It was so nice to meet up with our Creative Photo Academy group in the Seoul airport for the flight to Hanoi. We got into Hanoi at night and went straight to our hotel. After some good sleep, it was time to explore! Our first day in Vietnam was a rainy one, but honestly, I think it made my pictures that much better!

The first day was a walking tour of Hanoi – specifically, the Old Quarter of Hanoi, which is also where our hotel was. We walked through the streets to a market. The market was probably one of the best photo opportunities, especially since it was raining. The colors of the different fruits and vegetables were so vibrant against the gray, rainy day. It was such an experience walking through the streets and seeing different vendors selling all kinds of things. We sampled so many different fruits that I had never even seen before and they were all delicious!

After the market, we had banh mi sandwiches (which was literally the best sandwich I’ve EVER had) and we had our first egg coffee! After lunch, we walked to Hoan Kiem Lake to see the red bridge and explore the Ngoc Son Temple. Next up was the St. Joseph’s Cathedral. Mike and I chose to go back to the hotel at this point because I was still fighting off my cold and didn’t want to overdo it the first day in Vietnam!

We got some rest and met up with the group for dinner. Afterwards, we made our way to train street, which was probably one of the things I was most looking forward to seeing. Basically, there are train tracks through the city and on either side of the tracks are cafes, restaurants, and bars. People hang out to see the train come through and boy does it come through. We sat down for some drinks and then the owner came over to tell us that the train was getting ready to come through. There’s a flurry of activity as all of the owners are packing up tables and chairs and then THE TRAIN! Honestly, it was gigantic and I definitely could have stuck my arm out and touched it – that’s how close it was! It’s definitely an experience that I will probably never have again and it was a great way to end our first day in Hanoi!