Hanoi Travel Guide - Weekends in Hanoi

It's really simple, said a middle-aged man. Get eye contact, walk at an even pace, and for God's sake, don't panic. Crossing over the busy streets of Hanoi can be often deemed as a life or death scenario. But behind the impenetrable wall of Vespas and SUVs, you'll find a method in the madness that is Hanoi traffic. Spend a few days here and you'll learn the ins and outs of Hanoi. Intuitively, you know how to traverse the landscape unscathed, appreciate its subtle beauty, but more importantly, discovering the best spots to truly experience the essence of this fascinating city. From its vibrant nightlife to the bold flavors found at the countless street vendors, Hanoi is about discovery, seeing, hearing, and tasting it. As such, regard the Vespa walls as your first trial when you arrive in the city, the iron curtain so to speak. Overcoming, and you'll be on your way exploring Hanoi's maze-like streets which are filled with local hidden gems. So come curious, leave your expectations behind, and simply immerse yourself in one of the most interesting cities in the whole of Southeast Asia. With more than a thousand year long history, Hanoi is amongst the oldest cities in Asia. The city has undergone quite a few name changes during its time, from being known as the city of Soaring Dragon to Dong King, the Eastern Capital. Experiencing Hanoi's history is best done by foot. Walking through its labyrinth streets, witnessing its evolving architecture from centuries of Chinese domination, a spell of French colonism, to its modern day incarnation, the city has gone through many hands and is now on the cusp of a new era. This might best be portrayed in the rise of Hanoi's contemporary art scene. Despite its numerous bouts of censorship, Hanoi's art scene is flourishing and the rules regarding self-expression have loosened over the years. Breaking away from its old chains of traditions and embracing what the South has long done. Despite the acceptance of Hanoi will be for better or worse drastically different to what it is now in 10 to 15 years time, there's still a strong desire to maintain the city's rich heritage. The struggle of pushing the city to new heights while maintaining its long-standing traditions is there for all to see. As such, this might just be the ideal time to visit Hanoi, whilst it's caught in the limbo between the old and the new. At its current state, Hanoi offers graceful colonial buildings, tree-lined streets, and landmarks steeped in history. All complemented by an increasingly vibrant and sophisticated nightlife. With the city's impending progress to join the ranks of other modern Asian metropolitans, there really is no better time to visit Hanoi than right now. Hanoi consists of more than 145 districts. For this video, we'll stick with Central Hanoi, which can be divided into four main districts. Westlake, which is known for being the expat hub. The Old Quarter, near the famous Hoan Kiem Lake, while also being home to the 36 mace-like merchant streets. The Ba Dinh District, which houses most of the government monuments and buildings. And finally, the densely populated Hai Pa Trung District, where you find the main universities and commercial area. I recommend staying anywhere near the serene Hoan Kiem Lake, as it allows you to access pretty much anything noteworthy by foot or a short taxi ride. As for transportation, the most convenient way is grabbing a taxi. However, be warned, Hanoi is filled with taxi scams. I always recommend going with the green My Linh taxis. Slightly more expensive, but trustworthy and dependable. You might also want to try the Grab app, which functions pretty much like Uber. I had to book a private car on one of the many Grab scooters around, which provides a pretty unique way to see the city. We arrive in Hanoi excited and hungry. And to be honest, you can't come to Vietnam without trying a traditional Banh Mi. Although Hanoi isn't famous for their Banh Mi, there's still a couple of places worth checking out. Alright, so we just got ourselves a Banh Mi here from Banh Mi 25. It's a pretty popular tourist place. You know, there's a bunch of other Banh Mi places that you can try out. You know, Hanoi's not really that known for Banh Mi, but there's a couple of places and Banh Mi 25 is one of them. We just got the pork version with some pate in it. As you can see, a mixture of meat. I think some char siu and stuff like that. Carrots. Let's give it a taste. It's okay. Overall pretty decent. If you want an alternative Banh Mi place, then you might as well try out Banh Mi Bread Hoi An, which we felt delivered a pretty damn good Banh Mi as well. Since the Banh Mi wasn't quite enough for us, we decided to get another quick snack. This time of the famous rice flour pancakes known as Banh Cuon. Alright, so we're here in a random Banh Cuon store that we found and they serve these Banh Cuon, which is like rice flour sort of pancakes wrapped in with some pork and some fried garlic on top of that with some coriander. And it's basically a great sort of lunch or even breakfast here in Vietnam. A lot of people eat it. They serve you with this lukewarm sort of nuoc mon. So basically how you eat it is you just take the Banh Cuon and you just dip it in. If you're looking for more interesting eats to try out, here's a few additional dishes. There's obviously more things to do in Hanoi than simply eating. If you're looking for activities to occupy your time with, here's the following I would recommend. