The hotel on water

10 Jan 2026: Hanoi- Ha Long Bay

Standard hotel buffet breakfast. Banana, bacon, crepe, yogurt, spring roll, sausage, grilled pork, croissant, and Shanghai bok choy. The dining hall had a nice view of the Ha Noi skyline and some citrus plants on their balconies.

The bus picked me up at the hotel. It was a few hours to Ha Long Bay. Here are some photos I took on the way to our cruise. We waited on the dock for our ship to board. There were quite a few ships ready for their passengers.

After we boarded I went to my cabin. I wasn’t expecting much but got a pleasant surprise. My room was one of 2 suites on the cruise. And the other suite was vacant. The suites have access to a joint front balcony deck. Since I was the only one in both suites, I had it all to myself. There were 4 loungers and plants to enjoy the stunning views.

We cruised out of the port and headed to the bay. Lunch was right away. The cruise director told us the plan for the over night cruise. I finished lunch and headed back to my room to enjoy the warm sunny weather and the views of the mountainous Island passing by.

Early afternoon we were off to experience a bamboo boat. We went into a cave that opened up into a hidden pool. We saw some monkeys and some birds flying above as the tourists in the bamboo boats and kayaks enjoyed the views.

After this nice excursion, we headed back to the boat.

Our itinerary.

Here is a picture of our itinerary. It may not seem full, but there was always something to do, and more than what was listed. They switched the cave visit and mountain climbing so we climbed on the second day. I passed on the sunset party but had dinner and stayed for some entertainment. Entertainment was the crew and guests singing karaoke. There was a corporate group of 20 Indian men and they had some liquid courage and helped fill some time.

Back on the boat I took some photos of the setting sun and other boats. We then had dinner. Dinner was nice as it was the only set meal on the cruise. The buffets are nice but I like a set meal once and a while.

The final event for the day was to get up at 2AM to watch some squid fishing. I valued my sleep too much to participate so I stayed in bed.

Meeting interesting people

09 Jan 2026: Lao Chai- Ta Van village- Sapa- Hanoi

Breakfast

The standard hotel buffet style you see a lot in Vietnam. You will be seeing a lot of it on this tour. This morning I grabbed some bacon, hashbrowns, a biscuit, ham, rice, tomatoes, and cucumber. I have a bowl of beef Phở before I added any broth.

I ate and my tour guide will pick me up for trekking at 8AM. We will be walking through the hills and villages of Lao Chai- Ta Van village.

This was a little tough on the knees. At the end of the day I walked 20km and up and down a considerable amount. Thankfully it was mostly down. There was only me, a Singaporean woman, and the guide on the trek. The guide was from the local tribe. She had some stories about her people but what I found more interesting is the personal stories she told. She was married at 16, and had her first of 2 children at 17. She is now 26. She does this walking tour about 25 times a month in the summer which is their high season. She said it is very pretty with the green or golden rice patties during the summer. I would still prefer going during the winter if it means I can avoid the cold Canadian winters.

I really enjoyed the walk, resulting in a large number of photos.

Near the end of the hike we had lunch at the last village on the trek. Our table had a great view. Rice, tofu, spring roll, vegetables and salad. We finished of the meal with a nice hot chocolate.

After lunch we took a little drive back to the hotel. There was a an hour or two before the drive back to Hanoi. I went for a walk to explore Sapa since I didn’t have much time to explore the town itself.

I wondered to the edge of a sidewalk. This hotel opened up below me. Parts of this town are very vertical.

I got back to the hotel and we started our drive to Ha Noi shortly after. I took many van “Limos” on this journey. They are comfortable, but the TV rarely works and the massage function and USB charging ports on the chairs are sometimes turned off. There is more room on these than a bus and I enjoy being a passenger over the driver on these long drives overseas.

Back to the same hotel, different room.

My coldest city in Vietnam

08 Jan 2026: Ha Noi- Sapa- Cat Cat village

I was given a breakfast take away for my 6:45AM drive to Sapa. Luxury Limo (captain chair, high top passenger van) to Sapa. On the way I took a picture from the rest stop parking lot where I ate my take away breakfast.

12h30 I arrived in Sapa at my hotel, lunch time. Pumpkin soup with rice.

Here is a tour of my hotel room on the outskirts of the city, with a great view of the mountains.

Shortly after checking in and having lunch, the tour guide picked me up in a 14 seat van to visit Cat Cat village. I was the last one on the van as the village was only down the hill from my hotel. This is a very touristy location, but it is very pretty and had lots of local character.

Here are some clips.

This is the fast way down the hill.

From my tour group of about 8 people, I made friends with a couple from Mumbai, and 3 older aunties from Manila. As you can see, the mountain fog started to roll in in as the sun was going down.

For dinner I had - Rice, Mango Smoothie, tofu with vegetables, and soup.

I spent the night in the hotel in Sapa. I was glad I turned on the heat in the room before I went on my tour of Cat Cat village. The room was about 13*C when arrived, but comfy when I finished my dinner. The windows are single pane and there was a significant draft near them. The blackout curtains helped keep the cold out. It was 3*C that night. The balcony doors here are the same as the rest of Vietnam. There are air gaps all around the door. No weather stripping. And the unoccupied units are not heated. This combination leads to a cold floor.

I have a big hike scheduled for early tomorrow so i watched some Netflix and went to bed.

My first night in Hanoi

07 Jan 2026 - I landed in Hanoi after an uneventful flight. I had a scheduled driver pick me up at the airport and take me to the hotel. It was a quiet evening for me as I just wanted to eat, sleep, and prepare for the adventure ahead. Here is what my room looked like. The place where I stayed was a small boutique hotel. I chose this type of experience so I am sure I will see more similar hotels.😀

This hotel is also a spa. I didn't partake, but I wanted to keep a record of the prices.

And here is my meal for the evening. I ordered a meal from grab(like ubereats) from a healthy restaurant. After eating, I updated people with my travel progress and watched some Netflix before bed.

On my way

I learned my lesson from last week. No more early flights. Getting up at 4AM is too difficult. I am not in a rush. I might as well take a later flight where I can, in order to get a good night's sleep the night before.

So here we are. Finally on the 3 week long tour of Vietnam. I am flying into Hanoi and exploring all the major cities and tourist spots in January 2026. I will get to experience the coldest part (northern mountains) in their winter and travel southward on bus, train, limo, sleeper bus, cruise ship, canoe, and many other variations of local transport. I expect to see many new and exciting things, experience new foods, and meet new people.

PS. I tried to take pictures of all my meals and the rooms I stayed in. Although I might have missed some, please enjoy.