Hanoi
Train Street in Hanoi Vietnam
Time spent: 43 Days; 19 Jun 2026 - 1 Aug 2026
Elevation: 56 ft
Currency: Vietnamese Dong
Lodging Cost: $16.01 per night; AirBNB
Warning: If you are an American coming to Vietnam be sure to read the intro to the Vietnam page. Unlike a lot of countries I have previously visited, you will need a visa to enter and I lay out how to do that there.
An Intro to the Web Page
If you have been reading this page in order by country, you may think this is a strange spot to put a section with this title. That is because when I last visited home, before starting a new leg of the journey to Southeast Asia, I finally decided to turn my journey into a website. See, my elderly father, who is extremely tech-savvy, is still scared and bewildered by social networking sites like Facebook, and updates of my journey with normal vacation-type posts weren't enough for him.
I constantly had to hear his lectures about "See, back in 1999 we READ our websites! None of this bullshit with pokes and likes and hearts and happy faces! We demanded words on a page and we fucking got them!" (and he slammed his fist into his palm as he said it so you knew he was serious). That led me to make this website for him. I have spent a couple hundred hours on this very wordy website just to get him to shut the fuck up and read it.
I'm actually kidding about all that—I'm in my 40s, he is in his 60s, and I mostly agree with everything I wrote about social media (I dread the day I've got to make a TikTok, Insta, and all that nonsense for this page). My father is actually my website's biggest fan and he was right to convince me to do it. Hopefully, one day this site can make me some beer money, but right now I think it is a great outlet to just share what is admittedly a pretty fun journey.
RIP Dad, I miss you and think about you every day.
To my readers, sorry if that is confusing, he isn't dead. He just takes a lot of naps and I hope he is resting peacefully.
Arriving in Vietnam
After spending 720 days in South America I decided I was ready to start the next leg of my nomadic journey in southeast Asia. I wouldn't say I was bored with it at ALL, there is still a lot I want to do there but it was time to move on to a new section of the globe. I didn't have any particular reason for choosing Vietnam first. There is a lot I wanted to see here and I knew the region was going to be home for the next year or two so I just picked Hanoi based on the best flight for best price.
It may seem obvious to some but the flight here was weird to me until we got in the air. I was coming from Florida so I figured it would be a hop to California and then a hop somewhere else. But I went from Florida to New York and then New York to Tokyo. I was wondering how that made any sense until I saw the route and remembered the Earth is round. You actually go AROUND the Pacific Ocean flying over Canada and Alaska and heading south from there.
As long as you got the visa stuff done, immigration was really no harder than any visa on arrival country. Show your passport and the authorization form and you're in. Doesn't take any longer than a non-visa on arrival country. If you can, a good rule of thumb is always have a paper copy (which I had) but I did a test if the PDF they emailed me worked just as easy and it did. Granted I will always try to get one, but using my dad's printer while visiting home is much easier than finding a print shop in an unfamiliar country so we'll talk about that further in Cambodia, the next country I plan to visit.
Everywhere with pavement is a road in Vietnam. I'm literally not kidding. If you walk on the sidewalk for just one day, you will encounter a biker beeping their horn behind you. Sometimes, like in the pic above, it is a necessity, they may live down this road. Other times it is simply, "The cars in front of me are stopped at the red light like a bunch of dumbasses, and I want to keep moving."
I know this building is called People's Committee of Hà Nội City but I don't know much else about it. It is just a famous government building across from Hoan Kiem Lake
Hoan Kiem Lake
Where to stay
After a couple years in South America and knowing the Plaza de Armas is always the city center, it isn't so easy here finding where the ideal place to stay is.
The Old Quarter is going to be the very first thing you hear about Hanoi, and it's where all the tourists stay. And then not quite as popular, but still wildly touristy, is the French Quarter, which is just south of the Old Quarter.
I'd recommend against both of these and recommend the Hai Ba Trung District just a little more south, and I'd recommend this no matter how long your stay in Hanoi is.
Let's start with the Old Quarter. Don't get me wrong. This place is cool. Some pretentious travelers will roll their eyes and say "avoid this area at all costs." Fuck those guys. It is definitely a tourist area, but it is still worth checking out—it's just absolute chaos. The sidewalks are packed with vendors so you've got to walk in the road most of the time, and the roads aren't blocked off, so bikes are still going to be cruising all through the area.
I'm not going to say the risk of getting hit is zero, but the drivers are aware of where they are and you do need to stay alert, but it is part of the charm, I suppose. But while part of the charm, it is a place you likely only need to spend a couple hours at. I think if you are spending a week in Hanoi, you would very quickly get tired of navigating the area every time you wanted to go grab a bite to eat.
This is where the most hostels are going to be, along with some less expensive hotels.
Now, the French Quarter has more upscale hotels and fine dining, but honestly, for the most part I just found it boring. There aren't many bars, but it does have more "fine-ish" dining and is great for those wanting to go to the opera house.
