4 Day Girls Trip to Hanoi, Vietnam Claimed

We stayed with a friend who lives in Hanoi who put together our amazing itinerary.

Oct 14: Arrive in Hanoi 8:10 pm 

Oct 15: DAY 1

• Breakfast near the Sofitel Metropole Hotel – Old classic hotel that is beautiful. 
• Quan Thanh Temple: Taoist temple 11th Century. It is one of the “four towns of Hanoi” built in different corners to protect the city from evil spirits
• Visit the location where John McCain crashed
• Tour to Hoa Lo Prison AKA Hanoi HIlton, where US Prisoners of war were incarcerated (including John McCain who crashed in 1967 and was imprisoned for 5+ years) 
• Other monuments/temples to see or walk by: 
• Temple of Literature, Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam – Beautiful Confucius temple 
• Ngoc Son Temple (Temple of the Jade Mountain) on Hoan Kiem Lake – Old Quarter
• Tran Quoc Pagoda on southeastern shore of Ho Tay Lake (Hanoi’s west lake)
• Ho Chi MInh Mausoleum – resting place of President Ho Chi MInh. 
• Lunch at Viet Restaurant on the roof of JM Marvel Hotel & Spa: 16 hang Da Street in Old Quarters: Delicious Bun Cha, Pho, Grilled Pork: Cost with no alcohol $67 for 4 people ($16.75 pp)
• Walked around Old Quarter and shopped. Went to the Train Tracks where bars and restaurants with tables right by the track are set up extremely close to the track. Two trains come by approximately at 11 am and 3 pm (but the one we saw came at 3:15p. People get seated early to eat and drink while the train come dangerously close to your table…very touristy, but fun. 
• Visited Apricot Gallery. One of the older galleries that carries authentic paintings by the “Gang of 5” five of the most important figures who in the late 80’s brought about changes and re-introduced ideas of abstraction in the art scene of North Vietnam: Hồng Việt Dũng, Hà Trí Hiếu, Đặng Xuân Hoà, Trần Lương and Phạm Quang Vinh. Also has some beautiful pieces by contemporary artists
• Must Try “Egg Coffee”offered in many cafe’s  – it tastes just like tiramisu!  First created in Hanoi in 1946, egg coffee is the brainchild of Nguyen Van Giang. In response to the pressures of a milk shortage caused by the French War (also known as the First Indochina War), Giang whisked in egg as a much-needed substitute while bartending at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel. Cafe’s named after him are around Hanoi but most places serve it.  “Cafe Giang”. We went to “Drop in Cafe” which had a “non dairy egg cream” version. I prefer the regular version.
• Drinks and or eat at the historic and beautiful Metrople Hotel  ( built in 1901).  Little pricy compared to the rest of Hanoi, but service is impeccable . 
• Dinner at Tam Vi, Michelin 1 star restaurant located in a cool alley with people sitting out on small tables eating, hip coffee shop at the end of the alley, and on the right a 2 story brown wooden building. Ask to eat upstairs if possible. We went twice so we could try more dishes: Favorites were braised pork belly with eggs (melted in your mouth), Sanil and Green Banana Greens, roast chicken. $20.87 for 3 people: $7 pp. Bring your own wine and pay corkage. Think corkage is around $20. Almost the same price as the meal!

DAY 2: 

• Breakfast 
• Shopping. Extremely good fakes of every designer vs the ones you see in the markets. There are several along the street: Anna Wang – 3 floors of shoes, clothing, purses- Hermes/Prada/Chanel etc. Other stores along the street: Si Lane, HoangTranh Tran. 
• Markets filled with knockoffs. Wallets ranging from $12 to decent purses around  $50.
• Nicer stores: Vietnamese designers: Lestoir (evening dresses) and LeLam – where I bought a beautiful hand embroidered white crepe skirt for $200. Interesting, unique clothing.
• Lunch at Bahn Co  Bun / Mr Bay MIen Tay: We ate the famous Banh Xeo – omelets deep fried quickly and then cut up to eat with vegetables and you wrap rice paper around it and dip in the fish sauce.  Super delicious. About $4. There is also a famous place called Bun Cha Obama Cafe (Bun cha Houng Lien) – because he dined there with Anthony Bourdain. More touristy.
• Stopped for pre-dinner cocktails at Angelina (part of the Metropole hotel).  Inside is really nice. 
• Dinner at a small 10-seat sushi restaurant called  IKEDA near the Japanese embassy area. Young Japanese chef that moved to Hanoi so he could start his own restaurant. 

DAY 3

• Cooking Class (10 PP limit): Rose Kitchen. Hazel was our energetic teacher and took us to the markets to buy some of the food. Then we went to a beautiful little place with a courtyard to cook our food. Menu: Nom Hoa Chuoi (Banana flower Salad), Nem Ran (Egg Rolls), Bun Cha (Vermielli noodle and BBQ pork w/ dipping sauce), Pho Ga (Rice noodle soup w/ chicken) Egg Coffee  $45 pp/3+ hours. Our class was a fun mix of people from Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Australia and USA. Really fun group. 
• After the class, we went walking around the city with a few people from the class 
• Ate at Tam Vi AGAIN! Yum
• Then popped into a spa to get a 60 min foot massage for $25. It ended up being about a 15-20 minute foot massage and then they did a whole body massage for the rest of the time. We were so relaxed, we could barely walk home. 

DAY 4 

• Excursion with a great group of women who are friends with our host. We took the new above ground train just built in Hanoi in Aug 2024. Took the train and then a local bus to a small village La Xa where the former director of the Ethnology museum in Vietnam built a family museum and gave us a private tour of the Nguyen Van Huyen Museum. Fascinating family history, as his father was the Vietnam minister of Education, Nguyen Van Huyen. The family tree and accomplished family history is detailed in the museum alongside a time line of historical events. Fascinating. It is opened on weekends. 
• In the same village, we were given a private tour of the Photo Museum. This town is where Studio Photography started and was taught. Then it branched out and was popularized throughout Vietnam. 
• Visited the Cuc Gallery – run by a young Vietnamese woman with incredible taste in art. She represents established Vietnamese artists like Ngyuen Trung and other emerging and contemporary artists. She has a beautiful loft on the top floor of a skyscraper overlooking the city.
• Given a private tour of the home and gallery of Susan Lecht. She is American who moved from Japan to Hanoi 30 years ago. She has built a beautiful home/gallery with the help of a friend and famous artist Phạm Quang Vinh. They moved a home from a village and used it as the top of floor of a 3 story structure that Vinh helped design. It houses lots of Vietnamese and international artists young and old. Amazing stories. 
• Relaxing last night dinner at the Metropole Hotel then went to the same spa for a 90 minute massage $47

DAY 5: 6 am flight to Tokyo.