Every country always brings certain images in mind. In my imagination the symbol of Vietnam has always been the traditional hat, also known as the conical hat, but I also used to think that it's a bit of the same as the French beret- nobody actually wears them. But boy was I wrong! Everyone wears them in Vietnam. And by everyone I mean the majority of older people. And that's enough for me to reinforce my symbol of this country :).
So Hanoi - our last stop in this marvellous country that against all the prejudice proved to be one of our all-time favourites (and I don't give out my top threes lightly ;)). We really felt like our time in Vietnam ran out too quickly and we found ourselves already planning on our next trip there... Just everything about this industrious country and its people made us want to explore it further. We still wanted to go further north to Sapa and hit some treks, but neither the time nor the weather quite supported it this time around. Also we found the food to be the most delicious out of all the countries we visited throughout our trip- even the most celebrated cuisines like the Thai. Quite frankly I don't really understand the occasional harsh critique towards this wonderful nation, which has so much to offer both geographically and culture-wise.
Anyway back to Hanoi. After all March in ridiculous heat, we knew how to appreciate the cooler +20 C something- we even got the first rain on us since the beginning of the trip. So refreshing. Aside from couple of sights, the thing about this city actually is just to feel it: Chill on one of its countless street food stands (on the mini plastic chairs!), sip the famous "fresh beer", sample different foods or simply just wonder the chaotic scooter traffic that's all around you. I won't even get started with the scooters, that's how crazy it is! I'll leave it for our pictures to tell. And in case all of that is not enough to get in touch with this vivacious town, you can always keep on practising your street crossing skills. Trust me, it is a skill here!
As much as we had loved our time in Vietnam, it was time to move on...to Bangkok! And no matter how good of a time we had had thus far, I just had an itch that Bangkok, if any, could maybe even top that...
The Art of Crossing Streets
Female Enterprises
Calmer Hanoi
Some Sights
Food Alert!
Night falls over Hanoi
{All pictures © Voyages of Discovery}
TIPS & LINKS
Accommodation:
On TripAdvisor here.
- Excellent staff and value for money (hotels are generally cheap in Hanoi and you can get a 3-star accommodation for about 15-20€/ night, and hostels way cheaper)
Rising Dragon Villa
They have several different hotels around Hanoi, but you can find this one here.
- Very good value for money and great service!
Restaurants:
Green Mango
On TripAdvisor here.
- Delicious food, we went there on two consecutive nights! Slightly pricy for local price level but totally worth it (but then again cheap if you think what you would get for that price in Paris!)
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