Hanoi, Vietnam’s Capitol

When I got back to Hanoi from Ha Long Bay, I stayed in a hostel (which was $5 a night!). I met up with someone from Couchsurfing who offered to take me around the city for the day.

Vietnam’s traffic is crazy. There are scooters EVERYWHERE. Cars are definitely the minority, and most of those cars are taxis. Everything else is a scooter. Watching traffic is like watching a large-scale model of a circulatory system as bikes slip and slide past each other, somehow managing not to hit each other. Let’s just say I’m glad I wasn’t driving.

There are no rules.

Sometimes you drive through a market.

Sometimes people just walk in the road. Just cuz you can…

She took me to the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, and a few other places. Overall, I didn’t find the city so amazing. The food, however, was incredibly delicious.

The temple of Literature

We drove basically all over the city. It was a really great day.

At night, the central city lake lights up. It’s definitely not historic-looking, but it is pretty and colorful.

The food is super spicy.

Afternoon nap time.

Vietnam is famous for its coffee. It’s mixed with condensed milk and it’s sweet and creamy. It’s really, really good:)

We stopped at a coffee shop, opened in 1946.

We got some coffee.

This man is in the picture above. He is the boy in the bottom left. All grown up and still serving coffee:)