December 3, 2025

Hanoi nights and Sapa days

Chiara Di ASIA, TRAVEL Hanoi, Hiking, Homestay, Sapa, Street Food, Vietnam, Wander 0 Comments

It was wonderful to be back in one of my favourite countries – Vietnam – for a short wander of Hanoi and Sapa.

As most would know, I love food, especially eating with the locals. So this wander, I booked myself on the Michelin Street Food Tour in Hanoi. The Michelin ratings of Vietnam are based on the authenticity of the street food and being suitable for both locals and visitors. We met our adorable guide Dora at the tourist office and I was joined by other visitors from Australia, the UK, USA and Spain.

Our first stop was for vermicelli noodles with fried eel (Chả cá Lã Vọng). We had both a soup and salad (dry) dish. For the salad, Dora advised us to mix the vermicelli noodles into the sauce at the bottom, and add a squeeze of cam quốc. The soup dish takes five hours to broth. The dish is derived from central Vietnam and eel is farmed in the muddy fields of the rice patties. It wasn’t to everyone’s liking but I didn’t mind it.

Our second stop was for a local Hanoi delicacy – Bún Chả. It’s a sweet soup dish with grilled pork meatballs and pork belly. Add in your rice noodles and herbs, and enjoy the flavours – definitely the most flavoursome dish of the night!

The third stop was for the internationally recognised dish, phở! We’d had our pork fix, so it was chicken phở for us. A lot of love is put into the dish with all seasoning and broth handmade.

Our fourth and final stop was our dessert stop, specifically Vietnamese coffee. It’s such a culture in Vietnam! Our journey to the coffee shop was through a clothing store and up a few flights of narrow stairwells. What was waiting at the top? Amazing views overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake. I tried the infamous egg coffee – a creamy dessert in a cup. It was very nice, although very sweet. I didn’t finish it, but mainly because I needed a good nights sleep.

It was then time to farewell new friends and head to the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre show. I opted to watch it without audio translations and it was very entertaining following along the Vietnamese narrations. The puppets wore traditional dress and were very theatrical, I almost forgot they were being managed by people. They were swimmers, rowers, horse riders, fighters, as well as sea creatures and dragons. The narrations were complemented by the playing of traditional instruments. The 45-minute show was just the right amount of time.

I was then off to Sapa for a two day, one night hiking adventure. I was picked up by my luxurious limousine bus at 7am. The bus was equipped with comfortable reclining massage chairs (massage was only a feature of the bus on the way to Sapa) with head pillows, water and wifi. It can seat up to nine people but it was just me and two Americans.

We were then on our six-hour journey to Sapa. It was quite a smooth low traffic journey once we were out of Hanoi. We stopped a couple of hours in for a toilet and snack break along the highway. It’s a must to have Vietnamese dong on you as there is a charge to use the toilet and an expectation to tip your guide and driver. It was also my breakfast stop so I grabbed a coffee and some snacks for the road – I think the Vietnamese definitely have a sweet tooth!

Our next stop was 90-minutes later in Coc San just outside of Lao Cai where I tried chestnut cake.

Then it was a windy drive up the mountain on a very busy road, overtaking lots of trucks and buses on single lanes. The scenery made it all worth it.

I was dropped into Sapa where I was met by a local guide and walked to lunch, enjoying my first spring rolls of the trip. The pastry is definitely different here – thinner and oilier. I also had honey grilled chicken and rice. It came sizzling and was another sweet, flavoursome dish.

I wandered around Sapa town and then met my guided hiking group and local guide Pam, for our 9km hike to our homestay. I was able to bring my full-sized suitcase (transported by vehicle) as I was in between accommodations in Hanoi, however it seemed most travelled with an overnight bag.

Pam’s English was basic and had been learnt from tourists when she started guiding, so we didn’t get too much commentary along the way. We hiked along the pathways around the beautiful landscapes of rice fields and mountains. Despite being blessed with sunny weather, parts of the track were quite muddy – I did have one slip and slide! I wouldn’t recommend the hiking experience if you don’t like hiking in nature or getting dirty – we had a few in our group who weren’t too impressed.

We were followed and helped along by three women from the local tribe who were lovely but had intentions to sell us locally made bags, purses and scarves when we arrived at their village. We hiked for two hours from Sapa town before getting to the first official village, Y Linh Ho. Then we were onto the second village Lao Chai and finally Ta Van where our homestay was.

It was dark by the time we arrived at our homestay so we couldn’t see it in its true beauty. It sure was a beautiful sight in the morning surrounded by gardens and mountains. My bungalow was quite nice – spacious and clean, although it did get quite cold.

The night got progressively colder – I could finally put my puffer jacket to use! I was also delighted to uncover my bed had an electric blanket which was very much a luxury. Although this made for a cosy cabin, it wasn’t the best sleep with the neighbouring roosters crowing all night.

After breakfast the next day, we were off on our final hike to Giang Ta Chai village, through the bamboo forest and past the waterfall. We took the ‘difficult’ way there along the unsealed path and the ‘easy’ way back along the road. There were many more muddy areas today causing a few slips.

We were back at the homestay for lunch where I had my pre-ordered fried noodles with chicken and a coconut. We then farewelled Pam and transferred back to Sapa town where I met my limousine bus for the six-hour journey back to Hanoi, with two stops once again.

It was a beautiful experience in Sapa – nice to be in nature and enjoying the simple things – and somewhere I would wander again for longer next time.

As it was Saturday night, on my return to Hanoi parts of the Old Quarter were closed to cars, so the transfer driver dropped me as close as he could to my hotel. Wheeling a suitcase amongst the scooters, crowds, night markets and uneven roads and paths sure was an experience!

After checking in and freshening up, I headed out for my last dose of phở – this time beef! I found another great street food option and enjoyed it with my last Hanoi beer. I capped off the night with a foot massage (much needed after the hikes) and rolled mango ice cream.

It was another fabulous Vietnam wander – I’m coming home very full and still calling it my favourite country.

Next up is a festive family wander to Bali – excited to be finally catching a flight with my nephews!

Until then…

LWL xxx