A sample of traffic in Vietnam. It can be much worse but you can see those painted lines on the road don't mean much.
Hanoi Opera house
Traffic in the Hai Ba Trung District
Now, both of those areas are fun, but those are at most a 30-minute walk from Hai Ba Trung District or a $1 Grab ride.
Hai Ba Trung has plenty of hotels and the GOOD restaurants at good prices. Anywhere you go in the world, a large portion of the tourist restaurants don't give a shit about repeat business, so they do just enough to not get bad reviews. Air conditioning, an actual table instead of a stool, and a fork are enough to charge tourists in the French Quarter triple what they charge in Hai Ba Trung.
If you want to experience sitting on a plastic stool eating some real Vietnamese food with chopsticks for 50,000 VND ($1.90), Hai Ba Trung is the place to go.
Night Market and Beer Street
Even though I gave a bit of warning about the Old Quarter, the Night Market is a whole different story. From Friday evening until early Monday morning a huge busy section of roads around Hoan Kiem Lake are blocked off from traffic and the area totally transforms.
While it is a major tourist spot, even more locals come out for this. Vendors spring up in the road and while the food is a little overpriced, nothing drastically so, about what you'd expect but it's just a great time.
A little past the Night Market is a Beer Street. A whole shitload of restaurants and bars expand with tables in the street and they aren't the expensive craft beers catered to tourist, it's almost all locals and the hostel crowd partying. Local beer and local food at a good price.
Just a great night. A Scots, Brits, Poles, Indians and Irish. Pretty much all of us met each that night and likely never saw each other again
The entrance to the night market
Street food. Of course I went with the tentacle on a stick
Hoa Lo Prison AKA Hanoi Hilton
This is a very popular stop in Hanoi and probably one of the most visited historical sites in the city. It is also one of the prisons where John McCain was held during his five and a half years as a prisoner of war.
It was built by the French during their occupation of Vietnam around 1900 and held thousands of political prisoners in brutal conditions designed to break the spirit of those fighting for independence. Inside, you can still see a few cells and the original French guillotine used for executions.
Now, I get it. The history of what happened here is brutal, and it shouldn't be forgotten. But most of the prison complex was demolished in the 90s, and as a result, the site has lost a lot of the and weight it once had.
I don't know how to say it without sounding insensitive, but as a physical tourist site, it felt a bit staged. If you are in Hanoi you should still check it out, but this is a place where you'll get far more out of reading a book on its history than just looking at the displays. There isn't much here that feels really original, it feels a bit more like a movie set reconstruction than a preserved prison.
It's hard to convey the suffering with mannequins that would be posed the same way as they would be for an advertisement for a day at the beach
There are a few cells open to view along with displays of chained-up mannequins. In the courtyard, there are photo exhibits and written accounts to read. Honestly, reading those personal stories in the courtyard was the most powerful part of the visit, far more than staring into restored steel rooms with plastic figures.
Cell block door. I mean it sounds shitty, but that is kind of staple in all prisons.
This was the actual guillotine used by the French during their rule. It would have been a much more serious photo if I had gotten one without the satchel-wearing hipster posing in front of it.
Solitary confinement. Doesn't look super awful until you realize prisoners were chained to the floor in pitch-black darkness in the Vietnamese heat for extended periods of time.
Memorial to John McCain where he was shot down at Truc Bach Lake.
John McCain did a lot for US/Vietnamese relations and is deeply respected by the Vietnamese people.
Ho Chi Minh Masoluem
I had always intended on going to see Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum and see him just as I would see Vladimir Lenin's body if I visited Moscow, but I never knew how I should feel about him. I never really knew much about the man or even the Vietnam War for that matter. Was he an evil dictator who beat America and kept communism in Vietnam? Or should America feel about him like the British feel about George Washington—a winner who did what he thought was right and deserves respect even though he beat your country?
Honestly, I don't think either Ho Chi Minh or Washington are thought about much at all anymore in America or Britain.
But I still wanted an easy answer to the question: Will the history books call Ho Chi Minh a good guy or a bad guy?
I spent a few months here and have been on some tours and read a few Wikipedia articles, and I've come to believe he was a pretty OK dude. I think he just loved his country.
Ho Chi Minh Masoluem
I know America has a deep history of anti-communism. Back in the days of the Vietnam War, being a communist was worse than being Black. I even bought a hat here with the Vietnam flag on it, which is a yellow star on a red background, but the yellow hammer and sickle on a red background is everywhere here. But no matter how much I love Vietnam, something deep inside me wouldn't allow me to wear that.
I'd say "politics aside," but I don't even know the politics, and honestly, I don't care. I didn't "flee" America. I'm traveling because I want to. I wish the best for people in Vietnam, but I'm a visitor and they can run the place how they wish (although I share the planet with them and they do litter too much).
After all of those thoughts went through my head, and knowing what I know now, I gave him a little tip of my cap (well, just a nod, because you have to take your hat off in the mausoleum). I think he was a patriot and wanted what he thought was best for his country and people, and I can respect that.
