An afternoon is easily spent at Ho Tay, especially if you include a cruise with a tourist boat. Ho Tay is hanoi‘s biggest lake. According to a legend, it was created when a Chinese buffalo mistook the sound of a bell of a pagoda for its mother’s voice and ran away, creating the lake by stepping into a small hollow… I’d say, it must have been a giant little buffalo!!!

• The beauty of Ham Rong Mountain in sa pa, Lao Cai

Ho Tay is a vast area of water, situated in the Northwest of Hanoi. Some of the city’s most expensive hotels are located there, the place to get the best coconut icecream (eaten out of a coconut) – located at the top end of the dike road between Truc Bach Lake and Ho Tay, a 3-storey icecream place , the Highlands Coffee with its chill-out ship and many things more (e.g. pagodas!)…
Btw, combining Ho Tay with a visit to the nearby Ho Chi Minh Museum and Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is useful.

Read more: Top 10 things to do in Hanoi, viet nam

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