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 ...

Hanoi - Day Mot

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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.

Harlo? Hanoi?

Spending a few days in Hanoi as a tourist is the best way to remove all doubts about Hanoi ...


Before I went there, when I told some people I was going to Hanoi for a holiday, I get 1 of 3 reactions ...

(1) From people who know a little about Hanoi, you know, like they know Hanoi is not in Thailand - "What the fuck are you going to do there?", accompanied by a look that was telling me they think I have too much money and should have just given it to them instead of spending time in Hanoi.

(2) From people who know a little more about Hanoi, you know, like that Hanoi is in Vietnam - "What the fuck is there to do in Hanoi?". That's normally followed that look that says they think I need some vacation counselling.

(3) From people who have worked in Hanoi - "Great choice. It'll be great ...", normally said with a twinkle in the eye.


Let me tell you something people - Hanoi is kickass good !!! Kickass as in much better than KL. Kickass as in beating your typical Cameron Highlands vacation. Kickass as in people in Category 1 and 2 above should shut their trap and just let me form my own judgement.

Hanoi is a mix contrasts - busy, narrow lanes filled with chaotic traffic, rural areas so quiet you just hear the oars breaking the water; baguettes in high end cafes, pho on street kitchens.



I heart Hanoi. I'm so going back.

I'll post all about my little trip to Hanoi in the days to come. Watch this space ...

Adios ... !!

Will be swapping the office for some air for a week. Whether the air will be fresh, who knows? But at least it's a change of scenery.


Won't be missing the cubicle at all !!!!