Hanoi - Day Mot

*Pictures Alert - Give up NOW, dial up users*

Ah ... travelling cheap ...

Me and Taiko had this sudden urge to take a holiday, so we looked up Air Asia, and got ourselves booked for Hanoi. We had no idea what Hanoi was all about, we just thought that getting off the beaten trek will be a rewarding experience. Click on pictures to enlarge.


And rewarding it is .. well .. except the flights, that is. Air Asia operating from the World's Best Low Cost Carrier terminal, the KLIA LCCT, is the best way to do away with any semblance of diginity. This is worse than Subang, no kidding ... I wonder what our great leaders think of this ... they have the Bunga Raya complex - they probably have no idea what it means to travel from LCCT. Hey, leaders, take some flights from LCCT to see for yourself !!!

Enough about LCCT. With only 1 daily flight to Hanoi, we arrived in Hanoi after dark (it's winter there now, it gets dark early - like around 5.30 - 6 pm). Checked into the hotel, and then went out in search of food.

We stayed in what is known as the Old Quarters. This is previously a walled compound where all the merchants stay in. The good thing about this is that the Old Quarters has been largely preserved - narrow streets, old buildings, merchants about their work, and lots of atmosphere. More about it in the next post - we've planned to discover the Old Quarters on day 2.

We found Cha Ca street (Cha Ca means grilled fish) - and were about to try out Cha Ca La Vong, the most famous Cha Ca shop in Hanoi. However, we didn't get the service - we waited at the door for at least 5 minutes and no one bothered to serve, talk or even communicate with us.


So, we crossed the street to Goldenland. Hehehehe ... they serve up pretty mean dishes as well, as you can see ...

After that, we stumbled upon the weekend night market. There's this night market on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night in the Old Quarters. Cool ... not much for the tourist, really - lots of very consumer goods (food, clothes, shoes, etc.) , but great for the atmosphere - and you'll find some good buys every now and then. We bought some little souvenirs.


After that, we headed back to the hotel. Long day ahead the next day - we'll be scouring the Old and French Quarters in Hanoi.

We booked our Halong Bay and Perfume Pagoda tours, and then retired for the night.

Another reason I like Hanoi? I'm an instant millionaire. Exchange rate is RM1 = VND 4600. And Vietnam operates on 2 currencies - you can pay in Vietnamese Dong or US Dollars. We found it better off to pay in Dong - the rates are more reasonable.