many different and amazing places in Hanoi, so if you don’t have much time in Hanoi you can skip the Botanical garden. We don’t have any photos from the Botanical garden or the Mausoleum (at least not up to KK’s standards) but we took some nice photos while we were walking around.
We cannot decide who is our favourite, the street barber or the policeman sleeping on the motorbike. Who’s your favourite?
Back to our favourite habit, walking! In about 1.5klm from the botanical garden we arrived at the Tran Quoc Pagoda. We were not much impressed of the temple and to be honest it does look very similar to the temple of the Jade Mountain we had visited the day before. The location of the pagoda was great though as we had a great view to the lake.
After more than 4,000 steps showing in KK’s garmin watch, we made a very wise decision and we took a tuk tuk. With only a few hours left before our train to Sa Pa departs, we wanted to visit for one last time, our favourite places in Hanoi, the Train Street and the Old Quarter.
You can read more about these locations above.
At 8pm we had to catch our train to SaPa. Explore Sapa with us by clicking here.
Tip: In trips like this one, where we have only limited number of days or hours in each place, we know we cannot see everything, we have to sacrifice some places. We prefer spending more time to places we love the most, that’s how we get a better feeling of the place and its people. Also, we need to leave behind unexplored places to always have an excuse to go back.