Hanoi, Vietnam Travel Map: Food, Accommodations & Sites

It’s been two years since I’ve posted on this blog, and there have been many adventures since, including another visit back to Vietnam (namely Hanoi and Ha Long Bay in the North, and Da Nang and Hoi An around the middle). I’ve spent the last couple of years continuing to travel, although slightly less so (from 10 months a year to more like 3-6 months :P), while building my Vancouver-based inbound marketing business, Umami Marketing, and spending more time with my partner, friends and family.

While I’ve felt a little lacking in inspiration lately, and know that there is some sort of change in the works for the next stage of my life, I thought that putting more words on paper (or on site), would help me figure what’s next for me and also prove to be somewhat therapeutic. And in the meantime, I also want to reminisce a bit on my last winter of travels.

I started by heading over to Puerto Rico in November and December towards the end of last year, and then met up with a girlfriend for some beach time in the rain in Rio De Janiero, Brazil (my first time in South America)!

As the winter continued on during that long lull after the holidays, waiting for spring to come and the weather to turn, I headed back to my homeland of Thailand for a short visit with my mom and her side of the family, followed by a few weeks to Vietnam, to areas I hadn’t yet visited when I went for the first time two years prior. On this particular trip to Hanoi, we only stayed for a few short nights on each end of a boat cruise to Halong and Bai Tu Long Bay.

And thus, here is yet another round-up and travel map for memories, and anyone who’s traveling to the area sometime soon!  This is a shorter list of great finds and hidden gems, from restaurants, food stalls, to tourist sites – really anything I would recommend (or perhaps want to highlight for a specific reason).

Or if you’re curious at what I’m up to on a day to day basis, I post more real-time on my Instagram account – so please come join me! Although I’m now spending the next 3 months more or less glued to Vancouver to be with friends and family and of course take part in my usual summer volleyball activities, I still seem to get up to a lot of antics!

If you want to pull up the travel map on Google directly, you can also see it all right here!

Food & Drink

Giang Cafe	A great place (and apparently the original) for an egg coffee! It’s a little smoky inside, and of course you have to adjust to the cute little stools on both levels, but you must try this treat. Made with condensed milk and whipped eggs, this sweet treat is a great alternative to a regular Vietnamese coffee.
Chả Cá Lã Vọng	Another original, this Hanoi tumeric fish with dill is a traditional dish of the region. Cook it right in front of you on a burner, and enjoy with a local Vietnamese beer. This restaurant is named after the dish itself – Chả Cá Lã Vọng.
Bun Cha Dac Kim	We were told to go to this authentic side street restaurant for the best bun cha in the city by the sweet staff at the Skyline Hotel. It’s right next door to another one of the same name, that has tried to capitalize on it’s success. Just make sure to go to the one on the corner – at lunch time you’ll find that you can go up and up and up the stairs and we ended up dining on the 6th floor. It seemed never ending! So delicious, flavourful, and very inexpensive at around 55k.
Chè Dung 95	This was an amazing local gem that we stumbled upon while walking out of the Skyline Hotel daily. We’d always walk in this direction, for some unknown reason, and I started to notice all the locals stopping by for dessert, or pulling up on their bikes to get a mass takeout order of the goods. So of course we had to stop, and then managed to get there at least once a day for the rest of our stay. My favourite was the black sesame in ginger syrup, but every option was good – not too sweet, and filled with Asian dessert flavours (ginger, coconut, red bean, etc). Note that there is another dessert shop right next door, so make sure that you pay attention to where all the people are going to pick the right one…

Accommodations

Sites & Activities

Hoàn Kiếm Lake	Looking for a lovely stroll around a lake while in the city? You’ll find many locals walking and running around this central place on evenings and weekends.
Temple of Literature	Built way back in 1070 by Emperor Lý Thánh Tông, this beautiful temple, which is the location of Vietnam’s first university (Imperial Academy), is a pretty little haven to walk around on a cool morning.
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum	This is the final resting place Vietnamese Ho Chi Minh. While we didn’t go inside, the area is nice to walk around on a cool day, with lots of greenery.
Bai Tu Long Bay	Although this is cheating a bit, I would highly recommend heading up to Bai Tu Long Bay (the less busy, slightly further area past Ha Long Bay), for at least a 2 night and 3 day cruise. The 1 nighter seems a bit rushed, but with the second night, you can get a full day trip longer, hiking and kayaking quietly with much fewer tourists in a less frequented area (only 4 of us had the whole extra day to ourselves). We went with Huong Hai for our cruise, and would recommend it, as a higher end option.

Vietnam is really a beautiful place – excellent, fresh food, and it’s easy to get around and explore. You definitely need to keep an eye out on getting ripped off here and there, which gives an uneasy feeling for sure (and after happening 3 times in one day on this trip, I really wanted to head out to Hoi An, which is what we did), but keep in mind that this ends up only being a matter of dollars to you. We know that there are many locals interested in creating an amazing experience for tourists, who love their country and are hoping to improve with education over time.