Hello Hanoi!
It's my first time here and I can't wait to explore the capital of Vietnam that is so rich in culture with centuries worth of Southeast Asian, Chinese and French influence.
11:15AM
Woke up to two passengers who came into the cabin where they occupied the upper bunks. We didn't book the whole cabin to ourselves as we thought no one would be sharing with us. Luckily it was a nice old couple who slept throughout their ride.
Guess what our morning activity was? Killing bigger cockroaches 😂The feng you smell probably lost its effect after keeping us safe through the night and that's why the cockroaches are back now.
Well, at least we didn't have to wake up at 5:00AM today haha and our train arrived punctually at Hanoi with no delays!
Having roamed around Da Nang yesterday and not getting to shower last night, we could really use a refreshing bath now.
Hanoi had soooo many accommodations to choose from we were spoilt for choice. Despite only booking just 2 hours before our arrival, we managed to grab this spacious and clean twin room at Golden Sun Suites Hotel for just SGD $50 / night.
Freshened up and off we went to hunt for some yummy food because we were starving!
Just 2 minutes walk from our hotel, we found this No.1 Bun Cha stall that served up bowls of grilled pork with rice vermicelli noodles that was SO FREAKING GOOD. Just looking at this picture got me drooling already.
The pork was so crispy on the outside but soft and juicy on the inside! Our tummies were more than satisfied. You CANNOT miss this if you're ever in Hanoi.
Next, we had porridge by the sidewalk which was really good as well! It was damn shiok to savour a hot bowl of porridge especially when it's only 17°C right here! Never knew Hanoi had temperatures like that.
Walking around Old Quarter, we observed there were quite a lot of cute quirky cafes hidden in narrow streets that had a lot of character, which made it a perfect place for cafe hopping.
Did a little souvenir shopping too, with many handicraft items for sale here.
We realized more of the locals here can speak English as compared to Ho Chi Minh, which made it much easier to communicate.
Having ridden and traveling around Vietnam for the past few days, I'd say we've became quite professional already when it comes to crossing the streets with unpredictable traffic here haha.
Similar to Ho Chi Minh, you'd see all kinds of road users as part of the traffic. A sea of scooters, hasty drivers, fruit sellers on their bicycles etc which all makes this city really vibrant!
Time flies when you're busy observing and exploring new places!
What was cool too, was meeting my brother in Hanoi as he was also holidaying together with his girlfriend their local Viet friend! They were heading to Sapa via an 8 hour overnight coach and we were going up by...
Did the necessary paper works, ran through the bike checks before riding it back to our hotel as we prepared for the final leg of our #RideVietnam journey to SAPA!
[Singapore. Ho Chi Minh. Da Lat. Quy Nhon. Da Nang. Hanoi]
[Mileage Clocked: 1,250KM]
[Terrain: Tarmac]
[Traffic: Erratic/Heavy]
[Terrain: Tarmac]
[Traffic: Erratic/Heavy]
[Temperature/Weather: 17°C/Cooling]
Next stop: Lao Cai, Sapa Valley
