Destination Hanoi

Old Quarter

Hoan Kiem Lake

Temple of Literature

Old Quarter

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INTRODUCTION

Hanoi, the first Asian city I've visited. It was a huge cultural shock: people are cold, not welcoming at all and they try to rip you off at every chance they get. On the street, they'd rather drive right over your feet than deviate an inch from their route. Don't even imagine they'll stop to let you pass or cross the street. The first time we tried, it took us almost 10 minutes. The light for pedestrians turned green several times but the motorbikes just kept on coming!

We did visit some great sites like the Temple of Literature, Hoa Lo prison and Ngoc Son temple and we absolutely loved the Water puppet theatre.

It was only the start of our adventure and it really got so much better afterwards. Vietnam actually is one of the most beautiful countries I've ever visited, so don't let this story scare you!

How to spend 2 days in Hanoi

PLANNING

Day 1: booking tours for the rest of our trip (Halong Bay and Mekong Delta), visit Hoa Lo prison, Hoan Kiem lake, Ngoc Son temple, Old Quarter, Ma May house

Day 2: West lake, Tran Quoc pagoda,Quan Thanh temple, Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, One pillar pagoda, Temple of Literature, Water puppet theatre

ACCOMMODATION

The cheapest accommodation is located in the Old Quarter and around Hoan Kiem lake. You can find a bed in a dorm room for as little as € 5 and prices for a double room with private bathroom in a mid-range hotel start at € 10.

We stayed at Jasmine hotel, which was great. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful and didn't try to push us into booking tours etc., unlike many other stories I've heard. Free airport pickup was included.

A standard double room costs about € 25 and for a double deluxe with a small balcony and a PC with internet connection, you'll pay about € 40.

HOA LO PRISON

Closed on Monday, 8.30am-11.30am & 1.30pm-4.30pm, entrance fee 30.000 VND

Hoa Lo Prison was built by the French in 1896 to incarcerate Vietnamese political prisoners. Conditions were horrible: by the 1930s the prison that was built for 450 prisoners housed almost 2000 and the inmates were tortured. In 1964, the Vietnamese began using Hoa Lo Prison for prisoners of war. You'll see cells, torture instruments, the wooden 'beds' to which the prisoners were chained and plenty of pictures that'll give you the shivers. Absolutely worth a visit!

HOAN KIEM LAKE

Situated in the heart of the old town, Hoan Kiem Lake litterally means "lake of the returned sword". According to the legend, a giant turtle appeared out of the lake when emperor Le Loi was boating on the lake, asking him to return the sword he used to fight the Chinese. A nice place for a walk or to sit down for a while.

NGOC SON TEMPLE

Daily 8am-5pm, entrance fee 30.000 VND

Located on a small island in Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son temple is definitely the most picturesque temple in Hanoi. A charming bridge connects the island to the lake shores.

OLD QUARTER

Put away your map and get lost in the small streets of the old quarter, north of Hoan Kiem Lake. Look at and visit one of the old houses, do some shopping and have some great and inexpensive food. Take your time and be prepared for crowds.

MA MAY HOUSE

Daily 9am-12pm & 1pm-5pm, entrance fee 20.000 VND

Late 19th-century house constructed according to the principels of the "tube houses". People built very narrow houses in an attempt to minimize taxes. Some are 70m long and only 2m large.

TEMPLE OF LITERATURE

Daily 8am-5pm, entrance fee 30.000 VND

Late 19th-century house constructed according to the principels of the "tube houses". People built very narrow houses in an attempt to minimize taxes. Some are 70m long and only 2m large.

WATER PUPPET THEATER

Different shows daily from 3pm to 8pm, tickets 60.000 VND or 100.000 VND (we took the cheapest tickets, they were fine). Book 1 or 2 days in advance.

Fun & cute, the water puppet theater should be on your to do list.

OTHER SITES

West lake, Tran Quoc pagoda & Quan Thanh temple

Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum

One pillar pagoda

TRANSPORTATION

In Hanoi (and in Vietnam in general), walking is for the poor. Sidewalks are not for walking, they're parking lots for motorbikes. Walking any distance over 500m is considered weird.

We did walk but were constantly harassed by people offering a ride on their motorbike (paid, of course!). When we said 'no', they kept following us.

West Lake was too far to walk from our hotel, so we took a rickshaw. We agreed on a price before getting in (100.000VND), that was already quite high compared to the average prices we found in

travel guides and on the internet while preparingour trip. The driver still tried to rip us off. Once we got there, he asked twice the agreed price because we were 2... We clearly told him we were 2 when negociating the price, so we refused topay more. He started screaming and threatened to call the police, but we just paid the price we'd agreed on and walked away. We saw plenty of people in similar situations, so be sure to be very precise about the number of people during negociation, to avoid any confusion afterwards.

To get from the airport to the city we used the free hotel shuttle. If your ho(s)tel doesn't offer this service, you can take the Vietnam Airlines minibus (32.000VND to city center, more in case of hotel drop-off). Be sure to take the minibus at the 'minibus' sign and don't follow strangers inside the airport that want to show you the way. They'll probably lead you to their own minibus and won't drop you off where you asked. You can also take bus lignes 7 or 17 (5000 VND).

If you want to leave Hanoi by train, make sure to book early. We tried to book tickets to Hue 3 days in advance, but there were only hard seats left (there are 4 categories: hard seat, soft seat, hard berth and soft berth). It's a 12 hour train ride from Hanoi to Hue in the middle of the night, so we decided to take a bus instead. This costs about € 20 and takes 13 hours. We booked with Sinh Café but there are many other companies in the Old Quarter that sell tickets.

For information about how to get from Hanoi to Halong Bay, check out the Halong destination page.

FOOD

You'll find great food almost everywhere. Street stalls are the cheapest option (less than 20.000 VND) but most local restaurants also offer a complete meal (1 course and a simple drink) for less than 100.000 VND.

Here's a list of my favorite restaurants:

La Place

6 Ấu Triệu (west of Lake Hoan Kiem)

Small restaurant with simple dishes, juices, smoothies, ... The vegetarian spring rolls were delicious and very cheap.

Quan Bia Minh

7 Đinh Liệt (north of Lake Hoan Kiem in the Old Quarter)

Try to get a table on the balcony and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city. I ate noodles with vegetables and tofu and my boyfriend got the salad with avocado and calamari. We both drank a delicious mixed fruit juice. Total price 175.000 VND.

69 bar-resto

69 Mã Mây, (north of Lake Hoan Kiem in the Old Quarter)

Great food and good service. We paid 135.000 VND for rice with vegetables and tofu, vegetables in cury and 2 juices.