Prologue:
I had vowed not to fly this year. But guess what? I have a few Asia itineraries ready since Aug lolxx... (Europe not possible as the dent from Turkey and Mauritius trips takes time to recover). I knew old man is capable of saying he want to clear leave at the very last minute. I was so right, mid Oct, he said he want a short vacay to Sapa after seeing some of his acquaintance went.
Coincidently, I have Sapa in hand! I actually started working on Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam. I was having my reserves as there wasn't any direct flights from Singapore. Hanoi appeared while I was doing my research, that leaded to a larger area around it, hence North Vietnam.
Old man decided his 7 days trip in Sapa and Hanoi. While I never like short trips, I decided to move on solo till my heart's content and it worked out to be 12D11N with Halong Bay and Ninh Binh and more time in Hanoi. Had everything booked by end Oct.
Early Dec, my 2 little sis decided to accompany me during my last 5 days in Ninh Binh and Hanoi.
I ended up solo only 2 days in Halong Bay lolxx... not a bad thing actually.
7D6N Sapa & Hanoi with accommodations + flights + various attraction tix + food is about S$1K/pax.
Moving on to Halong Bay & Ninh Binh is another S$900, with a big splurge on a luxury cruise in Halong Bay.
Old man and I going to have our New Year count down in Sapa!!
So here we go:
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Destination: Sapa, Hanoi, Halong Bay, Ninh Binh, (North Vietnam)
Duration: 12D11N (28 Dec 2024 - 8 Jan 2025)
Mode of travel: Free & easy
Flight: Vietnam Airlines
Travel buddies: Hubby 7 days, 2 little sisters 5 days and 2 days solo
Weather: Sapa 0 - 10 degrees, the rest 15 - 22 degrees
Time zone: Vietnam is one hour behind Singapore
Currency: SGD1 = VND18,800
28/12/2024
So we were at T3 in the morning for noon flight with Vietnam Airlines.
We had 2 big luggage, one full, another 1/4 full, hand carry was almost empty.
I brought my Labubu along, he scold scold scold scold lolxx... deaf mode on.
Maybe one day I will splurge on a lux bag instead of biz class flight tix.
Had something light before boarding.
Walked passed Bacha Coffee, pity that it didn't have a cafe.
Croissants could only be packed and take away, really wished there's a dine-in.
We thought the price was very reasonable for this brand.
Really pretty interior design.
Boarding gate.
Took off without delay.
No entertainment screen, no pillow.
Food served on a very small tray. My prawn vermicelli wasn't too bad.
Love banana more than cold fruits.
Old man's curry chicken rice, took a bite, not bad too.
It was a safe flight.
We touched down around 5.30pm with sunset.
I hate ground boarding.
After much consideration. I decided to stay one night in Hanoi after we landed in Noi Bai International Airport. While taking the sleeper bus directly could be done, there would be chance where the flight delay and we could missed the bus. Old people need more breaks...
I had booked transfer from airport to hotel with booking dot com with credits (about S$16). They had whatsapp me exactly where to wait for our driver. Reached and looked for my name lolxx...
This was genius.
Lots of taxi with lots of arriving local and foreign tourists.
It was a good drive despite of the traffic jam and the transport company left us their contact (bypass booking dot com heehee...).
La Passion Hanoi Hotel & Apartment S$59/night for 2pax.
The hotel was located 2mins walk away from the sleeper bus pick up, which was the main reason we chose it. However, we found more hotels right beside the bus pick up when we were there urrggg...
Bath room with a bathtub too tall for our short legs to climb in.
Decent room with a kitchenette equipped with microwave and other common items.
Fridge too huge for a small room.
The flaw of the hotel would be it had a small flight of stairs to reach the lobby, but the staffs were very helpful, they would rushed to you to help with the luggage. Also it's located in an alley but luckily not ulu.
Once we had everything straighten out, stepped out for dinner.
We looked for Cha Ca Thang Long (fried fish pot) for an hour, apparently the address in google map was messed up. We gave up and went into this random restaurant which was a few shops away from famous Don Duck restaurant (Michelin guide, long queue).
There were some locals inside and they were very very loud (but not drunk), we were too hungry to look for another place, 入乡随俗吧。
We ordered fried fish pot but the staff cooked it at another table instead of at our table, why???
Anyway, there it was, served with soft white noodles and sauce.
No wow factor but was still good enough for us to finish everything.
We also had grilled pork jowl, then our birds' stomach was filled.
They had amazing herbal tea (no photo) by the way.
The bill was about S$42, considered very expensive for Vietnam's standard of living.
Walked passed with a big crowd at this BBQ stall, but we were too full to try.
Weekend Night Market happened on Fri to Sun, we hit it on Sat.
We saw very affordable autumn/winter wear, a lot to see but I didn't take much pics. Old man bought a nice backpack at around S$30. I bought a capybara stress ball and a sling for handphone.
Doggie obviously stressed.
A street of shops selling Chinese New Year decors. It would be difficult for us to bring any back but still regretted not buying any.
I finally understood why the locals wore so thick when the temperature in average was about 20 degrees only.
Cos some of them travel on bike, with the wind, then it was no joke.
We just walked and walked aimlessly and ended at the iconic building of Hanoi.
Walked back to our hotel happily, not sure how many steps we clocked, first day in North Vietnam was good.
Day 2 we travelled on sleeper bus to Sapa! That's where the real excitement start.
