In North Vietnam, life is slower and more traditional than a part in the Southern. The city center of Hanoi, the county’s capital, is arranged around a lake that is often misty and quiet.
It is also an artisan's town, and what you'll do there is less destination-oriented, than just wandering, stopping for food along the way. Art galleries are common, and the streets are wide promenades. Still, the relaxed, rural-like pace of Hanoi makes it hard to remember that this is the capital of a country of 80 million, the size of Germany.
Hanoi's "water puppet show," located near Hoan Kiem Lake, is hawked endlessly in backpacker hotels, but tends to underwhelm. And every taxi driver knows the way to Ho Chi Minh's tomb, which can be fun for a photo. But in general, Vietnam is a place to experience daily life in the country. Rather than working through a list of sites, you'll head out of your hotel for a walk through the endless streets banked with roadside restaurants, markets and galleries on every block.
In Vietnam, two trips to rural areas are common, and both are worth the time and effort. The first is to Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a two-hour ferry ride from the country's third-largest city, Haiphong. You can arrange a trip to the area with several tour operators from most hotels in Hanoi. From Hanoi, it's a three-day trip, with some accommodations available on the water in sleeper boats or on land in modest but clean hotels. Days in Halong Bay are spent sailing amid limestone cliffs that rise like immense walls from the middle of the sea. Some are narrower at the base than the top. Climbing is not yet possible, though that is inevitably coming.
Floating villages built on drums are lashed to these cliffs. A boat captain can usually arrange a seafood lunch for $10, plus a tour of these villages, some of which have started to make more money from tourism than fishing. You’ll have the best night sleep of your life.
Once back in Hanoi, the second outing you should consider is a jeep trip for three to six hours into the villages north and west. Spend a night in the highlands, Sapa for instance. Home to people called collectively, if a bit broadly, "the hill tribes," life in this area is culturally different from life below. The people there attract interest for hewing even today to ancient costume and practices. The variation of people in the hills is too vast to list. It's important to arrange a guide who speaks Hmong or any of the other hundreds of dialects.
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