Hanoi - Day Hai

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So, after an early nite, we got up early - it's winter in Hanoi, which means the sun comes out a little later, but sets a little earlier as well. If we were to maximize our time, we'll have to be early.

Turns out that Vietnamese start their day early. By the time we got up at around 7 am, the streets have sprung alive.

On Day 2, the idea is to just walk about Hanoi ... wandering around the Old Quarters, and eventually ending up in the French Quarter, and attending the Water Puppet theater show.

The Old Quarters is about 2000 years old, and was previously a walled compound housing merchants in Hanoi.

The streets are named according to the goods sold on that street, and usually starts with 'Hang', which means good. So, Hang Gai is Hemp Street. Hang Thiec is Tin Street, Hang Bo is where the baskets are sold. Read all about it here. There are more than 36 streets like these selling all sorts of things - it's so nice to just get lost and wander around this whole area.

What's interesting in the Old Quarters?

Well ... Hanoi traffic would be a good start. It's chaos. There's no system. There are no rules. You cross the road when you want. You walk wherever you like. 6 way junction? No problem ... just HONK and keep going. It's madness !!! But it makes the place so full of honks and adventure ...

The amount of different goods sold ...


Preserved and restored buildings - 87 Ma May is a good example ...


Street vendors and street food ...


We eventually wandered out of the Old Quarters to Hoan Kiem Lake (Lake of the Returned Sword), and visited the Ngoc Son temple, which sits in the middle of the lake.


And after that, we wandered into the French Quarters, where the roads are wide, and buildings look ... French. The Opera House looks n i c e .. albeit a little aged !!


One thing you have to do in Vietnam is to try out the food. It's REALLY good.


We had Vietnamese Drip Coffee (take your strongest espresso, multiply that 10 times, and you get Vietnamese Drip Coffee), baguettes (really good), spring rolls (ultra good) ... heck, just about anything we tried was really good.


And at night, the Water Puppet show is totally recommended ...

There are up to 4 shows a night, and the tickets are more expensive for front row seats, which I highly recommend. The shows are totally hilarious, and very well choreographed. The theater is just next to Hoan Kiem lake ...