Perfect mix of nature, relaxation and the city🇻🇳

I really wanted a trip that was away from the busy life we have here in Singapore, something relaxing with a bit of adventure. A break from work… 🥱

Here’s what my friend and I did on our trip to Vietnam:

Day 1: Arrive at Hanoi

We arrived at Hanoi at about 5pm on a Saturday. Booked a grab to our hotel and went to walk around the streets of Hanoi Old Quarter, mostly along the Hanoi night market stretch. We were lucky to have landed on a Saturday as the market only opens on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Day 2 to 4: Halong Bay

We woke up early the next morning for hotel breakfast and a transfer to Halong Bay (we booked a 3D2N Luxury Cruise). The price was pretty steep (~$500sgd/pax) but it was worth it to me. We got to enjoy the view of Halong Bay with excellent service by the staff. They brought us to islands, caves and a village around Halong Bay. It was like fine dining style/buffet for almost every meal and the cabin was just like a 5-star hotel. It was nice to start off the trip with this cruise, just being away from the bustle and having a chill time. For one activity, we were transferred to a smaller boat. It was quite surreal as it was moving around the bay with no other boats around us. Kinda like living in a dream, am I really seeing this? HAHAH 🤔

Day 4: Hanoi

We arrived back at Hanoi around 3pm after checking out from the cruise. We went to develop the films we took for only $3sgd!! How?? Then, we just took it chill and walked around the streets of Hanoi Old Quarter before preparing for our overnight sleeper bus to Sapa.

Day 5 to 6: Sapa

For Sapa, I really wanted to try a homestay so we booked a 2D1N trekking and homestay. This experience was new to me, considering how I haven’t been exercising and not exactly a fan of trekking HAHA. We hiked for about 6-7hours on day 1 and 2-3hours on day 2. Our guide was really friendly and the trek was tiring but weirdly calming at the same time. I guess it was just nice being in nature and getting to know our guide. After our trek on the second day, we checked-in our hotel at Sapa city and explored the city/night market before calling it a day.

Day 7: Sapa

Our last day in Sapa was a chill one. We didn’t want to go to those cafes we saw on Tiktok as we thought the trekking views were wayyyyy better. We already had enough of it HAHAH so we only had plans to climb up the peak of Mount Fansipan. But as we were on the way up, I saw a Tiktok video about an alpine coaster in Sapa. We went to try it out after and no regrets! Super fun and there was no one else, only us 😙 We took the overnight sleeper bus back to Hanoi that night.

Day 8: Hanoi

This was our only full day in Hanoi. We went to eat, shop and buy souvenirs. Also travelled out of the Old Quarter area to shop some local brands. We got some pieces of clothing and I got a pair of shoes. Then, we ended the day having Pizza 4P’s for dinner HAHAH it was soooooo good, really lives up to the hype.

Day 9: Back to Singapore 😢

This day was just a short one as our flight was at 1215pm. I didn’t really like how high the heel of my new shoes were, so we went to get it shaved down for $3sgd in less than 30 minutes. Last stop of the trip was CircleK (something like 7 eleven) where we got snacks for our friends and family.

I really enjoyed this trip and thought it was so nice to be in nature, wind down from the life in SG, but also still get some time for shopping and whatnot. First time in Vietnam and I’m planning for the next already!!! hehe ❤️🇻🇳

#travel #Vietnam #hanoi #halongbay #sapa