To reach Vietnam, we took a flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi, and a second one from New Delhi to Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital city. During the few hours waiting at the New Delhi airport, we were asked for money after a “helpful” man guided us to the gate, we were helped by 6 staff members when we desesperately needed to print out our boarding passes (hard copies required by the airline…), we enjoyed delicious local food. Colorful India, forever true to itself! 😁

As I write these lines, we have been for exactly 2 weeks in Vietnam. We have been having a blast, hence this late article. Buckle up, and tag along for our discovery of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam!

Relax with Hanoi’s vibe

“Bonjour, vous allez au centre-ville ? Vous voulez partager un taxi ?” [French: “Hello, are you going to the city center? Do you want to share a cab?”] We had just landed at Hanoi’s airport, and we were already meeting with a French-speaking comrade, Mathilde (from Belgium – one of the nicest people in the world, as always 😘). If you are a French speaker yourself, do not expect to be thrown into the wild in Vietnam – you will meet us EVERYWHERE.

We feel like we have entered a new world, moving from India and Nepal to Vietnam. Hanoi shows itself as a modern city, following the latest fashion trends and innovations, while still featuring small restaurants where all generations of Vietnamese people meet. Kids drive miniature cars around the central lake, women pose for Instagram while street vendors carry fruits, in platters swinging at each end of a bamboo stick.

Posters all over the city commemorate the end of the war between North and South Vietnams (1975) – the idea that the country was torn apart 49 years ago sounds astonishing. Paying a closer look to the commemoration events, we are humbled by the photo exhibition recounting the independence war from the French ruling. If you were barely told anything about the Vietnam wars at school, like me, here is my basic understanding: from the 1800s to 1954 (the Geneva Accords, effective as of 1956), what we know today as Vietnam was part of the French Indochina, which went as far as Laos and Cambodia. Led by Ho Chi Minh, the North forces won over the French while the Southern part of Vietnam gathered around Ngo Dinh Diem. The strong divide between the communist North and the South, closer to America at first, created a civil war, soon coupled with a bloody guerrilla against the US, when the South government grew apart from its former support. Laos and Cambodia were heavily bombed in the process. The rest is history, and Vietnam only became one and only in 1975. North Vietnam won the war, Hanoi became capital city of Vietnam, benefitting from a significant part of the country’s wealth and centralizing most of the government buildings.

If you are planning on visiting Hanoi soon, we warmly recommend the Vietnam Women’s Museum. The first floors focus on the women as wifes and mothers (this focus angle did not come as a surprise), with interesting facts about all the diverse ethnic groups featured in Vietnam (so many!). The last floor is dedicated to the female fighters, who represented 40% of the forces during the Vietnam war. Our stomachs knot, reading about their lives: they were 16, 18, 20-year-old when driven into this madness. Quoting “Uncle Ho” (allegedly): “when war strikes close to home, even the women must fight”.

Luckily, the younger generations live in a different world. A little girl, 10-year-old, comes to us “to speak English”, while her mum watches the scene, a few meters apart. We are asked about who we are, our favorite food, what we did in Vietnam, our favorite animal, etc. Adorable! Huge respect to the mum, who came up with this brilliant idea to make her daughter practise English.

Discover the sister of Halong bay: the Lan Ha bay

Most of tourists visiting Hanoi book as well a 2-day trip to witness the wonders of the Halong bay, the famous seaside limestone landscapes (registered at the UNESCO). Looking into it a bit, we are quickly told that overtourism drove all the sea life away from the bay, visited by a hundred supersize luxury boats per day. After further research, we find Ethnic Travel, an agency offering to discover the Lan Ha bay, in a traditional junk boat.

I got to admit that I cringed when I saw that our “traditional boat” turned out to be another luxurious motor boat (perhaps a bit smaller). I guess that tourists are expecting no less now, and that the older boats were no longer appealing… Nevermind, we are in now, so we might as well indulge in the luxury!

We spend 2 days being fed finger-licking food, kayaking in the empty bay, riding bikes in the green Cat Ba island and eating again. Did I mention that our group mostly features French people, for a change? Cheers to Caty, Christian, Bernard and his wife, Julie, Sarah, Mauro, his partner and Frederick for the good laughs!

Grab your bike for the Ha Giang loop

Back to Hanoi, this time to head North for the Ha Giang loop, in the region bordering China. All the fellow travelers that we had met before Vietnam described this several-day motoride as their best memory in Vietnam. And it is true to its reputation.

For 3 intense days, our little group of 8 rides beside our easy drivers, who excel at driving us safely across the many road curves. It does not prevent them though to introduce us to the (in)famous happy water (a corn alcohol) and the local karaoke hits. A video would be the only way to describe this merry atmosphere – just waiting for Dimitri to create it… 😁

After the modernity of Hanoi, going through the mountain cities, bordered by rice paddies, shows a different side of Vietnam. On market day, all the inhabitants wear traditional clothing; you see motorbikes packed with the most diverse load, featuring live pigs, goats, chickens when it is not the usual chairs or other pieces of furniture carried around. Little kids hang around together, without seemingly any adult in the surroundings; we are astonished to see toddlers with brush hooks and hammers (witnessing a group of 3 toddlers teaming up to hammer nails into a plank together). I grew up in a country where we pamper children and we worry so much over messing them up, that the weight of the responsibility plays a role in the choice not to have kids. Different worlds…

The Ha Giang loop is a gift that never stops giving. The scenic roads are endless, and the fast pace of the expedition feels like a dream when you come back to Hanoi. If you have 3 days to spare, one advice: do it! If you need to arbitrate between the Ha Giang loop and the Halong / Lan Ha bays, my two cents: your butt will be sore but I’ve experienced pure freedom and this is absolutely priceless.

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Before I leave you, I want to declare my love to the Vietnamese cuisine.  To be fair, India had the most complex, flavorful food one could dream of, but my stomach could not handle it. Nepalese food was healthy, but lacked variety. Whereas Vietnam!… ❤️

See you soon, as we travel further south of Vietnam, in Ninh Binh, Phong Nha and Hue.