it begins with a step

Hanoi – Vietnam

“Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.”
– Ernest Hemingway

Hanoi will always have a special place in my heart, it’s made extra special this time with my loves, Red and Roc. There are a few places that have made a mark in my life, Paris for the grandeur, Tuscany and Florence for the culture, Seville for the romantic in me, and Hanoi for the tradition and its simplicity.

Day 1 – we flew out of Manila at 10pm and arrived in Hanoi in the wee hours of the day, slept for a while then woke up again to have breakfast before going on our food tour at 11am.

After breakfast we went around to look for coffee and found this place, Cong Caphe. The interiors looked like an old study/library which I really liked.

Most buildings in Hanoi are narrow but high, this coffee shop had 3 open floors the last one being my favorite.
Coffee w coconut milk – it’s not for everyone LOL
Onto the food tour! Honestly we’ve stopped at so many places I only got to take a photo of the 1st one LOL!

This is my 2nd time in Hanoi, the 1st time I went I was with Mama and we went to this other old coffee place which I’ve now forgotten and ordered what I thought was egg coffee; I say thought coz it ended up to be egg chocolate -_- so luckily this was part of the tour and it was so good we went back on our own the day after next to have another one.
That’s our tour guide, Alice, such a fun person to hang out with. She took us to the best places and offered stories about the history of the place we were eating and of what we ate.

Day 2 – was spent in Hoa Lu and Tam Coc in the province of Ninh Binh.

This place was apparently their ancient capital before it was changed to Hanoi. It was soooo hot this day and we ended up visiting just one temple (there were 2). There was also a mountain we can climb to get a better view of the area but we didn’t want to be bothered LOL.

After the trip to the ancient capital of Hoa Lu we headed to Tam Coc. We went on a short ride before going on our boat ride along Hoang Long River.
Nakaka-stress yung mga nagbebenta sa bangka! As in I couldn’t stop myself from raising an eyebrow, nabangga kasi nung boat nila yung boat namin. Hard sell for life.

Day 3 – meanwhile was short day trip west of Hanoi to Ba Vi & Duong Lam.

Yes, pa-look away shot LOL! I seriously don’t like posing for cameras, I prefer the candid, random shots not just in front (as long as I look presentable haha) but also when taking them.
That’s our tour guide! I found him to be really engaging and knew a lot about the places. Also, after listening to him talk about his country you can sense that he’s really proud of Vietnam.

I absolutely LOVE visiting historic places and have always wondered what it was like living in that era. On more than one occasion I imagined what it would be like if I accidentally stepped into a portal that led me back in time. I’m pretty sure I’d be dead in less than a day. This was in Duong Lam and yes we rode around for a bit. I swear, Marjo’s “adventurism” is rubbing off me, I don’t like it. LOL!
That’s hay on the streets, they’re drying it under the sun. There were rice too in some parts of the village.

That’s about it! I wouldn’t mind visiting Vietnam for the 3rd time, maybe visit Da Nang and some other places. I’m just seriously in love with this country. Lastly, as a fitting end to our trip: