Hanoi Diary - 2025
2025 Jul 16
I finally arrived in Hanoi. The humidity slapped me so hard, reminding me of the Philippine summer I escaped. Here I was, fighting with Vietnam's.
I was greeted by my friends who were waiting outside the homestay. I was so tired, but I was delighted to see them again.
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Coming from Buenos Aires' winter, it was hard for me to breathe. It's probably the weather.
I had dinner (pho), we walked for a bit, and then we went to sleep.
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2025 Jul 17
Still jetlagged, but sleep can wait. We had a long day of walking today.
We had breakfast.
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I did a bit of shopping in Uniqlo
And then, we went to...
St. John's Cathedral
Vietnam is predominantly Buddhist, but it also has Catholic churches. One is located in the heart of Hanoi within the Old City.
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Imperial Citadel
The Imperial Citadel played a vital role during Vietnam's resistance against various dynasties. Today, it stands as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, open to everyone who wants to learn more about Vietnam and its rich history.
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Here's a bunker they used during the war
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Here are some photos of me!
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Hanoi Train Street
One tourist spot we of course wanted to see. We weren't able to see a train passing by, but we did enjoy our cups of coffee and food (pho again)!
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There's a huge chicken!
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2025 Jul 18
It was still hot. I woke up incredibly early, so I bought siopao from Click 5.
And then we went to...
Temple of Literature
This used to be a temple, and then, it became a university for Confucian scholars.
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They carved names of board passers onto stones, which amazes me! It must have taken a long time to do so.
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We didn't have a tour guide, but we were able to eavesdrop on other tour guides and learned that this statue symbolises yin and yang. The phoenix symbolises speed and flying high, and the slow turtle symbolises being grounded.
Here are some photos of me!
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Army Jeep Tour
This is my favorite part of my Hanoi trip.
I saw this while Googling things to do in Hanoi. It looked very interesting, so I didnāt think twice. I just sent a message to the vendor, and right after securing the date I told my friend. Technically, I didnāt give them time to decide if they want to do it.
And it has proven to be worth it. We were guided by Lily and Mr. Long, our driver. For this tour we were driven around Hanoi city. While we drive around important locations, Lily gave us fax about the building about the history of Vietnam about the current events as well. We were so happy because we get to taste a lot of different delicacies from Vietnam for free.
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One of the highlights of this highlights tour is the train from the famous Hanoi train Street. We sat there on the expected arrival time of the train, but Lily explained that the train is usually delayed because itās the only train station that brings passengers from Ho Chi Minh to the central station of Hanoi. The train was delayed for around 40 minutes so we decided to drive around for a bit, and then go back. Because of this, the owner of the coffee shop that we stopped by on Hanoi Street gave us two free drinks. We had coffee, I ordered coconut coffee, and sįŗ„u juice.
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Our tour guide, Lily was knowledgeable about her culture and I know that some people would say āOf course, she is Vietnamese after all.ā But the truth of the matter is not everyone knows the country they live in. Not only did she gave us history lessons, but she also gave us helpful tips in Hanoi. My favourite one being how to cross the street. She said the trick was to raise your hand and the vehicle vehicles will drive slow slowly to let you cross the road.
More shopping...
After the tour, we went to the night market. We bought a bunch of souvenirs for our family and friends, but I had some work to do so I had to convince my friends to go back to the hotel earlier than they would have wanted and I love them for that.
July 19
This is our last day of touring in Hanoi. Our soul itinerary for this day is the Ho Chi Minh Museum.
Ho Chi Minh Museum
Being tired from the night before, we woke up later than we wouldāve wanted. We arrived at the museum at around 10, and since weāre hungry, we went to take a not-so-quick brunch. Once done, we walked to the museum, but after five minutes of wandering, the staff were asking us to leave the vicinity because itās gonna be their lunch break soon. Unbeknownst to us, lunch breaks in Vietnam are taken seriously. The staff informed us that we can use the same ticket to re-enter in the afternoon so thatās what we did. We left and then went back at 2 PM.
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But while we were waiting for the museum to reopen, we roamed around the complex we went to the One Pillar Pagoda.
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And then we went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. We witnessed the cards to a marching ceremony and then after that we took some photos.
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Now we go back to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. The entire first exhibit shows the history of Ho Chi Minh and his contributions to the resistance war against the United States. The entire exhibit (on the first floor) didnāt have an English translation or any other languages in fact so I went through the entire first floor with my phone on my hand, Google translating the texts. It was worth it.
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The exhibition on the second floor is a mixture of Ho Chi Minhās life. From his humble beginnings to his presidency. You will also see contemporary arts from different parts of the world.
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After the museum, we started walking towards the Stilt House, which is also in the complex. The closer we walked towards it, the cloudier and the dimmer the place gets. We were hesitant to continue because it looks like itās gonna rain and it did. When the wind started blowing strongly, we walk quickly towards the exit of the museum.
By the time we crossed the road, the thunderstorm started. In a span of a few minutes, the road was flooded.
It took us some time to book a grab. Understandably, because the rain was pouring heavily. One man, Vietnamese, opened the box of his motorcycle and shared plastic bags with us. It was a black and I think we should have made vests out of it, but we didnāt know how to so we just kept the plastic and used it on later in the day to put clothes in.
We had to walk through the flood to get to the hotel. It was funny because we donāt usually do that back home. We are fortunate to be living in a non-flood prone area in our province, so it must have been super difficult for the locals to be dating with this kind of scenario.
When we got to the homestay, we rested for a bit and waited for the rain to calm down.
More shopping
When did we went back to the night market. We successfully bought the rest of the souvenirs that we wanted from Vietnam. We learned that a lot of vendors are familiar with Filipinos. Some of them already know how to speak Tagalog, (some of them call us Ate and Kuya already) and they were so kind to give us discounts, which made us buy more than we intended to.
In the middle of shopping, I felt a pain in my tummy so I asked my friend to walk with me to KFC. I gave him my card and ask him to order whatever he wants while I go upstairs and do my business. After I was done, I swiftly and briskly run downstairs and I saw my friend outside without anything on his head and he told me that KFC only accepts cash. But the good thing is, I got to poop without going back to the apartment.
July 20
July 20 is our last day in Hanoi. We decided to have our favorite banh mi as our last breakfast in the city. We also went to another coffee shop to try the Vietnamese coffee for the last time in its origin. After we ate, we had an interesting conversation with a couple, an American and a Filipino, who are also traveling in Vietnam for a quick vacation. We talked about the thunderstorm that happened yesterday and the unfortunate incident that happened in Da Nang another city in Vietnam.
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After the breakfast, we packed our things and traveled to the airport to go to Chiang Mai. I just wanted to say how grateful I am for my friends who were carrying my 30 kg luggage down the stairs.
Final thoughts!
That's all the stories from our Hanoi trip. I've made a mental note to not plana trip duirng the summer months of Hanoi. I know it's rich coming from a Filipina with the same type of summer, but that's how you know how real it is. I would also stay at home during summer at home.
Vietnamese people are so lovely and kind! I felt bad that I didn't know enough Vietnamese to get by, but I would definitely do a crash course for travelling to connect with these wonderful people.
I can't wait to visit Vietnam again and eat pho. I'd probably look into travelling to Ho Chi Minh City next time.