Holidays in Vietnam - Hanoi and Halong Bay

Curious about holidays in Vietnam? Today we take you on a "journey" to Hanoi and Halong Bay, which we visited during our trip to Vietnam in June 2007. We can tell you about the advanced art of crossing the streets of Vietnam's capital city. About getting married at the Swedish Embassy in Hanoi. Gliding around among caves and sandy beaches, in the magically beautiful Halong Bay.

The art of crossing a street in Hanoi

Located in the north of Vietnam, Hanoi is the capital of the country. This city is full of crowded neighbourhoods where houses and shops are tightly packed. Some houses are extremely narrow, and we were told that this is related to the expensive price of having a street frontage, the wider the frontage the more expensive it is.

Every single person in Hanoi seems to have a moped, and when we were there we saw the following just everything are transported on mops. On some mops, three generations sat together, and on others, pigs or long metal tubes had been lashed to them, dragging several metres behind the vehicle. On the main streets, five to ten mops in width ran in a never-ending stream, and with no traffic lights to provide gaps ...

How to do it!

How would you go about crossing the street? Well, the tip we were given was to go straight out and at a calm and steady pace, without hesitation, go straight ahead. That way, the mops are forced to drive around you. And yes, even though it was scary, we must say that it worked!

Getting married at the Swedish Embassy in Hanoi

What is it like to get married at the Swedish Embassy in Hanoi? We hadn't told anyone back home in Sweden that we were getting married during our holiday in Vietnam. We had kept it as our little secret... We had organised all the papers from Sweden and booked a time for our ceremony. We checked into a nice hotel in Hanoi and as the time for the ceremony approached, we went to the "Embassy of Sweden".

Do you want the short or the long or the short ceremony? The long one is one minute, and the short one is half a minute.

The Swedish ambassador asked if we wanted the long (one minute) or the short (half a minute) ceremony, and we opted for the long one! The wedding took place in the garden outside the embassy, with the ambassador officiating and a single witness.

Husband and wife

The embassy staff had arranged beautiful flowers in honour of the day, and after the ceremony we were offered bubbles. A wedding in all simplicity, and a very nice memory for us! Are you also interested in getting married at an embassy abroad? If so, you can read on Government Offices which embassies perform marriages.

Honeymoon in Halong Bay

The day after the ceremony in Hanoi, we travelled on to Halong Bay, where we had booked a boat trip in the famous bay. It is perhaps a bit exaggerated to talk about "honeymoon" since we were only here for two days, but if nothing else, this was the start of our honeymoon trip. And Halong Bay certainly fit the bill.

Gliding along in a Vietnamese wooden boat among the magical Sugarloaf Mountains is the perfect way to spend a romantic holiday. The boats move silently on the water and the tall green mountains look like something out of a fantasy film. This has to be one of Vietnam's best places! By the way, just east of Halong Bay is the slightly more unknown Bai Tu Long Bay, which we missed this time, but would love to see another time!

Life on the boat

Life on the Vietnamese sailboat was pleasant and peaceful. We had our own comfortable cabin where we spent a night. On board the boat there was a restaurant where all meals were served by waiters who quietly sneaked around and looked after us. The time between meals was spent on deck enjoying the view, and sometimes the boat stopped for swimming or a visit to a cave.

Continued holidays in Vietnam

After the boat trip in Halong Bay, we continued our journey in Vietnam by flying to Hoi An, which is located approximately in the centre of the elongated country. Hoi An is a really charming little town with an old town centre that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and here we had a really fantastic holiday week with visits to markets, cooking classes, beach life and various excursions. In addition, we sewed nice and affordable clothes at the city's tailor.

See more of Vietnam?

We ourselves have "only" visited Hanoi, Halong bay and Hoi An, but there is of course much more to see and experience in Vietnam. In the south, for example, is the large city of Ho Chi Minh City, which was previously called Saigon. We like to travel here on occasion, for example to see the lively markets, rooftop bars and the famous Cu Chi tunnels. Other attractive destinations include Phu Quoc on the west coast and Nha Trang, Phan Thiet and Mui Ne and Da Nang on the east coast.

In Vietnam you can visit charming fishing villages, see beautiful temples and go on lovely boat trips. You can also enjoy sunbathing and swimming, and if you venture just a little outside the most touristy resorts, it's easy to get a long beach almost to yourself.

Travelling to Vietnam is great all year round, but as the country is long, you should check the weather in different parts before you go. In the north, the winter can get really cold in the evenings. If you're looking for warmth, it's better to travel to this part in the summer, while the south is warm all year round.