Ngoc Son Temple: A scarlet bridge connects this 19th century temple from its island home on Hoan Kiem Lake to a particularly busy stretch of the old town. The temple itself is beautiful and peaceful, but not particularly grand and worth more than a quick walk around. Perhaps the highlight for us was seeing the giant stuffed turtle inside one of the chambers that was said to have descended from a golden turtle that emerged from the lake to give Le Loi the sword needed to defeat his aggressors

Thang Long Water Puppet Show: As the makeup of the crowd would suggest, this was the most touristy activity we took part in while in Vietnam. The history of water puppet theatre dates back to a thousand years ago when villagers in the Red River delta would stage performances to celebrate the end of the rice harvest. The backdrop and crowd for the Thang Long show was a far cry from the delta villages, but entertaining and a fun peek into an ancient Vietnamese tradition nonetheless. One member of our group, however, fell victim to the effects of jet lag and used it as an opportunity to take a snooze (cough, cough, Joel)

One Pillar Pagoda: Situated right beside the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the One Pillar Pagoda is a very old and famous 11th century buddhist temple built on a small pond connected to the mainland by a short and steep staircase. Very well maintained and restored since then, the pagoda was beautiful and worth a quick stop given its location near the mausoleum and temple of literature

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum: As the name suggests, the mausoleum serves as the final resting place of revolutionary leader and former president of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh (his embalmed remains are displayed inside a glass case). It is a very powerful and important building for many Vietnamese people. It was not open for visiting when we stopped by to see it, but we enjoyed walking around the structure which leans more communist in style than the French colonial buildings dominating the old city

Temple of Literature: One of our favorite sites in Hanoi, the Temple of Literature is an 11th century Confucius temple dedicated to scholarship and ceremonies. Our group enjoyed strolling around the beautiful and peaceful courtyards of the property insulated from the motorbike madness outside its walls, admiring the architecture and temple itself

Train Street: A unique attraction in Hanoi, “train street” is an active train route cutting through the residential area of the old city, its tracks closely lined by colorful homes turned cafes. It had always been popular among tourists looking for the exhilarating experience of sipping on a coffee while the train thundered by just a few feet from them; however, we had read recent news reports touting the shutdown of the street and its cafes to tourists (unsurprisingly, this is a dangerous combination). These news reports conflicted with recent experiences from some other tourists, so we decided we would pop by and see whether or not it was still possible to walk through and sit down at a cafe. We muscled past what we believed were fake police officers preventing tourists from crossing the traffic barrier onto the street and were pleasantly surprised to see several cafes still open for business. We sat down at one with a nice set-up along the tracks and sipped on some egg and coconut coffees to take it all in. Our server, Quon, was a young Vietnamese man no older than 20 who was a real character and entertainer. Every other word out of his mouth was F@&%in’ (he claimed he learned his English from adult videos) and he spent most of his time smoking cigarettes with other patrons and obnoxiously taunting our non-alcoholic orders. It was coffee and a show, and well worth it to see the infamous street (though sadly, no train)

Hoa Lo Prison (aka “Hanoi Hilton”): Hoa Lo originally served as a gruesome French colonial prison for Vietnamese political prisoners before the Vietnamese began using it to hold American POWs during the Vietnam War (including the late Senator John McCain). Much of the prison was destroyed in the mid 1990s, but what still existed was turned into a museum to showcase its purpose and brutality throughout history. The most interesting to us was the section on the Vietnam War. On one hand, it was sobering and sad to see the devastating impact of the American bombing campaign on local people in Hanoi and northern Vietnam. On the other, we were a bit skeptical of how well the museum painted the American prisoner experience during the war (all smiles, games, and connection to the outside world), especially in a place sarcastically nicknamed the “Hanoi Hilton” by American POWs 

Night Market: The main section of the old town night market reminded us a lot of what we had seen at other night markets in Southeast Asia (read: lots of kitschy souvenirs and brand clothing manufactured in Vietnam). However, there was a whole other section of the market when we visited dedicated to things needed for the Tet holiday. This Tet section was the real highlight for us – there were lantern-lined streets with colorful stalls selling everything from bright, beautiful flowers, to kumquat trees, to other decorations for the holiday. We spent most of our time here walking the streets and admiring the overload of colors, lights, and festive decorations  

Local beer tour with Lan: One thing we did not appreciate before coming to Vietnam and Hanoi was the incredibly rich local beer drinking culture. Dating back over 100 years, beer was originally brought to Vietnam by French colonialists when the dominant local beverage at the time was rice wine. However, the taste and culture of drinking a refreshing beer after work stuck for the Vietnamese long after the French left. This culture is still present around the city today via old family run drinking establishments serving their loyal daily patrons. Our guide for a night exploring Hanoi’s drinking establishments, old and new, was Lan. Lan was a bubbly university student in Hanoi from a nearby village and an absolute bundle of energy and knowledge. We had a blast drinking and hanging out with Lan while learning about local beer and life in Vietnam. The highlights included:

• Beers and snacks at Bia Phuong: Our first stop, Bia Phuong, is a local mainstay that had been serving its patrons for decades. We sat down at the usual plastic stools and metal table (the only tourists there) and drank their delicious homemade draft beer accompanied by surprisingly delicious dishes we had not tried yet (fish cakes, pork short ribs, rice noodle pancake). The beer was refreshing and the servers were quick to greet you with another as soon as you finished your glass

   

• Truch Bach and Tet specialties: The second stop was another older, local joint and real hole in the wall. We were seated in a small room with only a few tables and an old TV on the wall that seemed like it had a few years of grease layered on it (Debbie and Joel got a real kick out of it). We were here to try a special local craft beer, Truch Bach (Doug’s favorite), and drinking accompaniments typically served around Tet (super delicious spring rolls and a salty egg spinach pancake). We drank the beers, nibbled on the specialties, and enjoyed our time chatting with Lan and meeting an older man seated next to us having his two glasses of daily draft beer

• Shopping with Lan: Hanoi is dotted with clothing shops selling North Face gear (or something close) manufactured in Vietnam at super low prices. We mentioned needing coats for the trip north to Sapa on our way to the next tour stop and Lan enthusiastically offered her help. She was committed to helping us not get ripped off by tourist prices. The three of us had fun on our mission and ended up walking into five places to get the right price (at last, we found it best for Lan to go in first to get the local price, and we would come in after to seal the deal). Mission success!

• New Craft Beers: Our final two stops were at newer craft breweries and bars to try the new generation of Vietnamese craft beer. The first, Pasteur Street Brewing, offered some seriously delicious and more familiar beers with a Vietnamese twist (like Pomelo fruit and Jasmine IPAs). The second, NoB Pub, was a cool and hip rooftop bar offering local craft breweries with some more interesting and daring flavors like a coconut ale and buckwheat ale. Outside of trying the delicious and interesting new age beers, we really loved chatting with Lan about life in Vietnam and the US. We’ve kept in touch since!