One Day in Hanoi
I flew to Hanoi via Cebu Pacific for a recent trip to Sa Pa, which I wrote about a few weeks ago. Travel Warehouse Inc. arranged our Sa Pa itinerary and suggested we stay in Hanoi for one day before flying back to Manila. I have been to Hanoi several times but since they said they would prepare a unique Hanoi itinerary, I went with it!
Of course, Halong Bay is one of the top tourist destinations when in Hanoi, but I’d done this before. I would have loved to do it again, but it was quite a long trip to get there and back and that Halong Bay experience would have used up 10 hours (including the van roundtrip) of my short time in this beautiful city.
We arrived in Hanoi from Sa Pa around dinnertime and Jaison Yang of Travel Warehouse took us straight to Bun Cha Huong Lien, where the legendary Anthony Bourdain took then President Barack Obama for a meal. They have now named the meal “Combo Obama,” which includes roasted pork, noodles, soup, vegetables and a heavenly seafood roll. Anthony Bourdain did know where to get the best bun cha in town!
I went to a Vietnamese supermarket after dinner to get all the food and condiments my friends and family wanted. Vietnam has excellent soy sauce and fish sauce and also has the best instant lugaw (rice porridge) ever!
Go around Hoan Kiem Lake early in the morning to jog around and try out the various Vietnamese breakfast treats street vendors sell around the area if you can. I opted to have a nice Vietnamese breakfast in the hotel, though, since I didn’t want to wake up too early!
We headed to Bat Trang Village, 20 minutes outside Hanoi. This place is famous for their beautiful pottery and ceramics and is where Travel Warehouse arranged for us to have lunch. We were brought to the home of Madame Dam Thi Hoa, where she and her family have lived since the 1930s. The place was difficult to find and they didn’t speak English, but Jaison took care of everything for us. Here, we helped cook our lunch and learned how to wrap Vietnamese spring rolls properly and had a delicious, home-cooked meal. Madame Hoa just started opening her home to immersive cooking classes and lunches and this was indeed a unique experience. Of course we went porcelain shopping after lunch!
We headed back to Hanoi and went around Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old French Quarter to shop for amazing Vietnamese coffee and some handicrafts. Jaison took us to this beautiful old Chinese café (the entrance was through a clothing shop) to let us try egg coffee, a specialty in Hanoi. It was invented here during the war and with the shortage of milk, a creamy beaten egg replaced milk during the war. The coffee was pretty heavy but definitely worth trying once.
We shopped around Chinatown also before heading to their “Beer Street” to have an afternoon bevy. Our dinner was at Gia (pronounced “zha,” which means family), a fine dining Vietnamese restaurant that serves traditional Vietnamese prepared with modern techniques using prime local ingredients. It was a very memorable meal.
That ended our one full day in Hanoi, as we left for the airport early the next morning. Travel Warehouse did prepare an excellent itinerary for us here and in Sa Pa!
I had Beef Adobo (this and Cebu Pacific’s Chicken Charsiu are the two meals I usually choose) on the flight back to Manila and as we took off, I was already planning my next trip to Vietnam, as I realized there are so many new experiences that can be created despite having visited the place before. I’ll be back sooner than later!
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Travel Warehouse is located at Unit 1007 OMM-Citra Building, San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig, 1600 Metro Manila. Please email [email protected] for inquiries.
Cebu Pacific currently flies once daily from Manila to Hanoi, Vietnam. Visit www.cebupacificair.com to learn more about their latest offerings, safety protocols, and travel reminders.
Follow me on Instagram @pepperteehankee.
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