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1Day in Hanoi
We come into Hanoi Late the Nite before our Party. Does anyone have a recommendation for about 4-6 hours of a tour or place to go on the day before the tour starts. We think Halong Bay may be too much if jet lag sets in.
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We on this trip in October. You'll have a great time. We, too, arrived a day early though we were at the hotel by noon and could recover a bit that afternoon. And, we went to Halong Bay the next day. So, its possible, but (for the benefit of others who might still be planning their trip), if we did it again, we'd add an extra day and overnight on Halong Bay.
The other factor here is that the "standard" day trips to Halong Bay leave 8:30 or so and will not get back in time for the welcome reception and dinner. We arranged a private trip through our TA (not really that expensive...costs are still low in Vietnam), so we could arrange the schedule and left at 7 for a return by 5:30.
So, no advice on your free day in Hanoi...the tour does a good job of the major sites.
I will note that, for us at least, the major time zone shift (we're from the East Coast) actually affects us less than heading to Europe. I think our bodies are so confused that it doesn't equate to getting up super early.
Finally (sorry for the apples and oranges in this reply): Anghor Wat at dawn should not be missed. This isn't a standard part of the tour, but our TD arranged this as a small cost ($15/pp as I recall) option with the local guides who showed up with a van for the 6 of us wise enough to trade some sleep for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.