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Temple of Literature, Hanoi Opera House, Saint Joseph Cathedral, and a stroll around Hoan Kiem Lake, especially during Sundays. If you're up for it, you might also want to visit the famous train street that runs through a narrow alleyway for a few pictures. If you want to catch a train however, then be at the tracks either before 3.30 pm or 7.30 pm as the train only runs through the tracks twice a day. If you're looking to brush up on your bargaining skills, then come by Hanoi's night market. Here you'll find anything from fake branded goods to more established stores located around the market. As dinnertime arrives, we crave for some authentic Bun Cha and what better place to have it than a place approved by the former president himself. The land which is famous for serving Obama the Bun Cha. And to be honest, there's a lot of other really good places, a lot of good Bun Cha places, especially in Hanoi. So you don't have to come here specifically, like a very touristy spot. With that said, this place does offer some really really good Bun and some really good Cha. So the first step you gotta do is just basically you take a big chunk of rice noodles right here. Dump it in this sauce which already has the pork belly in it. Dump it in. Grab some pork belly, some lettuce, some herbs. So good. So tasty. And this tastes everything from the fatty pork, the freshness of the herbs and the rice noodles is excellent. I could probably eat this all day to be honest. We obviously can't do a video on Hanoi without mentioning Pho. And we had some of the best the city had to offer. I just had one of the best bowls of Pho right here at Pho Bac Tam. It's closing in like half an hour and it's still packed alive with food. Even though we have all these sort of places which are more famous, more well-known around the community, there's still a lot of several more hidden gems. And that's the cool thing about Vietnam, right? That there's hidden gems everywhere. And I just love coming here and just exploring. If you have the time to just explore and just try something new, something that's not discovered yet, something that's not on the tour advisors list, Vietnam and Hanoi specifically is a really cool place to go and just discover and try. You're going to find some bad, you're going to find some good, but more often than not it's generally going to be pretty good in my opinion. You might think that Hanoi, unlike its southern sibling, quiets down in the evenings. Being the more mature and cultured of the two, you can't be more wrong. The city rumbles away in a never-ending orchestra of scooter-hungry, stall-shouting, and drinks-clattering madness way into the early mornings. That's not to say things here get as wild as its southern counterpart. Things here are indeed toned down, but not to the extent of being boring. When the evening arrives, crowds tend to flock towards the Bia Hoi corner. Here, Hanoi shows its more rowdy and energetic side with beer flowing down the narrow streets while scooters zoom by at questionable speeds. Everyone here is welcome, from locals to foreign backpackers, all drinking side by side, bunched up together on small plastic stools. It may not be the best place to have the famous Bia Hoi, but it's the very least an essential Hanoi experience. If you're looking for more established cocktail bars, then I do recommend swinging by the ever-hip Tadi Odo for a few drinks and snacks along the way. In addition, the quirky Hanoi Social Club is always a fine choice. Try to aim during days when they put on live performances to sweeten the experience. Other noteworthy bars include the classy Polite & Co, the gin-loving Mad Botanist, the expat-favorite Standing Bar, and Fur Brew for more cultured beer drinkers. Hanoi can be mesmerizing, beautiful, and extravagant. Nevertheless, to think the city's aggressive expansion from a population of merely a million in the late 70s is now closing in on the 8 million mark is quite remarkable. It hasn't come without its cost, though. The city seems to have an unending appetite of tearing itself down and building itself up again, where old housing blocks are being demolished as we speak in favor of bigger and better modern facilities. Hanoi is increasingly becoming an attractive location to live in, and so does the demands on the city, which puts fuel on this constant build and rebuild tendency we're seeing today. Whilst the city landscape has changed, so has its people. The perception of Hanoians having deep-lingered misgivings towards the war have all but dissipated. Most find it unrelatable, which is understandable when more than half of the city's population are under the ripe age of 30. The country as a whole has moved on, and the future does look bright for Vietnam, prospering from the same political-economic model as its bigger brother China, the one party to rule them all, and who can blame them? So far, it's working. While the majority may not mind the one-party system, there are still plenty who do, and whether we'll see a middle-class uprising is still far too uncertain. But one thing is certain, however, Vietnam and Hanoi is moving forward, but not without some growing pains along the way. Thank you for watching this video, and if you liked it, please hit that like button and subscribe for more content. And as always, follow me on the relevant social media platforms to stay up to date on behind-the-scenes footage and much more.