A crazy, wonderful dream...

I knew basically what to expect from Thailand: amazing food, friendly people, and gorgeous scenery. But Vietnam was unknown territory. My only plan was to take the airport minibus to a hostel I had heard good things about and take it from there. When I arrived at Hanoi Backpackers' Hostel I was blown away. The whole vibe of the place was just... perfect. I checked into a dorm room on the 6th floor and immediately met tons of awesome people. Everyone I met was friendlier than the one before. The hostel has superb drinks and a killer menu to choose from. The 5th floor has a small bar, internet, a pool table, couches, and bean bag chairs galore to relax on while watching movies on the giant flat screen TV. I can't rave about it enough. Hands down the best hostel I have ever been to. Oh, and this hostel is on Ma May street, be careful if you want to come here... there are two in Hanoi and the other one is not as cool. :)

It's been a couple weeks since my trip and everything is starting to run together, but I'll try my best to give day-by-day highlights...

Day 1: This day consisted of walking all over Hanoi just exploring and getting used to the crazy traffic and the constant, headache-inducing honking. I saw some pretty rivers and lakes and had a great time hanging out with new friends.

We had wonderful meals. I got stir-fried spinach with garlic and I literally could not believe how flavorful it was. A quick Google search leads me to believe the name of this succulent dish is called rau muống xào tỏi.

At night we went to a bar called Cheeky Quarter that was okay, but found some fun places to dance like Bucket Bar.

Day 2: The next day there was a barbecue at the hostel. While everyone else got burgers I was still craving Vietnamese fare so I opted for a vegetarian restaurant called Tamarind. I ordered the waitress' recommendation, vegetarian phở (noodle soup). It was really refreshing. I had missed cilantro!

That night I saw a live "Water Puppet" performance. I can honestly say that it was the most unique piece of theater I have ever seen. The music was gorgeous... definitely worth a visit, if just for the novelty.

Day 3: Today was the day to relax! I mostly hung out at the hostel, played pool, and watched movies. Just what I needed! I had a really good fish stew that was popular in the area we were in. I believe it was called Chá Cá. MMMmmm!

Day 4: I wandered over to Hoa Lo Prison which used to detain Vietnamese people during French occupation. It was okay, if you're on a tight schedule I'd skip this one. For lunch I went to a vegetarian place that specialized in faux meats called Com Chay Nam Tam. I highly recommend this place! They had a bunch of different course menus to choose from. Everything was prepared so elegantly. Definitely worth a try!

Day 5: Halong Bay!! We took two double-decker boats out out to Halong Bay and kayaked, swam, explored a cave (bats included!) and had an all around unbelievably fun time. I went with Hanoi Backpackers' Hostel and they really made it a fun night for all. Also, I would highly suggest going for 3 days / 2 nights. One night wasn't enough!

Day 6: The boat ride back from Halong Bay was stunning! I didn't want to leave. I got back to the hostel and had a nice, relaxing evening with my friend Lauren. We ate at a restaurant called Aubergine where I had the sesame encrusted eggplant. So good!

Day 7: I woke up and did a little shopping before spending a couple hours at Chùa Bồ Đề Orphanage in Hanoi. This was without a doubt one of the most rewarding things I did on this trip. The kids were lovely and cute and it felt so nice to be able to put smiles on (some of) their faces!

The baby that never smiles

That night a bunch of people from the Halong Bay trip went out for a lovely meal. I ordered a roll-your-own-fish-wraps thing that was amazing! It was a huge platter of rice paper, Vermicelli noodles, vegetables, breaded fish, and fresh dill and cilantro, along with other spices. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Day 8: Museums galore! Out first stop was Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. It's only open from 8am until 10:30am so we got an early start. His well-preserved dead body looked like a wax figure. It felt very strange to be ushered along with guards standing at full attention. If you whispered or moved to slowly, they'd show their authority by giving you a stern look... scary! But at least the time in the Mausoleum was a welcomed few minutes of air-conditioning in a city I was constantly sweating in. Then we walked around a bit before heading to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. Part dear leader, part modern art; interesting for sure!

We looked around the Temple of Literature for a bit before heading to lunch. We ate at KOTO that was highly recommended by many guidebooks. I had a falafel (Pretty sure this was my first non-Vietnamese food the whole trip). The falafel was pretty good, but the amazing thing was my mint-ginger drink. Heavenly!

After lunch we were off to the army museum. Blah, blah weapons, blah blah. But there was cool plane wreckage that actually looked like art and great views of Hanoi from the hexagonal tower. Although we initially wanted to check out the museum of Ethnology I felt like if I saw one more display case I'd go a little crazy. So we headed back to the hostel.

After walking around all day our appetite was ready for some extra fancy dinner. We went to "Green Mango" which seemed like I left Vietnam and came to a lush restaurant in a posh city for a while. Entrees ranged from $8 for simple pasta dishes, to $25 for filet mignon. We went all out. It was my last night in Vietnam after all. Lovely evening...!

The last days: I headed to the airport for my flight to Kuala Lumpur for what was supposed to be a 9 hour layover. I had fun exploring the city, eating yummy noodles, seeing the Petronas Twin Towers, and checking out Reggae Bar again! Transportation took longer than anticipated when I headed back to the airport so I missed my flight and had to spend one more night in KL but didn't do much. The next day I was back in Korea recovering from an epic trip!