Hanoi 2025

Welcome back to my little travel diary. This is my second trip to Vietnam, 5 weeks with the rough plan to travel from Hanoi to Saigon (1600 km). It will probably not be very adventurous, as Vietnam is well-developed for tourists, very safe, and I have a rough idea of how to get around. And with AI translation tools, it’s even easier. I am curious about what I’ll experience and whom I’ll meet. The journey went smoothly without major complications. It is indeed exhausting, 24 hours from door to door. Turkish Airlines delayed my flight by half a day, which is bad for jetlag. My packed backpack weighed only 12 kilograms, the lightest it’s ever been. I quickly noticed that the consumption of T-shirts rises significantly because of the humidity. After 3 days, half of them have already been worn.

Hanoi Airport, the entry was no problem. For €100, you get 3 million Đồng. Nam picked me up at the airport with a sign saying 'Hello Thomas', like a VIP. We took a bus 30 km to the city center, Nam picked up his motorcycle and I quickly dropped off my luggage at the hostel. Not so fast, they confirmed my booking but were still fully booked. I quickly booked a night at the hostel next door, which cost a bit more. Unfortunately, it was a party hostel for Halloween, so loud with many drunk teens and young adults. Since I didn’t have an internet connection yet, it was a bit stressful to find Nam. We had some Phở Bò and then went to a café for Egg Coffee. Tastes better than you'd think, despite the raw egg yolk. Nam went to visit his family and I watched a bit of the hustle and bustle with a beer. Many Vietnamese dressed up for Halloween were out celebrating. The usual side effects like sex tourism are present, and I seem to be the main target audience. But that’s okay; they’re not too pushy, a quick no is usually enough for most. And of course, it's very easy to get cannabis. Hanoi is much more relaxed compared to Saigon. It’s quite bustling and chaotic for us, but with a bit of basic trust in the Vietnamese, it works out.

The first proper day in Hanoi, Nam picks me up at 9 am. We head to the Ethnology Museum, a foundation of France (they have quite a bit to make up for). Nam has his tour guide pass and can get in everywhere. There are about 52 minorities in Vietnam, each with their own language and culture, making up 30% of the population. Nam was really surprised when I mentioned that in Germany, there are only 2 indigenous minorities, the Danes and the Sorbs, which are quite manageable. I heard a lot of German; a tour guide spoke to us, she used to live in Germany and knew Jena and Ilmenau. We also visited the Temple of Literature, an old educational site with Buddhist roots. For lunch, we went to a restaurant featuring a Hanoi specialty: Phở Cuốn, which is rice paper wrapped minced beef. It’s served with very strong green tea. The third stop is the Jade Mountain Pagoda by a small lake. After that, Nam takes me to Train Street, where the train passes very close to the houses. He heads home, and I have a beer while waiting for the train. It’s quite nice; people on the train are staring out, and those outside are staring in. On my way back to the hostel, I stumbled into a tattoo studio, better described as a living room. Good quality, I bargained the price down from 1 million to 900,000, could have gotten more off. The new hostel is very nice for €5 per night. Off we go to the Weekend Night Market. A large area of the city center is closed off to traffic from Friday to Sunday. I’ve seen bigger and nicer markets in Southeast Asia. But it's good for buying souvenirs in the end. I met Przemoo in front of the market; we grabbed a bite to eat and didn’t stay long. Next door, there's an event where school children are performing group choreographies to pop music. Lots of squealing girls. The day was a bit too packed. Officially, there’s communism here, but society is much further along. You still see the symbols like hammer and sickle or pictures of Ho Chi Minh quite often.

Nam is super nice and polite, a very interesting person. He is 39 and lives with his wife and daughter in Hanoi. He studied in Vietnam and Moscow until 2022 and then was a physics teacher in Vietnam. He didn’t enjoy it and quit. Now he wants to become a tour guide; he’s already bought the license. With English, Russian, and German, he’ll definitely manage. He only took a year to learn our language using ChatGPT, a real natural talent. His pronunciation and vocabulary are really good. As a thank you, I gave him a German book that he had wished for, The Little Water Sprite by Otfried Preußler. He read it in Vietnamese as a child.

