We arrived on a Friday night in Hanoi the capital of Vietnam. With a round 8 million people, the second biggest city in the country.
We stayed directly in the old quarter, a narrow labyrinth of streets with typical tube houses, old trees framing the streets overarching the small alleys and a lot of people, motorbikes and cars pushing through – an special organic dance. The streets were busy with vendors for all kinds of goods, from food, to drinks, to kitchenware. We directly felt that this country has a different vibe.
After refreshing a bit in our hotel, we went for a little stroll in the night to soak in where we really are. Finishing of with a sweet coconut, our trip to Vietnam has now properly begun.
In the next couple of days we went for a street food tour, Chelsey a student and guide from Hanoi Free Tour Guides took us 4 hours through Hoàn Kiếm, the old quarter, and explained so may different things in terms of dishes, habits and culture. And of course we got to try all different kinds of delicious healthy food.
Also we went to see different kind of attractions like the water puppet theatre, the crazy train street, ancient houses and so much more the city and has to offer.
Vietnamese people are super friendly and helpful greeting us with a smile and we directly felt welcome as a tourist. Almost everyone speaks English and especially in the old quarter the density of foreigner ist super high. Which felt very interesting for me after staying one month in China with hardly any foreign faces around.
The local people are also very social, they meet outside a lot. For every different activity there are specific places to sit and talk so if you’re hungry you only go for a restaurant for food. For desserts you usually go to another place that has all different kind of dessert and for coffee it behaves just the same. So many different places serving all the same things in a different variety it’s just great to see and to taste through all the delicious meals.
Vietnamese food is just great, there’s much more variety to the local cuisine than I just knew from back home in Germany, so many different dishes in terms of veggie, meat and also seafood ways. It’s just amazing and I could eat this delicious and spicy food all day. Prices are low, usually we payed around 20€ and eating out in a very good quality veggie restaurant was 40€ for two people including drinks.
We really liked the bustling atmosphere at first sight so after we went to our trip to Halong Bay area and returned to the city after a week, we immediately felt home, but also felt that there is a lot of noise, a lot of push and a lot of business. Of course, we were super calmed down after the peaceful time in our cruise in Ha Long over lunar new year…
mhh that delicious sweet coconut
Narrow lanes and motorbikes, that’s the old quarter
a typical tube house
Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh
the temple at Hoam Kiem Lake
St. Joseph’s cathedral
the actors or the water puppet theater
a typical picture in Hoan Kiem
busy streets, the motorbikes take over here…
lunar new years decoration
a whole store only selling new years decoration
super busy street market
come look my shop
a happy couple 😘🫶🏼🫠
a tabacco pipe – for smoking
the metamorphosis of old and new
the tiny alley to go to the 2nd and 3rd backyard houses, a bit spooky
delicious la lot leafs wrapped in meat, with all kinds of vegges
she was selling all kinds of lunar new years decoration
Vietnamese ladies dressed up for a photo shot
street vendor selling fruits
that’s the local butcher, hygiene at it’s best
street bbq, somehow they grill on hot stones – wanna eat a sausage?
lobster is also on the menu
as are dogs!
a super delicious desert
egg coffee, a sweet vietnamese delicacy. Egg foam, sweet condensed milk and a shot of black coffee – yummy
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