Arriving at Hanoi we once again had to make our way through the motorcycle streets. The biggest thrill in Lutz life was the ride with one of the Grab drivers in Hanoi.
Once figured out the traffic we enjoyed the beauty of the city, including some sights like the egg coffee and the water puppet theater.
But the big shopping centers with the Gucci stores are just one side of Hanoi. There are other colorful markets as well and you can see weird things.
Our first day trip in the north of Vietnam was to the wonderful Hai Long Bay.
The scenery is really incredible and there were activites like seeing an oyster farm, kayaking, visiting caves and hiking on the top of one of the hills.
Our second trip was longer including some night trains and a homestay in Sapa where we started our exploration with a hike through the hills. 16km might not sound too much but it was up and down all the time and our phones told us that we’ve went up an equivalent of 68 floors of stairs through the day. Mentioning that both of our guides were pregnant in the 7 month you’ll get an idea of how strong Vietnamese women are.
In Sapa their is also the more than 3100m Fansipan wich can be reached with a cable car. At the top there is a really wonderful scenery if you get good weather (we were lucky).
Climbing up all the stairs from the top cable car station is wonderful with all the statues and temples.
Being back in Hanoi we also visited the Vietnam military history museum (no recommendation) and made our way through the city. While we were having a chilled dinner in a coffee with an Italian friend suddenly we heard a train making some noise, coming nearer and nearer and finally getting us thrilled.
Before leaving Lotte and Lutz needed to go up to floor 65 of Hanois Lotte Tower since we didn’t made it to Lotte Tower in Seoul. The views were beautiful:
But walking the glass floor is kind of an experience and a thrill as well.
Kohl World 