Hanoi: Day 1

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is where my 5 day journey through the country began.

After landing at the airport, it took my friend and I a grand total of 15 minutes to make it from the plane to outside the terminal. Impressive, Hanoi. We took a bus for 30K dong (a little over USD $1) into Hanoi, and then walked for a bit to our hostel, the Republik Backpacker’s Hostel. There, we were greeted by very friendly staff, a diverse group of travelers, and cheap drinks and food. After settling in, we headed out into Hanoi’s Old Quarter to find some dinner.

Hunting around for good food is extremely hard if you don’t speak Vietnamese. Most of the locals won’t understand what you’re asking for, and even if they do, they’ll realize you are a tourist and raise the prices exorbitantly. We wanted to eat something authentic, so skipped over all of the air conditioned, westernized restaurants.

Finally, we found a roadside stall selling food for 30K dong. We ordered some bun ca, fish soup with rice noodles. The broth was filled with tomatoes and vegetables, resulting in a tangy taste. A decent meal, but not something I would try again.

We then ended up at the Hanoi night market, which is famous held after 7pm every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Amongst throngs of tourists and locals, we shopped for accessories, clothes, and toys. I learned how to haggle here for the first time and managed to buy jewelry and house decorations for 50% of the advertised price.

Tip: The best way to communicate with the vendors is to use your phone calculator to let them know how much you’re willing to pay for the items.

My first impression of Hanoi is that it is very similar to India, which I have visited 5 times. There is a constant hustle and bustle, motorcycles are coming at you from every direction, and most places are very cheap.