Hanoi General Tips by Wild_Orchid

Favorite Thing: One of the best things that the French left behind in Vietnam is the cafe culture. On the streets, whether day or night, you will find pockets of people sitting around enjoying their cup of freshly brewed Vietnamese coffee. Even when it was way past midnight, on a deserted street within the Old Quarter, I saw young people seated on low stools sipping coffee, smoking and chatting quietly,

The one pictured is actually a shop that I didn't get to visit, but our tour bus passed by it a few times and this time, I managed to get a picture of it.

Fondest Memory: How I lurve Vietnamese Coffee... the Arabica Beans which are grown in the highlands are hand - roasted with butter and afterwards a touch of vanilla is thrown in. The coffee is strong and robust with a slight bitter aftertaste that lingers on your tongue. Quite delicious when drunk with a spoonful of thick, creamy, sweet condensed milk. I miss it! ~sigh~

Leave a Comment

Favorite Thing: When driving around or strolling around in Hanoi, you would not fail to see some amazingly interesting buildings. Many are narrow, and quite a few are quite tall. The reason for this is that similar to in Thailand, the building owners are taxed based on the measurement of the front of their house. Therefore in a bid to reduce taxes, the house owners tended to build houses that have very narrow fronts, but to have sufficient space for the whole family, they built upwards.
In Thailand, it is slightly different. The houses there tend to be narrow and really long, but are seldom very tall.

Fondest Memory:
Of bright colours and Facades that are painted
Another great feature of the houses here are the colours. Probably due to the influence of their previous French colonial masters, the houses here sport bright yellow, brilliant blue and even green facades. However, due to the poverty of city dwellers, only the front of the houses are painted, and the exterior side walls are left in the original and natural colour-which is grey or off-white.

If you take a look at the buildings, you will see that many have nice terraces and balconies with ornamental balustrades and windows with wooden shutters-which gives the place a very European feel and charm, of course, it is with a Vietnamese twist. :- )

Call to action
Fellow travellers: Can you afford to miss Vietnam? It is changing rapidly, so visit it while it is still unique and affordable.

Leave a Comment