Day 3, Sunday: Today we have a boat trip to Ha Long Bay planned. Przemoo and I booked this before our trip. A day earlier, we received a message that there weren’t enough bookings, and they offered us an upgrade. I don’t even know what the upgrade was. Przemoo and I were picked up at the old opera house, and it’s a 3-hour bus ride to Ha Long. My seat neighbor was a somewhat spoiled Indian teenager. Strong body odor, just how it is. She took forever doing her makeup. Whether she looks prettier, that’s for her to decide. We made a stop at a pearl farm, which wasn’t necessary but also not bad. The ride started, and first, we received a rich lunch. The bay has a special geology, with rocks jutting out. According to legend, these are 4 dragons and their teeth or back spikes; I didn't quite understand. The first island we visited had a big cave. It was quite busy; they organized us well. It would be a great location for parties. Overall, we spent about an hour there. The second stop on the boat trip was a bay, where the only access was through a kind of tunnel. Przemoo and I chose to go kayaking and paddled around.

The last stop was Ti-Top Island, where you can climb a rock, but too many people and not enough time. It would have had a great view. Alternatively, I went swimming, which was very warm. We headed back; Przemoo and I had drinks. On the bus ride back, the younger son of the Indian family sat next to me. He was talkative and told me Indian legends. There was a bit of traffic in Hanoi; we didn’t get back until 9 PM. I suggested eating something on the roadside. Surprisingly, it was a fish restaurant. I ordered a fish soup and got a soup with fish parts instead. Not really my thing. When it came time to pay, it got tight; somehow, we had invested our cash in beer. We were short 3000 Dong (10 cents), but that was no problem. Przemoo went to get more money for more beer (it’s okay taste-wise). I didn’t sleep very well.

Many boats are not active. Why? According to our guide, Tiki, it's a combination of the unexpected rain and a shipwreck in June with many casualties. I had indeed read about it but had forgotten again. Don’t worry, the buses in Peru are more dangerous. Przemoo and I harmonize well.

Monday morning. You always need time to plan—what to do, how is the weather, compare prices. I decided on a 3-day motorcycle trip, the Ha-Giang Loop. It costs €118 as a self-driver, a super price. Przemoo and I agreed to meet around noon at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. It’s best to use Grab or a similar app to use motorbike taxis. It’s cheap. You can’t see Ho Chi, but you can check out the surrounding park. We explored the city a bit more, drank tea, and had some delicious food. He is flying back in the evening.

It’s Tuesday, the 5th, and currently the last day in Hanoi, and it’s raining in the morning. I’m checking out a few more things. The Bach-Ma Temple. The Đồng-Xuân Market (there’s one in Leipzig too), which has everything that creeps, flies, or swims. By motorbike taxi, I went to Banana Island, a river island where Hanoi residents grow bananas. Quiet and peaceful, but nothing going on. Then to a pagoda and then to the Thong Long Citadel. It is 1000 years old and the old rulers’ seat. It’s supposed to be impressive, but it’s not very, and stages have been set up everywhere. You could also look at a bunker from the war. In the evening, I was picked up by the night bus, not without having a strengthening Pho Ga. I managed to get a bit of sleep. Good thing I’m small like the Vietnamese. The compartments on the night buses are not roomy. Around 2:30 AM, we were able to go to bed in Ha Giang.

There are very few dogs here, and they are shy. Wonderful; you can go anywhere. Not like in Peru, where there was a barker on every corner. Briefly about the weather, it has rained every day so far. A sort of drizzle, sometimes more, sometimes less, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. The humidity is always 100%. I could have packed more clothes. But from tomorrow onwards, it should get better. In an emergency, you put on a plastic poncho. Supposedly, this is the most intense rainy phase in 40 years. Normally, early November is the best travel time. A shame for the Vietnamese, but good for me. The prices for activities are very low because of a lot of competition for fewer customers. Last week there was a typhoon in Central Vietnam; unfortunately, there were many casualties and a lot of destruction. Tourists were evacuated, and Przemoo also had to leave in a hurry. This week Typhoon Kalmaegi is coming, probably on Thursday. I initially wanted to explore the north first, maybe now for a few days longer. Soon Typhoon Fung Wong will come, marking the start of the active season.