6 Days in Vietnam Itinerary

I’m absolutely so ecstatic to start sharing my 6 days of adventure in Northern Vietnam for its unique culture and majestic bays.

Day 1: March 24, 2025

Stayed 3 nights at Hanoi La Mejor Hotel & Sky Bar located in the heart of Hanoi.

Had a well deserved night out in Hanoi (Old Quarter) where I tasted local street food (prices ranges from $0.20 to $1.00 USD), sipped on $0.49 USD local beer, saw a train passing through a narrow street, and mingled with wonderful locals as well as others on vacation.

Day 2: March 25, 2025

I’d experienced a colorful morning at📍Quang Phu Cau. It’s a traditional “Incense Village in Hanoi, Vietnam,” that is located about 1 hour from the Old Quarter.

The incense looks almost like bunches of flowers at first glance, but the scent smelled like Black Opium perfume by Yves Saint Laurent. ❤️

After clicking some dreamy pictures, I then visited a local factory to learn about the technique of creating traditional incense sticks.

These incense are utilized in a lot of Vietnamese religious rituals and festivities just like in my culture – the Guyanese 🇬🇾 community.

The process is very manual and labor intensive and goes like this👇🏾

➡️Involves bamboo cutting

➡️Bamboo sticks are sorted and stacks are made in even sizes

➡️Quality control is done on the length of the sticks, the ones that are too long are pulled out by hands (done like 10 to 15 times) the strength of the sticks are tested by the machine. The ones that break fall off the machine and are used for other things.

➡️The coloring process is so quick that it made me dizzy.😵

➡️The coating process is the final step where the sticks are layed out to dry.

I enjoyed taking part in the coating process and sort of break the machine, so a professional had to oil the machine several times back to life so I could continue the process y’all…this is hard work…omg!!!😌

Ended up passing through📍Ninh Bình (a providence in Vietnam) was a simple life experience.

In my brief time there, I had a simple Vietnamese lunch with others on vacation. Then took a simple boat ride with two Vietnamese locals.

Day 3: March 26, 2025

Ah yes, and I shared the afternoon with a local visiting places related to the Vietnam war and to see how Vietnam has turned the way it is today.

Our 1st stop: Hoa Lo prison museum was a prison used by the French colonists for political prisoners, and later by North Vietnam for U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. Also known to American Prisoners of War as the “Hanoi Hilton”.

RIP to American 🇺🇸 John McCain – captured by the North Vietnamese and was a prisoner of the war. A true hero, I personally consider him a brave American with compassion and loyalty for his fellow servicemen.

Our 2nd stop: We walked through Hanoi’s Black Market (bootleg market). Y’all this was a thing during World War II.

And I spent time with a Vietnamese family learning about their culture and way of living. (Please listen to the video audio)

Because I really appreciate the openness to different cultures all over the world this experience left me feeling rich culturally.

Day 4: March 27, 2025

And my two day journey of📍Ha Long Bay started in Ninh Binh (Northeast of Vietnam). I wanted to first appreciate this new seven natural wonders of the world on land…I must say this experience did something beautiful to me. ✅

Stayed a night at Tamcoc Galaxy Villa, where I was able to immersed myself in such charming cultural landscape, fresh air, relaxing pool time, authentic Vietnamese food, and such fantastic company.

Happily explored📍Ha Long Bay on land in Ninh Binh with other travelers from Germany,

We hiked up to the top of Hang Mua. The real treasure is the view from the peaks. We climbed about 500 steps to the “Check-In Tower” peak, very famous instagram photo spot. The views are spectacular and spiritual…good time to use your imagination…

We then took a boat ride down to the river and under the mountain cave. The views were absolutely stunning with the lush mountain that was peaceful with beautiful formations inside the caves.

We also visited the Bai Dinh, it’s the largest Buddhist complex and pagoda (tall religious Buddhist temple/building) in South Asia. It’s stunning in the ancient section and there you can interact with monks. A Chinese monk greeted me with a “Namaste” 🕉️ and spiritual beads…

Although it was super hot, I absolutely enjoyed drinking salt coffee. It’s a typical Vietnamese habit I happily inherited during my vacation in North Vietnam.

Day 5: March 28, 2025

And the highlight of my vacation was floating on Ha Long Bay for a day and night on a luxurious yacht.

Ha Long Bay is one of the new seven natural wonders of the world that reminds me of Milford Sound in New Zealand 🇳🇿.

What a beauty that when I see this splendor without human hands in which nature is the queen!! Even the stones live as I dreamed. With extreme stillness I could hear the flight of birds and the rise of the moon. And so many floating islands made me wonder why couldn’t I be an island too? In an instant it seems like I was a parallel dimension where time has stopped and I inhaled a distant green smell! 🤫! It’s a magical place and the legend of the dragon is amazing…I got tipsy and used my imagination way too much…🫣

***Best coffees with a view on Ha Long Bay***

Day 6: March 29, 2025

On my last day, I very much enjoyed some egg coffee, authentic Vietnamese breakfast and appreciate the view of Ha Long Bay with a new American friend and our adorable Vietnamese waitress friend.

***Posing with our Vietnamese waitress***

Then made it back to the old quarter in Hanoi (the drive was 4.5 hour) for an authentic Vietnamese dinner and those $0.49 USD local beer before heading to the airport.

Had such an amazing vacation in Northern Vietnam learning about its history, jaw dropping nature beauty, food and such friendly locals I will forever remember.