After a 12 hour night bus, we arrived in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. We intended to just pass through since it's on the path to Halong Bay, but ended up spending a lot of time here because we had to wait on availability for our Halong Bay Cruise.
Most days were cold and rainy so we didn't do much… to kill time, we went to a coupe of movies ("The Hobbit" and "Jack Reacher")... but the thing we did most here was eat. Hanoi is know for its street food and deservedly so. There are a lot of restaurants that are one-dish-shops (they only make and serve one dish, and they do it well). Here are some of our favourites:
- Bun Bo (at Bun Bo Nam Bo - 67 Hang Dieu, Old Quarter): A noodle dish that for some unknown reason, Jen and Guy could not stop eating, so we frequented this shop about 6 times. It is really good and also really cheap at about $2.50/bowl.
- Cha Can Fish (at Cha Ca Thanh Long - 31 Duong Thanh, Old Quarter): A classic Hanoi grilled fish dish served on a burner with fresh dill and green onions.
- Bun Cha, Nem Cua (at Bun Cha - 1 Hang Manh Street, Old Quarter): According to our hotel, this is the original Bun Cha place in Hanoi. They serve grilled pork with noodles (Bun Cha) and crab spring rolls (Nem Cua). The pork was a bit too fatty for us, but the crab spring rolls were really good.
- Banh Mi: As mentioned in a previous post, good Banh Mi seem to be really hard to find. Our hotel recommended this place where the lady makes amazing pate - just have the pate and cucumber Banh Mi and you won't regret it. There is no restaurant - she sets up a little table at the North West corner of Hang Giay and Hang Khoai in the Old Quarter.
- Mochi: This is actually a Japanese dessert (not Vietnamese), but we happened by a Mochi shop and had to give it a try. The Mango Mousse and Green Tea mochi were the best :).
Our hotel also recommended a place where you can eat dog meat (Thit Cho). So we checked out the dog market and their recommended restaurant. We shared a small dish.. it was better prepared and tasted better than the dish we tried a few years ago in China, but was still, by far, not good enough to have again… we'll leave that dish for the locals ;)
Since we were in Hanoi, we felt a bit obligated to see some of the sites. We visited Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum where you can see the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh - a bit weird.. but the room is really pretty. We also checked out the Army Museum and walked the streets of the Old and French Quarters. We also spent a lot of time between the Canadian Embassy and the Vietnamese Immigration office: Dom got his new passport but struggled to get the visa transferred. In the end, we just went to the airport anyways…. and what do you know, they did it there without fuss in about 10 minutes.
