I admit it… I was pretty naïve when I landed in Hanoi. I knew very little about Vietnam or its culture, people and way of life. After spending 2 adventurous months travelling down the country’s spine I’ve immersed myself into Vietnam’s lush scenery, received the warmest generosity from locals and eaten the most incredible food.
Vietnam surpassed my expectations and made me realise how versatile and wonderful this country is. I’m glad in a way that Vietnam hasn’t received the same attention as its nearby neighbour Thailand.
Immerse yourself into Vietnamese culture and tantalise your taste buds like never before!
Vietnam is an incredibly diverse country. Its food is as much of a highlight as anything else with a variety of local cuisines differing along the country. Now there is plenty of choice in terms of local and international food, and I’m sure everyone that has visited Vietnam has their select favourites they’ll treasure.
Check out my personal favourites I’ll remember during my travels in Vietnam:
As we’ve decided to stay longer in Hanoi, we decided to be super productive and go to the Thailand embassy to get a tourist visa.
Before going to the Embassy we did a quick internet search to see what the requirements were. As with all visas its vital that your passport does not have an expiry date no less than 6 months. Apart from this we also read the following was required:
…and we can’t get enough of the place!
Having tackled the chaos of India’s traffic and constant hassle of questions/tuk tuks/beggars, we both felt a huge wave of calm over us in Hanoi (even though there still is traffic and horns, it’s tame compared to India!).
We kept the itinerary simple over the days, checking out nearby museums, local eateries and familiarizing ourselves with the area.
I really enjoy the vibe around the Old Quarter as it has something for everyone .
A couple days after settling into our new surroundings and hotel we booked ourselves on a street food tour. I found the tour via TripAdvisor and after a couple of quick friendly emails we were booked for the next day. We opted for the 17:00 start departing at the tour office. The price per person is 20$.
Our guide for the evening was Sea, a fun quirky guy who kept us entertained throughout our time.
