On early Sunday morning, we left Hanoi for our eight country of the trip–Japan. But not before enjoying a bit more of the chaotic beauty of Vietnam’s capital city. We all really enjoyed Hanoi and left eager to explore more. It was vibrant and lively and everyone is very kind and friendly. In our final few days in the city, we tried to hit a few of the touristy spots that we had heard about through other travellers–the spot where Barack Obama and Anthony Bourdain shared a meal, train street and a food tour–as well as some of the major sites. We bumbled our way through, with some experiences being a success and others falling short, but that is what life is all about it!

On Thursday evening we set out with the intention to eat at “Bún chả Hương Liên”, the restaurant featured on  the TV show Parts Unknown. Unfortunately, we arrived too late and it was already closed for meals. But they kindly let us in to take some photos. From there we walked a bit to a restaurant that turned out very bad, making me even more sad that we had missed out on this one.

On Friday, we headed to check out Hanoi Train Street, where a passenger train passes through a very narrow corridor of houses/cafes on either side. It is incredibly crowded and you need to find a spot at a cafe in order to be a part of the insanity. The whole thing is a bit overwhelming! We ended up sitting at a part where there are buildings on one side and a small fence on the other, so not as picturesque as other sections, but still pretty crazy. The shop owners know exactly what needs to be moved and when, so there was never a time we felt unsafe. It was just so crowded!! Still pretty cool to see.

Then the girls and I took these rickshaws on a short tour of the city. When it started to rain, they were prepared!

On Saturday morning, Steffen and I snuck out for an epic three-hour food tour where we ate so much delicious food! We had met a British couple while in Ninh Binh and they gave us the contact information for a man who runs food tours. It turned out to be a private tour, which was really nice! We went to several spots hidden throughout the Old Quarter which was cool in itself. At some point we wove through an alley into someone’s living room that they have since converted into a small restaurant. It was a great experience, and the girls were very happy to have missed it when I told them my favorite dish was Miến Lươn (a traditional Vietnamese noodle dish where “miến” refers to glass noodles and “lươn” means eel) with deep-fried eel. So good!

Then on Saturday afternoon we attempted to see some of the sites of Hanoi but that didn’t go great. We got a late start because of the food tour. We headed west towards the park where Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum is and West Lake. Unfortunately it was quite hot and humid and we weren’t in a great mood when we arrived. Also, some of us didn’t have the appropriate clothes on, so we couldn’t enter. So we just walked a bit more, taking in some of the government buildings in the area, looking at the lake and eating a delicious ice cream. We decided to hop on the Big Bus Tour in hopes of getting a glimpse of different parts of the city without the sweating walking. And we did get to see some things but it was late and there was a misunderstanding so we ended up doing the same loop twice instead of two different loops. And by the time we made our second loop, it was dark and very cool to see the city lit up.

Then all day Sunday was a travel day with two flights (Hanoi to Hong Kong and then Hong Kong to Tokyo) with a tight connection that had us running through the airport and begging employees to let us go to the front of the security line. It all worked out and we landed safely in Tokyo and easily got to our hotel. The girls were thrilled to see some Christmas decorations in the lobby!