Bro MIFAcafe (1st trip) and I (2nd trip) spent 5D4N in Hanoi recently...
Our impression of Hanoi...
1. can be boring place compared to HCM...maybe we dun know the place that well...
2. more expensive compared to HCM in terms of food, transport, etc...
3. gals are same...no such thing as Northern gals more prettier or cleverer compared to Southern gals
4. uncle Ho still speak fluently here and friendly if you can show more
we wanted to visit Halong Bay but due to the Cyclone affected some areas...the city of Halong declared the city as closed to tourists...
NOTE - the above is just IMHO...