Day 51 - Saturday 19th September, 2026 - Hanoi
We then "checked out" of the hotel at around 9:30am and hopped back onto the bus for our tour of Hanoi city, which started at Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum which is where his actual body has been embalmed and is usually on display, but not at the moment. The mausoleum was closed to help with the preservation of his body. Interestingly, Ho Chi Minh's dying wishes were that he be cremated and his ashes shared to three different locations in Vietnam that represented important parts of his life. But the ruling parties at the time decided to have him embalmed and placed on display similar to Lenin's body in Moscow so they called on Russian knowledge and technology to help embalm the body. Ho Chi Minh's residence and stilt house was also on the itinerary to visit, but they also were closed so we didn't get to see them either. We did see the "one pillar Pagoda", the oldest in Vietnam, which was destroyed by the French when they were attacking Vietnam but was restored in 1954.
Next stop for interest was the "Temple of Literature"- a place of teaching, learning and driven by Confuscian beliefs that education was the key to enlightenment.
The group had a really nice lunch at the Hanoi Fusion restaurant, then back to the hotel to check into our rooms for the night, followed by a free afternoon for us all.
After coffee, we walked along "Train Street", and made our way into the Old Quarter of Hanoi, had a Bahn Mi for dinner and watched as the night market was setting up in the streets and the crowds increasingly growing.
Back in the room by 20:30 and looking forward to a good night's sleep after the train ride last night.
Day 52 -Sunday 20th September, 2026 - Halong Bay
We continued on and arrived at Halong Bay to board our boat where we would spend the night. It was an older boat, but the benefit was that we had the whole boat to ourselves - so good ! There was a chance we may have to share with another group as boat numbers mooring in the bay area are closely monitored by authorities.
The accommodation was pretty good, the meals were great and the scenery was fantastic. Even though we were sharing the bay with a number of other boats, we were lucky to have clear weather and blue skies ! As we motored out into the bay, we were served lunch. The scenery was even more impressive than we had imagined.
Following lunch we opted for the kayaking activity, much to Graeme's anguish as his hips and back were not up to the task ! The swim in the netted area following the kayaking was good though.
After the kayak activity, a new location and we were tendered off to the beach for a swim and climb up the hill for spectacular views over Halong Bay.
Back to the boat, a shower and dinner and a karaoke night topped off another highlight of our trip.
We had as slight problem with our A/C on the boat which interrupted sleep a bit, but not that bad to spoil the cruise.
Day 53 - Monday 21st September, 2026 - Halong Bay
To avoid the crowds, we were tendered to another one of the islands where we were able to visit a cave complex. A few steps (200) to get into the cave system and walk through 3 caverns, one of them being really large with a ceiling surface similar to a golf ball. The system was bigger than we expected, but the condition of them was not great - not sure if it was neglect or the open atmosphere and humidity.
Back to our cruise boat for breakfast which was ok - plenty of food but toast was dry and crispy ! We motored back into the port area, back on our bus and another 4.5 hour drive back to Hanoi arriving around 15:15.
We went out to try the famous Vietnamese egg coffee with Christian and Sonia from our group.
Tonight was our farewell dinner which was at the KOTO restaurant, a training restaurant supported by Intrepid and the food was delicious. As is the custom at farewell dinners, each member of the tour group has given their top three highlights on the tour.
For the Vietnam portion we thought the hotels were top notch and excellently located within the cities, the food was great as were the restaurants chosen, the motorcycle tour was up there along with the Halong Bay trip.
After dinner, we timed it to catch a train going down Train Street which was very near our hotel. Some of the group placed coins on the track and they became flattened thin pieces of metal. This night was the last night of our organised group tours !
Lots of memories, some quite blurred ! Trying to remember some of our early experiences takes time already !
Day 54- Tuesday 22nd September, 2026 - Hanoi
We checked out but left our bags at the hotel for collection later after we visited the Van Phuc Silk Village - something that Tania had researched and wanted to go see. It was a 10 km trip in a Grab taxi and we spent just over 2 hours there.
This village is credited with making the best quality silk in Vietnam for over 1200 years and along with a number of shops selling silk products, we were able to view the actual looms working. These looms are over 50 years old and still going strong, but the intricacy of the set up and the patterns they can produce is amazing !
We then caught another taxi to the AEON MALL Ha Dong - a modern shopping centre here in Hanoi, there are a number of recognisable brand shops, but also a number of unknown branded shops. We spent time in a Decathalon store, a Japanese department store called "Kohnan" which sold everything you could think of. Here we bought 2 new chamois - which we use when we travel to dry out clothes that we wash in the hotel rooms. The 2 we have have just about been squeezed to death on this trip.
Apart from the coffee, we also purchased a new watch for Graeme (his old one didn't like the two swims he took at Halong Bay), a dress for Tania and a wholemeal baguette to be shared as part of our dinner tonight (It was yummy !)
We took another GRAB taxi back to last night's hotel where our bags were being held, picked them up after negotiating with our driver to wait and drive us to our new hotel where we will be spending the next 2 nights. These were nights we booked without knowing the name of the hotel we would be at before leaving Australia. Our hotel details were only disclosed once our Vietnam tour had commenced.
Anyway, we were welcomed into the Casa Dos Principes Hotel in the old town area of Hanoi by the lovely Lyn, given a welcome tea and complete run down of the hotel and how we could pay our bill. We were fortunate to arrange leaving our luggage here after we check out in a couple of days time to experience our SAPA extension trip on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Even though we were not returning to this hotel after SAPA, their hospitality was amazing- How nice !
After checking in, we did a training walk time to the hotel where friends from our tour are now staying and where our day trip tomorrow to Nihn Bihn will commence. There are 7 of our tour group that are staying longer in Hanoi and have arranged to go on this day tour. - It was an 8 minute walk away, which means we will have time to get breakfast at 6:30am, and still get to their hotel for collection by the tour group at 7:10am. Looking forward to it !
We also got recommendations from our hotel reception for coffee and dinner, so we headed to Caffe Gaing for a hot egg coffee (TP) and and Iced salt coffee (GP) and then to a googled popular nearby restaurant for spring rolls for dinner after as short wait for a table !
A good night spent in the Old Quarter !
Education is the foundation of enlightenment – good on Confucius.
And we are trying very hard to stuff it up in Australia.
Once again, you leave me hanging. Your top three experiences were . . . . Not the Mausoleum would be my guess