If we’ve learned anything on this trip it’s that we can sure cram a lot into a short amount of time, and our final days in Vietnam were no exception. We arrived in Hanoi at 5:30am after taking a 9-hour overnight bus. Tristan managed to get some sleep but Taylor…well… she slept from 3:15am-3:45am. That was it. Normally this would have stressed her out, but she just surrendered to her unusual bout of insomnia and used it as time to reflect on the trip (and watch a really subpar rom-com on Netflix).

Sunrise views around a lake in the center of the city:So we arrived in Hanoi as the sun was coming up and decided to walk to our hotel which was about 30 minutes instead of taking a cab (we were already sleep deprived, so why not?). It ended up being one of the cooler experiences we have had simply because we hadn’t seen the streets of Vietnam so early in the morning before. There were drastically fewer cars/scooters on the road,and the sidewalks were loaded with people exercising. We aren’t talking about your typical slow jog or power walk. It was more a combination of interpretive dance and bizarre body gyrations that would cause any fitness instructor to cringe. For example, a classic move was to just flail your arms around, or stand straight and aggressively whip your hips side to side…it was basically like every home video of Taylor when she was a child. The best part was that it was all people over the age of 70. It was awesome to see so many people out there just doing their thing and it was absolutely the best way to start our time in Hanoi.

We got to our hotel, took a 4 hour nap to recharge, then headed out to explore the city. Our first stop was for some pho at a tiny little restaurant, in an alley, basically on a train track. It was perfection and the pho was delicious.

Next up, we did a walking audio tour of the Temple of Literature. The temple was built in 1070 and is dedicated to Confucius. We spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, eating tons of food (per usual) and eventually decided to call it a night since we had a tour planned for the following day.

Views from inside the Temple of Literature:

For our second day we decided to do a tour of Ha Long Bay, one of the most well-known and visited places in Vietnam. We were happy we went, but to be honest, it was probably our least favorite tour of the entire trip. The bus ride each way was 4 hours, which is just too long for a day trip in our option. We got picked up at 7:30am and didn’t get back until 10:30pm. We got to spend about 6 hours out in the bay, explore some caves, and even go kayaking for a bit. It was definitely beautiful, but the sheer number of tourists and the chaos of it all put a damper on the experience. Either way, we’re happy we did it.

Views of Ha Long Bay:

Kayaking next to approximately 500 other tourists but at least we saw some more monkeys:

From inside the caves (I guess we could say we are professional cavers at this point):

At the top of a short (and very steep) hike we took to the viewpoint:

Sunsets from a boat make everything better:

Being the overachievers we are, we decided to do back to back tours and schedule another one the following day. In hindsight, maybe not the best idea especially since we were running off of such little sleep, but we didn’t come to Asia for rest and relaxation. So a double header it was! The next morning, we left on a tour to Nin Bin a town about 2 hours south of Hanoi. It was a jam packed day and possibly the best way we could have concluded our time in Vietnam. The first stop was to a temple that was dedicated to the last king of Vietnam. The temple was cool but honestly we may have been more excited about wearing these hats instead.

Next up was the Lying Dragon Mountain, which involved us walking up about 400 steps in the blistering sun, but the view was absolutely worth it. Not to mention there was a huge stone statue of a dragon at the top.

We are so sick of climbing stairs:

Finally made it the top:

Basically the exact same picture and pose but from the other view point:

Taylor contemplating if having a replica statue at their house in Maine would be a bit too over the top:

Views of the river, fields and mountain. If you look closely, the tiny dots on the river are boats:

Tristan demonstrating a little “bend and snap” at a picturesque bridge that all the other (normal) couples took cute pictures together on:

After, we got to take a private boat ride down the river and through some more caves. The coolest part was that the people rowing the boats did so with their feet instead of hands, so badass! Except…our guy crashed us into at least 3 other boats, then demanded that we tip him, but we didn’t have our wallet, so he told us he was mad then he rowed away…awkward.

Cruising along the river:

Heading into the first of four caves along the route:

The last stop was a sunset bike ride through the local rice fields, it was bliss. Afterwards we took the bus back to Hanoi, had time to pack up, then head to the airport for our 1:30am flight (what is sleep?).

Riding through the rice fields:

And just like said we said farewell to Vietnam after two exhausting, adventurous, and unusual weeks. Next up… Japan! Stay tuned.

Love and hugs from T&T