Chubby Botak Koala - Singapore Food Blog, Travel and Lifestyle: A. Destination

Friday, 8 September 2017

Hanoi - 4 Days 3 Night Adventure (Part 2)

You can check out our Hanoi adventure Part 1 here.

Day 3. Ha Long Bay Trip

Ha Long Bay

Halong Bay is another must visit place if you are near Hanoi. A bay with more than 3,000 islands and inslet, which time, wind and waves have sculpted into fantastic shapes. This scenery is best to be enjoy by cruising through the bay with boat.

Our Cruise Boat

It is located 3 hours away from Hanoi by bus. We took the tour bus and the bumpy road along the way sure give our butt some unexpected massage. Along the way, you can see rice paddy field, one of the main produce that Vietnam is well known for.

Rice Paddy Field on the way to Ha Long Bay

Once we reach the cruise centre, you can see the outstanding scenery of Ha Long Bay. Seafood Lunch is served once we step on the boat and the cruise begin about 20 minutes after. We were fortunate the weather is sunny, though it was a bit hot. The view of the bay is pretty awesome.

Small Boat at the 1st stop to visit the grotto

Journey to visit the 1st grotto

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Saturday, 12 August 2017

Hanoi - 4 Days 3 Night Adventure (Part 1)

This is an exciting experience as it is Chubby Botak Koala and Little Devil first visit to Vietnam. We picked Hanoi since it comes highly recommended from our Vietnamese friends. The city itself is more than 1,000 years old, so you can expect a vibrant and charming historical city.

Slik Air travel twice daily to and from Hanoi

Our first trip to Hanoi, we decided to travel with Silk Air @ S$250 per person. For a full-service airlines, the price is pretty good. Silk Air flight 2 times per day to Hanoi. Flight time Singapore to Hanoi is about 3 hours and 25 minutes.

Day 1. Arrival & Dinner.

We reach Hanoi around 6pm. Comparing to the other ASEAN countries, Noi Bai International Airport is very clean and modern , and the process through immigration was also breeze. As we booked our package through travel agent in Hanoi, recommended by a friend, which include Airport pick up and drop off.

You can purchase SIM Card in Noi Bai International Airport. We bought SIM VINA GCS for US$15.00. It has 8GB of data, 80 mins of local call, 80 local SMS, and 50 mins of IDD. The speed is very good and sufficient to cover the data for our stay in Hanoi and for 2 person to share. Please note that there is no special roaming package for Singapore SIM Card here.

Nhat Tan Bridge at night
Image credit Phillips / ledsmagazine.com

Old Quarters. The heartbeat of the historical city of Hanoi. The area that is alive during day and night, without a doubt one of the best place to stay to have a good feel of the vibrant of Hanoi. Travel time from Noi Bai International Airport is about 30 minutes. We were fortunate to arrive in the evening, as we passed by the beautifully lighted Nhat Tan Bridge.

Accomodation is L'Heritage Hotel. (39-41 Hang Ga Street, Hoan Kiem District HANOI)

This hotel seems to get one of the highest ratings in the hotel website and located within the vicinity of old quarters. We secure it for US$71 per night for Executive Double Room, with a city view. Nice Hotel with friendly price and it also came with a jacuzzi.

L'Heritage Hotel at Old Quarters Hanoi

Dinner, Cha Ca Thang Long. One of the signature dish in Hanoi and was named one of the dishes that you must eat before you die. Also known as the rite of passage if you ever visit Hanoi. It is a catfish dish, marinated with turmeric and cooked with spring onion and dill. The meat is fatty and flaky, absent of traces of mud due to the turmeric marination. This dish is to be eaten with rice noodle, fresh leaves of mint, basil and coriander, peanut and fish sauce. Absolutely delicious and a must try dish in Hanoi. There are other restaurants that sell this dish, but this one seems to be one of the best in Hanoi plus it is the most reasonably priced.