I had a trip to Hanoi the second time after 3 years. This time I came with some friends so the feelings were totally different: Hanoi, those days, was prettier and sweeter for me. Hanoi was a part of the 8-day journey of mine to the Northern Vietnam, but in this entry, I only talk about Hanoi and the wonderful stories around it.
November 1st, 2016:
After 3 times of delay, we finally departed for Hanoi at 23h25, arrived to Noibai at almost 2am date November 2nd. It was Delay Airlines so I had no surprise haha.
We booked the plane ticket with the good price so it doesn't cost much.
We tried to call for a Grab car but after 2 times of trying, we found the same Kia Morning, which was not capable to carry all of our luggage. But luckily, there was a man helping us to find a taxi with a good deal, many thanks to him. We finally reached the hotel at 3am, I was so tired but couldn't sleep until 4. We stayed at BC Family Homestay in Dinh Liet Street, Hang Bac, Hoan Kiem District. The special thing I didn't know until the next day was that it was placed in the same alley with a lot of famous Hanoi street food restaurants. I rate the hotel 8/10 for the nice location, minus 2 because of no elevator and the crowded alley.
November 2nd, 2016:
The company we are working for has an office in Hanoi so we went eating out at Pho Thin with the 2 co-workers. The bowl was huge. Noodles, beef, especially spring onion! Before I had bad impression with Northern styled Pho, but this time, it changed immediately. It was so good. But in Hanoi they don't serve Pho with herbs, bean sprouts and hoisin sauce like in the South. Next we went eating some dessert, Sua chua nep cam, it was basically yogurt with fermented black glutinous rice. It smelled like wine (which is not my favorite) so bye, I stopped eating right after the first spoon.
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| Pho Thin |
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Sua chua nep cam (Yogurt with fermented black glutinous rice)
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After the meal, we were heading to Bat Trang Ceramics Village. I made a bowl for my niece, look at it. I spent over an hour for it. There was nothing much in Bat Trang, except the owner of the kiosk next to ceramics market gate. She was so funny and friendly.
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| Prepare!!! |
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| Showing us how to make a ceramic bowl |
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| Nice meal in Bat Trang |
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There's nothing special in Bat Trang Ceramics Market
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In the evening, we took a walk around the old quarter and ate Bun thang (Vietnamese
vermicelli soup with chicken, pork & egg). We went to Ba Duc, located in 48 Cau Go, a famous Bun thang restaurant in Hanoi. We order a bowl of chicken organs, besides 1 bowl of noodles for each. Bun thang mainly includes chicken, thinly sliced omelet and thinly sliced Vietnamese ham. That was the first time I ate Bun thang. It was great but couldn't impress me more than the boiled chicken organs. The dinner was done, we walked to Hoan Kiem lake and rent a electric car going around the old quarter. The driver was kinda friendly, he introduced the old quarter for us, where as there was a CD doing the same job. 35 minutes was up soon, we wandered the park around Hoan Kiem lake and bought some salted & sweetened fruits. They were yummy, but quite costly. On the way back to the hotel, we got hungry again (such eaters). Fortunately, we found a shellfish shop opposite to Thai Express Cau Go. It was like the most low priced shellfish shop in the street. She also introduced us a lot of famous Hanoi street food restaurants, how lovely she was!
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| Bun thang (Vietnamese noodle soup with chicken, pork & egg) |
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| Boiled chicken organs |
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| The cute owner of the shop |
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| Hanoi styled shellfishes |
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| Salted & sweetened fruits |
November 3rd, 2016: Canon places in Hanoi.
Knowing that we stayed at the same alley with Pho Suong, we started a new day with a half-done beef pho. The taste of pho of Suong was not as morish as pho of Thin, but it was enough to make me ...suong (happy). Finishing the bowl with a half-boiled egg in pho soup, the feeling when the egg yolk melted in the mouth, I admit, that happy-pho, could make everyone happy! We left Suong and headed to Van Mieu, the first university in Vietnam.
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Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam
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I had once came there 3 years ago, so to be honest, I was no longer interested in it. There was many groups of students going to Van Mieu to have their yearbook photos, that's why it was kinda crowded.
For the lunch we went to the Bun cha
(vermicelli with grilled pork) restaurants located in 74 Hang Quat, which was introduced by the lady owner of the shellfish shop. It was big! And very appetizing! So much cheaper than Bun cha in HCMC. In the afternoon we ate again (I know what you are going to call us). The dish we chose was Chao suon (
spare ribs rice porridge). It was ok for me, not really my favorite tho (maybe it was because I ate a lot before). The next place was Hanoi St. Joseph's Cathedral with the famous "lemon tea".
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| The famous "lemon tea" |
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Cong Coffeeshop
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After taking a lot of photos, we came Cong cafe, which was near. Our seats were outside, with a nice view. I took some picture, pretending to be "deep" but they seemed failed. We left Cong when the sun set, planned to leave the motorbikes at the hotel and took a walk to Ta Hien. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by Xoi Yen and bought 2 boxes of this famous steamed glutinous rice restaurant. I didn't have much impression on this dish, except it was too big. Glad we didn't buy 4.
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| Bun cha (Noodles with grilled pork) |
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| Chao suon (Spare ribs rice porridge) |
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| Xoi Yen (Steamed glutinous rice) |
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| We stopped by Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum for awhile. |
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| Cheers! at Ta Hien |
Ta Hien, this street was basically the same as Bui Vien in Saigon (actually I haven't visited Bui Vien yet lol). We ordered 4 bottles of beer and 1 helping of sweet and sour chicken legs. This street was kinda crowded and lively at night.
November 4th, 2016: The last day in Hanoi.
About to leave Hanoi for the next place, we went to Hoan Kiem lake - The Huc bridge - Ngoc Son Temple by taxi after walking until dead to the Bun oc
(snail vermicelli soup) restaurant in 23 Hang Khoai. The Bun oc here was a confusion. It included beef, shellfishes, fried tofu, Vietnamese ham etc... even the balut if you ordered. The taste was ok, but not really special. I came to The Huc bridge - Ngoc Son Temple in the previous trip with my parents, but a lot of photos were still taken haha. Before checking out, we enjoyed Bun ngan
(musk duck noodles) in Nhan, right opposite to the hotel, but the Bun oc was still there in our stomach, we didn't really feel the dish completely. I think it would be more delicious when we were empty.
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| Bun oc (snail vermicelli soup) |
Checking out was done, we booked a taxi to Hanoi Train Station at 12pm, soon left for Ninh Binh. The journey in Ninh Binh will be mentioned in another post. It was a great journey too.
We were back to Hanoi twice in this long journey then. In the first time, we came to Suong again, rewarded ourselves a bowl of half-done beef and brisket pho with a half-boiled egg york added for the tiredness of a long transit. Pho was still the best. After that we wander around the streets shopping for souvenirs before heading to Sapa by train (we kept moving in just one day: Ninh Binh - Hanoi - Sapa). Sapa was also a hard journey we had been through. The second was when our journey was gonna end, we decided to visit the lovely owner of shellfish store in Cau Go. She treat our stomach so well.
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| Pho Suong |
In this journey to Hanoi, I luckily met a lot of funny and friendly people. My 24 is about to end, I have experienced a lot. Hope to see you again in the nearest day, and please stay that lovely forever, Hanoi!
Labels: diary, hanoi, travel, vietnam
