I was sharing with our ang mo bud Matt that itinerary preparation-wise, we’d been pretty chill, relatively when compared to the large amount of planning for last December’s Japan trip, for this 10 day trip to Hanoi. It’s probably in equal parts to that half of this trip’s duration would be centered on two tours that we’d booked: a 3D2N in Halong Bay, and another 2D1N to Nimh Binh, and the tour operators would be taking care of the itinerary for us. And also that given the humid weather we were expecting in Hanoi, we were pretty ready to play it safe and chillax in our hotel if the heat turned out to be unbearable.
The flight timings via Singapore Air to Hanoi is pretty favorable for travelers getting to Hanoi from Changi Airport: flights depart at 9:05AM, and land into Hanoi at 11:30AM local time – and our return flight would be in the late afternoon, and land in Singapore late night. Our flight was uneventful – certainly compared to the oh-my anxieties we had last December when our pilot told us that the plane was facing technical issues just before it took off – with some very minor turbulence.
The immigration clearance at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport was fantastic: very fast – dare I say it, as quick as Changi – with baggage claim taking just a mite longer. Interestingly, there were no immigration cards to fill up prior to arrival, which the daughter observed dryly, remember the nightmare we had with all manner of Covid clearances and declarations to show when we arrived at Nagoya’s Chubu Centrair International Airport. After exiting into the arrival hall, we did a quick stop to pick up an additional Data Sim card – VND350,000 for unlimited data – and then headed to the arrivals pick-up queue to link-up with our ride. Our transfer from airport to our hotel in the old quarter had been booked under Klook and cost SGD22, and the ride took 40 minutes.
I’d do a separate post at the end of this trip about our stay: the San Grand Hotel, but the short version of it is that hospitality is great, the rooms are comfortable, the room view is non-existent, and the location is right smack in the old quarter.
Our first impressions of the old quarter are: very lively, a little noisy, a little chaotic, but full of charm and character. There are lots of shops selling all manner of apparel, handicraft, fresh produce, and many, many cafes, eateries, and hotels: all tightly compacted in a network of intersecting roads. The traffic during off-peak hours isn’t too bad, but at peak hour traffic, can get a little intimidating! We spent an hour exploring the Old Quarter after lunch in pretty laid back fashion, since we have at 3-4 more other opportunities to explore the old quarter at our own leisure.
Pictures!
Continued in the next post: exploring Hoan Kiem Lake!