hanoi | greenlaundry

3 Jul 13

Hanoi 02

Consolidating all the photos of Hanoi in one last post! Also food recommendations at the end of the post 😉 We stayed two more days in the city after returning from Halong Bay.

Started the day with coffee at the Hotel Metropole Hanoi

Then took a walk around the French Quarters

And then back to the Old Quarters

Found the popular Bun Cha place and filled our stomachs

Walked back towards our hotel

To hang out at the cafe near our hotel and have more coffee

When we got hungry again, we walked to a nice place called Little Hanoi for dinner

Followed by a nightcap at Cafe Linh, a drinking hole decorated with memorabilia from the Vietnam war

The next morning, also our last day, we had a quick bite at this cafe (photo on the left) as we were running late

But give us a balcony any day and we only just end up taking things even slower. So we hopped onto a cyclo to take us towards Ba Dinh district to buy us some time. I wanted to squeeze in some last minute sightseeing of Hanoi’s landmarks!

A statue of Lenin

Urm, no clue what this is

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Lastly, some places worth eating at within the Old Quarters.

1 Pho Gia Truyen (49 Bat Dan Street) > A local place for pho. Order the ‘tai nam’ style which is rare steak and flank.
2 Bun Bo Nam Bo (67 Hang Dieu Street) > Bun Bo is another viet-style of noodles. One of my favourites on this trip.
3 Cha Ca La Vong (14 Cha Ca Street) > This place serves only one dish, grilled monkfish. Local institution that’s still good.
4 Try Banh Xeo if you can find it!

5 Highway 4 (25 Bat Su Street) > This place caters to foreigners. Food’s good, not authentic Viet but nice & clean does it.
6 Bun Cha (1 Hang Manh Street) > Another style of noodles, this one comes with pork belly and porky meatballs.
7 Little Hanoi No. 9 (23 Hang Gai Street) > For a little Western cos you might be craving it on your last day (like I did!).
8 Vietnamese coffee – Cafes are a dime a dozen, stop and have it iced or steamy. Also free wifi!

Hanoi 01

This morning, Ben helped me shoot some photos for my upcoming hair pieces. I’ll share them here real soon! Don’t laugh tho when you see me in them, it’s been forever since I’ve been in front of the camera. Those days of ‘wardrobe remix’, you remember those?!

I got all my rolls of film developed almost immediately this time. Our trip to Hanoi, especially Halong Bay, was just terrific. It’s one of those places where no photo can quite capture what is before you. Not even a panoramic photo, yo. But before I post those ‘not-quite-photos’, I’ll start with some of Hanoi, particularly the area known as the Old Quarters.