I was so excited to get to Hanoi because we were meeting up with our friends Margaret and Jessica! It was great to explore the lively Vietnamese capital with them—from simply catching up in local cafes to brainstorming Hanoi-related puns (e.g., bringin’ “ha-noise”) while taking in the sights and sounds the Old Quarter.

The city’s Old Quarter is always on the move. Many restaurants and stores are actually shophouses, where the people who run the shop also live there. They move seamlessly between their professional and personal lives throughout the day—as well as between the inside and outside, since a lot of business takes place on the sidewalks and streets.

The area’s architecture also reflects the hectic nature of the Old Town. Each building looks as though it was built without any regard for what the surrounding buildings would look like, resulting in an array of different heights and styles of buildings down the same street. Yet somehow it all still fits together.

Crossing the road also epitomizes the city’s busy nature: we learned that you just have to go for it and let the stream of motorbikes flow around you (but don’t run!). Once we got used to crossing the roads the first afternoon, we enjoyed exploring the city together.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Ba Dinh Square

The main tourist attraction in Hanoi is quite macabre—it’s viewing the preserved body of Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese leader who led the country’s revolution from France and established the Communist state. Actually seeing his body happens really quickly—you are ushered into the very stark and grey building in a single-file line, enter a chilly room, walk around the body (without any stopping), and then suddenly you’re outside again.

It was more interesting to walk around the larger complex, Ba Dinh Square. There are a handful of museums where you can actually learn about “Uncle Ho” (there is nothing in the mausoleum), as well as sites like his austere house on stilts and the One Pillar Pagoda.

Hoa Lo Prison Museum

Now a rather sobering museum, Hoa Lo used to be a prison. The first half of the museum focuses on when the French operated the prison before independence, and the second half highlights Vietnamese treatment of American prisoners of war during the Vietnam/American War.

Our time here stimulated a ton of discussion about how there’s not always a clear right and wrong side in war and how history is written by the winners. It also made us think about the bizarre role propaganda plays in how governments functions. For example, I’m pretty sure most American POWs did not spend their time in Hanoi playing basketball, despite the museum’s best efforts to convince you of that.

Hoàn Kiếm Lake

For a break from the busy city and heavy museums, we enjoyed walking around the lake just south of the Old Quarter. It’s a pleasant 30 minute walk to get around the whole lake, and it’s a fun place to people watch, from people practicing tai chi to walking their dogs.

When Vikram and I later passed through Hanoi again after getting off a train at 5 am, we came back to the lake to see it transformed into an outdoor gym. On the main road around the lake, there were no motorbikes or cars in sight—just people biking around for exercise. And the walkway was also more packed than usual with joggers and power walkers, many who stopped at the makeshift gym stations positioned around the lake.

Eating All the Food

The ultimate highlight of Hanoi for me was—unsurprisingly—the food!

Bún chả: This is a traditional dish from Hanoi that consists of grilled or barbecued pork with white noodles, dipping sauce, and an assortment of condiments—plus some fried spring rolls on the side. When we went to one bun cha, we were quickly ushered in and grabbed an open seat. Next thing we knew, they served us a full table of food. There’s no ordering because there’s really only one thing to get! And all this for a couple bucks per person.

Phở: Of course we had pho in Vietnam! And here, it’s their typical breakfast food—our first day in Hanoi, we got pho for lunch at a nearby eatery patronized mainly by locals, and we were the only ones eating pho. So when we returned a few days later, we made sure to go for breakfast instead!

Coffee: Vietnamese coffee is quite a treat. It has a stronger, and more bitter taste than I’m used to, but paired with a healthy serving of condensed milk makes it one of the best cups of coffee around.

It’s easy to explore the Hanoi street food scene on your own, but we also enjoyed doing a walking tour with Hanoi Street Food Tour. Miss Moon was our extremely friendly and funny local guide who took us around to several spots in the Old Quarter for everything from fried spring rolls, papaya salad, rice pancakes, and more. We had fun not only learning more about the food but also about local life in Hanoi from Miss Moon. I was also glad that the timing worked out for my cousin Kei to join us!

Travel Notes:

• Staying in or near the Old Quarter was an ideal spot for us. The Old Quarter is fun to walk around and has tons of street food stalls, cafe, and regular restaurants. It’s also easy to get to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Hoa Lo prison museum, and other museums.
• We mainly walked everywhere, but taxis are also really cheap. A 5-10 minute ride shouldn’t cost more than a few US dollars.
• We enjoyed visiting the Fine Arts Museum and the Vietnamese Women’s Museum, especially as an escape from the hot and humid afternoons.
• Eat everything! Just pull up a stool, grab a cheap local beer, and eat.