This morning was spent packing and preparing for our flight to Vietnam. We had to print and fill out our Visa forms and get some photos each. Luckily the hostel was super helpful and offered to print it all for us, saving us a bit of strife! The photos were royally shit so we were slightly concerned they wouldn’t be accepted but Kyle convinced me to give it a shot.
At the airport we got lucky as although the check in line was non-existent they still chose not to weigh our bags. We have done well with only carry on luggage so far!
The flight was alright but we got stuck across the isle from each other. Upon arriving in Vietnam the joys of Visa processing began. Everything is reviewed and stamped manually, but the process was surprisingly efficient taking around 30 minutes all up for us to get our Visas. They even accepted our terrible quality photos we printed at the hotel.
There was a drive of approximately an hour from the airport to our hostel, Ellogia Rusta, so of course we caught a Grab. But not before we picked up some dong from the ATM, brought a sim card and picked up our first Banh Mi for lunch. It was pricey at VD75,000 ($5) but went down a treat.
Our hostel was located in the Old Quarter, a very quirky but busy area in Hanoi. The room was huge with a small balcony pressed right up to the side of another building, so no view for us. It had a TV though so we were back to watching a couple of Modern Family episodes a day to relax. The room had a stocked mini bar so we treated ourselves to a can of the local beer “Bia Ha No” each as our welcome to Hanoi treat.
For dinner we headed 200 m down the road to the street food area. Our hostel staff had recommended the place on the corner so we went straight there. First thought from Kyle upon arrival was “the stools are short so the food must be good”, so we grabbed a table and got hold of the menu.
We ordered the vegetable and the beef fried noodles, and of course a couple of brews. Both dishes came with a small fresh soup on the side, which was really tasty but we couldn’t work out what was in it, and a container of mint and lettuce to add to the noodles as we pleased. There was also plenty of fresh chilli and lime on the table to add to the dish. It cost around $8 all up, a bargain for the quantity and quality of the food.
From dinner we proceeded to wander the streets. We stumbled across a couple of bakeries with very cheap delicious looking treats (lucky we were full) and eventually into “beer street”. Of course it would be rude not to sit down, so we found a spot with some cheap brews and parked up for a couple of rounds. We drunk Bia Hoi, also known as ‘the worlds freshest beer’, for VD10,000 (70 cents) a glass. The beer is brewed each night and consumed the following day. It contains no preservatives so should be consumed within 24 hours of being brewed! It was a light beer but tasted ok, I thought it was quite fruity like banana.
The street itself was absolutely packed, mostly with tourists. Alongside the drinking there was a lot of different food on offer including cook your own hotpot. For VD250,000 ($17) for two people, you get a pick pot of boiling soup on a burner and plates of raw meat, seafood and veges to cook yourself. It looked like fun but we decided the locals know how to cook a mean feed so we’ll stick to the cheaper, served ready to eat, meals.
Kyley on Tour 