Stroll, Sip and Snack in the streets of Hanoi! - Part 2
The story of how I explored Hanoi in 48 hours—through history, local culture, coffee, and street food.
I had started writing about my trip to Hanoi a couple of weeks ago, and was left in a state of wanderlust!
Hence, I decided to break it down into two parts.
You may read the first part from the link below:
As I had mentioned in my previous newsletter, I was surprised about the fact that I loved being in a city for a holiday (being a countryside lover) and the biggest highlight for me was the delicious egg coffee!
Being tourists in Hanoi - and loving it!
A beautiful surprise about Hanoi was the pedestrian-friendly streets!
I love long walks and anyone from India who loves walking around will agree with me that we really miss good walking lanes in Indian cities.
It was so lovely to spend our time strolling around Hanoi!
We walked the whole day around the Hoàn Kiếm Lake after a breakfast of Bánh Mì and Egg coffee at the Old Quarters area of the city. Hoàn Kiếm is a natural freshwater lake in the heart of the town with an interesting legend about its formation and is surrounded by historical and cultural landmarks like Thap Rua (Turtle Tower), Ngoc Son Temple and Cau The Huc (Welcoming the Morning Sunlight Bridge), amongst others.
We leisurely soaked in the surroundings, visited the Ngoc Son temple, clicked pictures of all the landmarks one by one and grabbed some ice cream and refreshments along the way.
We weren't tired of walking at all, but just for an experience we wanted to sit on the cycle rickshaws of Vietnam. In India, the passenger seats are placed at the back of the rickshaw puller, while here in Hanoi, the seats are on the front.
We rode in the rickshaw to the St. Joseph Cathedral - a late 19th-century Gothic Revival church. It was crowded with tourists from all over the world.
In the evening, we made an impromptu decision to roam around on a city tour bus. I usually am not very excited about such touristy things but I am sure a lot of people would like it (like my family did) and it was indeed a good ride to unwind and enjoy the city lights. We passed The Ho Chi Minh Museum (that we had planned to visit the next morning) and my dad was busy clicking pictures of the Hanoi traffic!
We ended the day watching a performance at the famous water puppet show - which is an ancient art form in Vietnam.
Dinner was again some delicious Vietnamese food.
Our second day in Hanoi started again with some local breakfast and this time I tried the coconut coffee. It was yummy too but I loved the egg coffee much more.
We took a cab and went beyond the Old Quarters and spent the day steeped in history at The Ho Chi Minh Museum, the One Pillar Pagoda and later at the Temple of Literature.
Hanoi is a gem of a city for history and architecture buffs as well as the foodies.
We skipped the “Instagram-famous” train street and also the incense village (that I wanted to visit but we didn’t have enough time). So we let it skip and got ready to head to the countryside region of Ninh Binh. (story coming up soon)
Charmed by Hanoi!
It was one of the best city trips I had! And I didn't expect that I would love it so much.
I realised that if we could build good cities with their history and culture intact, then it would be a nice marriage of modernity and heritage.
I say this about Hanoi as a tourist. Let me know if anyone residing there feels the same way.
I would also love to know about your experience in Hanoi as a tourist. Feel free to post your written pieces in the comment section.
Also, let me know of other cities that are a perfect cocktail of modernity and heritage. I would love to visit them someday!
Thank you, Hanoi! You were so charming!
I am Namrata Gohain, a designer-turned-storyteller, writer and content producer. I document stories on responsible travel, crafts, cuisine, slow living and my creative journey.
love such posts as I get to travel to far off places without travelling :)