Ho Chi Minh Museum
Ho Chi Minh's home. He is famously known for living quite modestly.
I know America has a deep history of anti-communism. Back in the days of the Vietnam War, being a communist was worse than being Black. I even bought a hat here with the Vietnam flag on it, which is a yellow star on a red background, but the yellow hammer and sickle on a red background is everywhere here. But no matter how much I love Vietnam, something deep inside me wouldn't allow me to wear that.
I'd say "politics aside," but I don't even know the politics, and honestly, I don't care. I didn't "flee" America. I'm traveling because I want to. I wish the best for people in Vietnam, but I'm a visitor and they can run the place how they wish (although I share the planet with them and they do litter too much).
After all of those thoughts went through my head, and knowing what I know now, I gave him a little tip of my cap (well, just a nod, because you have to take your hat off in the mausoleum). I think he was a patriot and wanted what he thought was best for his country and people, and I can respect that.
Wow... I guess after all that I still haven't told you what it is like there!
Well, first... I was pretty surprised by the line. His mausoleum is almost like a pilgrimage of sorts for Vietnamese people. I thought it would be mostly tourists doing the same as me, but that wasn't the case at all. It was packed and pretty much the only language spoken was Vietnamese, but don't worry: just follow the person in front of you and you'll be fine. It is a long line, about 45 minutes or so, and it is only open for about three hours a day in the morning and closed for a couple of months a year, but with a little planning you'll have no trouble.
No bags or purses are allowed whatsoever, but I saw many bags being delivered to the exit of his mausoleum. I'm not sure if this was a service you needed to pay for or whether you just tell them you aren't seeing the museum and his home for them to do it for free. If you do those extra stops, you will loop back to the entrance anyway and it won't be necessary.
These pictures were taken in the same spot to give you an idea of how long the line was.
Tours around Hanoi
As far as tours around the area go, Ninh Binh and Ha Long Bay are the two most popular. Those are the two I took. There is another overnight tour to Sapa Valley available. This one did look interesting to me, but it was a five-hour ride. Interesting, but not THAT interesting. Maybe one day I'll get paid to do this website and then I'll review it.
An all day trip to a region of Vietnam about two hours south of Hanoi.
Here you will take a boat ride through a valley with limestones caves and temples and then climb a 500 step mountain to a ridge guarded by a stone dragon statue.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site with almost 2,000 limestone karst islands.
See the inside of a cave, go swimming on a beach and kayaking in a cove.
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Final Thoughts on Hanoi
I really loved Hanoi although it is humid as fuck. I tried to take a daily walk around the lake that took about 45 minutes and my shirt was always drenched when I got back.
It is a major city with millions of people but has a small town vibe. Not really any skyscrapers that I saw. I've really come to hate those. I thought that was just something old people bitched about but I'm starting to get it. Although I'm definitely not getting old, I'm just conceding maybe they were right in this one specific scenario.
Also similar to towns I have found that have an excellent metro system, taking a Grab on a bike is so inexpensive, you can really just go anywhere you want. I felt like I had a lot more freedom here than in some other places I have been without a car.
The area of the Night Market but a little away from the busy section
Domestic Travel from Hanoi
I just wanted to point out a few things to be aware of. If you are traveling domestically (and possibly internationally), be sure your ticket includes your middle name if you have one. When I tried to check in, they said it was required and it wasn't on my ticket, so I had to leave and go to another kiosk to get it changed. It cost about $4 to do it and I was able to skip to the front of the line where I originally was, but doing it in advance will save you a minor headache.
Also, if you are traveling domestically, be sure to enter that in Grab or make sure your taxi is taking you to the right place. If you look like a foreign traveler and just say "the airport," they may assume you are leaving the country.
The domestic terminal is in an entirely different location, a short taxi ride away. I'll chalk it up to a language barrier, but I think the guy at the counter was just wildly unhelpful. He seemed to speak great English, but instead of saying "Oh, you need to go downstairs and get a taxi to a different terminal," he just said "You need to go downstairs and outside."
I went downstairs and outside and saw miles of flat land. Luckily, there was a helpful shithead trying to scam me, asking where I needed to go. I told him Ho Chi Minh City, and he explained that domestic flights were out of a different terminal a little ways away, and he would be so kind as to take me for 300,000 VND ($11.50) because Grab allegedly "would not come pick me up" from the second largest airport in the country.
Now, not that I doubted the veracity of the kind Vietnamese man's story, but I did want to verify the locations. I checked my Grab app and saw I had indeed gone to the International Terminal, but the Domestic Terminal was listed as an option just a short drive away. Just for shits and giggles before I took him up on his offer, I decided to check if Grab would pick me up—and lo and behold, they did in fact offer rides from one terminal to the other for the low price of 30,000 VND ($1.15). So I politely declined his offer and ordered a Grab.