We flew from Singapore to Hanoi with Scoot, which is the low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.
I planned this trip in Vietnam with an agency called Handspan Travel, through which I booked airport transfers, tours in Hanoi, and the cruise in Halong Bay. They were very helpful, and it was thanks to them that we found out our return flight to Singapore had been delayed by a day! Not to mention they helped us with several other things, such as storing our luggage at the agency while we waited for our internal flight. Everything went smoothly; I highly recommend them! In Vietnam, many people don’t speak English, so I think it’s a good idea to take tours with local guides. As well as helping with communication, you learn so much more about the country and its culture.
We were met at Hanoi airport by our lovely guide, Mỹ, and the driver who would be accompanying us for the next few days. They dropped us off at the hotel, and after Mỹ recommended us a few places for lunch/dinner, we arranged to meet the next morning for the ‘Hanoi Orientation’ tour. Read more about this tour in the post Things to do in Hanoi.
I exchanged some Singapore dollars for Vietnamese dong at the Singapore airport before boarding the plane for Vietnam, which came in handy for the first day’s expenses with food and ‘cyclo’ rides – the famous Vietnamese rickshaw where the driver pedals a bicycle with a seat for passengers. After a few days I needed to exchange more money, and Mỹ took us to a money changer with a better exchange rate than the one we got at the Singapore airport.
As soon as you leave the airport, you’ll notice the hundreds of motorbikes buzzing around the city. And when you start walking the streets of Hanoi, you’ll realize you need to learn how to cross the road, which is no easy task. Forget everything you know about crosswalks and traffic lights because they’re useless here. At first I panicked, and was so afraid to step out onto the road that I made the worst mistake you can possibly make: running! We have to walk slowly out onto the road, make sure the motorbikes see us, and signal with our hand for them to go around us. Yes, the motorbikes won’t stop, they’ll swerve around, so it’s important not to run, because in that case, they might not see us, which is indeed dangerous. I got better little by little, and in the last days, I could cross the road without panicking, or at least not too much.
Check out suggestions on where to stay in Hanoi in the post Hotel in Hanoi.
