Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

You can easily walk between most places in Hanoi in under 40 minutes but occasionally it is nice to just get in a cab and escape the heat and chaos on the streets and sidewalks.

Navigating the city’s Old Quarter on foot can be a little overwhelming because of motorcycle traffic but in the rest of the city it is much easier. It’s fun to see terrified tourists watching the motorcycles zip past in all directions and hear them gasp in disbelief as you boldly step into the mix. The trick I’ve found is not to hesitate and keep a steady pace – that way the motorcyclists can adjust their direction and speed accordingly.

We spent more time in Hanoi than we had planned and I think we saw all of the city that we wanted to see.  It is a nice city once you get used to it but it has a love/hate feeling.  At times we hated being there and other times it was quite pleasant.  I suppose that’s how it is with most cities.  Brynn and I are realizing that we enjoy our time more outside of the bigger cities.

I would say that a highlight of our time in Northern Vietnam was spending some time in Ha Long Bay.  We did the 3 day 2 night tour from Hanoi where you spend your first night on the boat and the second night in a hotel on Cat Ba Island.  The tour was fine but I think personally I would have preferred to have stayed on the bay another night and skip the Island.  Coming on the end things got a little too touristy for me with the island locals pressuring us to buy things we had little need for.