Asia Steps

Route Map for Our Day Trip Outside Hanoi

Hanoi feels like combination of several different cities all rolled into one: The Old Quarter and the Hoan Kiem Lake, the business district with its new high-rises, the beautifully scenic and residential West Lake area as well as several major avenues and circles with major landmarks, for example, Hanoi’s opera house or the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

Many tourists who visit Hanoi don’t realize how drastically everything changes as soon as one ventures just outside of Hanoi. Our friend, Aryeh, took me out on an informal bike tour (motorbike) during my brief visit to Hanoi last year. I enjoyed it so much that I really wanted to do it again but this time with Tamar. Aryeh was kind enough to hook us up with his friend Marc, who lives in Hanoi. Marc is an avid mountain biker who’s been living in Hanoi for 4 years and is very familiar with all of the trails surrounding the city. He also thought it would be fun to take a trip, with a motorbike for a change, to see a site or two that he’d wanted to check out for some time.
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Hoan Kiem Lake at 6:45 this morning

After 4hrs of sleep, we got up all excited and energized this morning and went for an early morning walk around Hoan Kiem Lake to see all the early risers work out. People gather at the lake very early in the morning for Tai Chi, stretching, dancing or just meditating. It is a very special way to start the morning.

We had our first Pho and walked around the old city and market area. We are now enjoying Cafe Su Da (Vietnamese ice coffee) in a cool cafe called Puku which has wireless internet. Everybody is wearing long sleeve shirts, some even wear sweater but it’s hot! I’m walking around in my flip flops. Ok, time for another quick meal!

Photo: Tamar, Thu, Phuc, Thao, Bao

Every traveler knows that the real reason to see the world is FOOD. Trying new things while guessing the ingredients is half the fun right there. Eating in South East Asia is a real joy, even if it comes at a high price (Imodium, ring a bell?) Many places I remember by dishes: there’s Dalat’s Asparagus crab meat soup, Hanoi’s Pho, Hue’s Bun Bo, Hoi An’s ‘white rose’, Koh Lanta’s crab in beer….. Continue Reading »

Three weeks minus one day to go, almost in Hanoi already! This time we are going to start our 5 week journey exactly where I last finished-Hanoi, Vietnam. In Sep 2001, after 6 wonderful weeks of traveling through Thailand and Vietnam, I left Hanoi to go back home to Tel Aviv as school was about to start. Little did I know that within a week all universities around the country will be on strike and I will be sitting at home wishing I could roam the streets of Hanoi.
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After being wait-listed for several weeks we finally have confirmed tickets in and out of Vietnam via Tokyo. Our general plan is to fly into Hanoi, travel a bit in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam and fly out of Ho Chi Minh City over the course of 5 weeks in December/January. Now that we have tickets we can get to the fun part of planning the trip!