Vietnam Travel Tips

Hanoi’s Travel Issues

Architecture: Old Quarter
All the area around Hoam Kiem Lake is kown as "Old Quarter" and is a charming noisy narrow alley in which you can easily get lost....
In fact, the best way to know the place is to get lost in it!! When you are completely lost, you just hail a motorbike and tell him to take you to your hotel or so. You will find many old shops, souvenirs, restaurants... here.

The red bridge
This small bridge in the middle of the Hoan Kiem Lake joins the banks of the lake to the central island where you can find the Ngoc Son Temple.
It has a certain "japanese" flavour, and gives some excellent photograph opportunities, with that brigh red colour reflecting over the quiet waters of the lake...

Water Puppets
This unique puppet show was first showed in North Vietnam, and the best place to see it is at the Municipal Theatre here in Hanoi.
It is performed at a small pool inside the theatre, from behind a curtain. From there, with long bamboo sticks that go under the water (not visible) they move the puppets from below, making them look as if they were floating on the water.
Everything is in Vietnamese, but as the stories (rural scenes) are so simple and graphical, it is easy to understand it and is a gorgeous & colorful show. There are peasants, brides, fishes, dragons (that spit fireworks!), cats, tortoises...
At the background, there is a local music group that plays traditional music. The show takes about 1 hour.

Snack around
The best thing about Hanoi is snacking around. The food is great, there're lots of things to try and it's cheap. Have fun! All good travelers know there is something of an order effect with regard to how one perceives a particular country. After visiting some countries around, you would find in this country some unique features when coming here.

CNN Coverage & KFC
You may have read that one cannot get any international news on the local televisions, but it’s so wrong. Even a little minibudget hotel actually has CNN coverage! Though McDonalds have not arrived in Hanoi, KFC shops are available almost everywhere here.

Arround the City: Wake up and Smell the Coffee/Cafe Culture
On the streets, whether day or night, you may find pockets of people sitting around enjoying their cup of freshly brewed Vietnamese coffee. Even when it passes midnight, on a deserted street within the Old Quarter, you can still see young people seated on low stools sipping coffee, smoking and chatting quietly.
How tourists love Vietnamese Coffee is the Arabica Beans which are grown in the highlands are hand - roasted with butter and afterwards a touch of vanilla is thrown in. The coffee is strong and robust with a slight bitter aftertaste that lingers on your tongue. Quite delicious when drunk with a spoonful of thick, creamy, sweet condensed milk. You will miss it!

Hanoi Traffic
In Hanoi, the motorbikes overwhelm you with their sheer numbers. They are the kings of the road and it is the cars that need to “tread” cautiously among them. For the young men taking their girls out, the bikes were obviously ideal for hugging in public.
Crossing a busy road, cutting through a seemingly endless stream of bikes is hair-raising as the bikes weave around you at speed.
At this T- junction, you may have to stand for a while, when you can watch seasoned Hanoi bikers & cyclists cut across oncoming traffic of other bikes and bicycles with serene ease.

Keep walking
One thing you will notice the very first day in Hanoi is people do not pay any attention to pedestrians. So, you have to follow some very simple rules if you even hope to cross a street. First, be aggressive. There is always someone on a motorcycle in front of you and you just have to get out in the street and stake your claim. Second, do not stop. This only confuses the drivers. They are quite adept at weaving around pedestrians if you keep walking at an even pace. I rarely saw any accidents so don’t sweat it too much.

Traffic Side-step!
One of the biggest dangers around Hanoi comes in the form of two wheels. It doesn't matter whether they are bicycles, scooters or mopeds, there's thousands of them! The roads in Hanoi can be anything from wide to narrow but they always seem to manage to get a least 2 lanes of traffic on each side.
There are very, very few traffic lights or pedestrian crossings so to get anywhere you simply have to grin, bear it and walk like a local - I'm walking here, this is my road and I own it.
Step out with logic and confidence (not directly in front of a moving vehicle) and simply walk! Two-wheeled vehicles will work their way around you or simply slow up so long as you walk with confidence!

Food & Fruits!
Food and fruits here are delicious, yet also risky. So, remember not to eat and drink on the streets or at small eating shops. Eating chicken or ducks may be risky. Be sure to peel them and remove any parts that may be bad for your health. Drinking may be risky, too: Often the ice cubes used are made of water that has not been boiled. A different kind of "danger" is the fact that when eating in non-touristy restaurants you won't find an English menu. In case you don't like dog meat, for instance, avoid Thit Cho. Vietnamese people eat many animals that are not common in the Western cuisine, so be prepared! Thus, in all, choose a good restaurant recommended by your travel agency or hotels!