Our last full day in Hanoi...

Liz
Jan 24, 2025
5 min read

Updated: Apr 19, 2025

Hanoi, Day 60

So today we plan to explore the southern area from the hotel and make our way to the Vincom Centre which we beleive is a mall. We also have some practical elements to see to and we start with those.

Now, when we first arrived in Bangkok, which seems like a lifetime ago now, I was quite surprised to find out that our Home Exchange hosts did not have either a hairdryer or an iron. I mean, I was expecting to live without straighteners, but I had anticipated the availability of a hair dryer. It was a married couple that we were doing the home exchange with, so I couldn't help but wonder how the woman managed without a hairdryer?? So from pretty much day one, I had to put my hair into a ponytail of sorts, as otherwise it would be a complete mass of hair over my face. However, given the heat in Bangkok, this was probably a good idea as even if my hair was dried and straightened, 5 minutes outside in the Bangkok heat and it would very quickly have transformed into a sticky ball of sweat and frizz!

So whilst that is my excuse for my hairstyle, R is also desperately needing a haircut as his hair is giving him the look of the stereotypical mad professor (or eccentric grumpy old man) look. Also for note, we have long ago run out of hair wax, and there is only so much hair wax that can tame R's limited but lengthening locks. Being conscious of our restricted weight limits for carry-on baggage, we have become rather inventive and discovered that vaseline is a reasonably good substitute for hair wax. However, we are now out of our little vaseline container, so we need to find some more of that as well as get some haircuts.

Within a very short space of time, we find a barber for R, and he is quickly sorted out. Then we look for a hairdresser for me, and again, we find one quite quickly. Whilst both of us are a little apprehensive as to what we will end up looking like (due to a lack of communication), we were pleasantly relieved with the outcomes. My price was about £15 and R's was about £8 and included in mine, although I did not realise it at the time, was a 30-minute head and scalp massage. So there was I getting my hair washed, thinking, when is she going to get me up from here? Had I known to begin with that it would be this long, then I would probably have relaxed and enjoyed it a bit more, but that said, it was very nice and the hairdresser and barber both did a great job considering none of us could communicate other than by hand gestures and some photos!

We also managed to pick up a jar of vaseline (which was a task in itself) but at least that should keep us going until we get home and it's a fraction of the price of the hair waxes here.

Haircuts are all done by about 11.00 am, and as we are making our way towards the southern direction, we realise that the whole area around the Hồ Hoàn Kiếm lake is closed off to traffic, and it's so peaceful and lovely. It's a Saturday, and it seems that this happens at weekends. The whole area is filled with a sort of street market selling various goods, and aside from the photoshoot people, there are lots of families with their little kids riding on kids' mobile vehicles and enjoying the open space. There are even dance groups in traditional dress doing their routines (probably for TikTok or Instagram, of course!). It makes such a huge difference to have this area free from the constant, heavy traffic, the incessant horn beeping and having to play dogems on the road when trying to cross.

On route to the mall, we stop off for a little refreshment and to do some people watching at a lovely little cafe called Laika. Note: I seem to be getting quite addicted to these matcha tea drinks, too! Again, we notice and admire some of the beautiful French-style buildings as we make our way to the mall.

The Vincom Centre mall is the biggest 'normal' type mall we have seen in central Hanoi so far. I'm sure there are more malls on the outskirts, as there is limited space in central Hanoi for these larger style buildings. The shops are similar to what we have found before, but there is no food hall court like you find in Thailand, only the individual restaurants within the mall itself. We have a brief look around and use the toilets (Top Tip: always take advantage of places that have nice toilets!).

After the mall, we make our way towards the Bay Mau lake.

Bay Mau Lake is a freshwater lake located in Thong Nhat Park in Hanoi. The lake's surface area is about 28 hectares, with Thong Nhat Island and Hoa Binh Island in the middle of the lake. The lake is located in an area slightly to the south of the center of Hanoi, within the Hai Ba Trung district.

The lake has two islands: Thong Nhat is a flower garden with a bridge connecting to the gate on Le Duan Street. Hoa Binh Island, near the east shore, is a cool, quiet place for visitors who want to rest. To get to the island, you have to take a boat.

We don't plan on spending too long here as there is not much to see apart from people out with their kids, dogs, fishing or running. There's also a large telecoms structure which looks like a mini version of the Eiffel Tower in this area. As we're walking through the park to make our way back out of it, we do see that there are some sort of theme park items also located here and there is even a little train track that appears to go around the whole lake, which is quite cute.

We stop off at the hotel to drop off our bags and freshen up before we head out back to the Bun Cha place that we visited on our first night in Hanoi and we placed the same order as before and again we were not disappointed. This is one of the tastiest and best dishes we have come across in Hanoi and amazing value for money at a total of ~£8.50 with drinks.