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Travel Guide of Hanoi


RESTAURANT

In recent years Hanoi has undergone a miraculous transformation from culinary wasteland to a premier city for eating and drinking. The city boasts everything from cheap backpacker joints to exquisite Vietnamese restaurants and a growing legion of chic cafés. You can combine food for the body with food for the soul at Hoa Sua restaurant and Koto, both are recommended for their good food and vocational training program for street kids.

Restaurants, bars, and cafés have a strong tendency to change names, location, management, and just about everything else, so ask around and keep an eye out in for current listings the Guide and Time Out.

One of Hanoi's most famous food specialties is Cha Ca or fishcake. Cha Ca La Vong is the best known Cha Ca restaurant in town, has been family-run for five generations. Other worthy places to try Vietnamese local delicacy include Pho Bo Dac Biet which is a place to go for a bowl of beef noodle soup (Pho Bo), honey-barbequed squid at Quan Com Pho, or chicken noodle soup (Pho Ga) at Tiem Pho. Restaurant 1,2,3 just diagonally across the corner is a kind of upmarket fast-food restaurant that serves terrific barbequed fish and fish porridge.

ENTERTAINMENT

Pub & Bar
Major area to look for high-rank pubs and bars is the Old Quarter area where you can find a wide variety of pubs and bars such as Highway 4, a popular gathering point for members of Hanoi's notorious Minsk Club. It is said to be a place to discover the mystical, medicinal (and intoxicating) qualities of Vietnamese rice wine. Surprisingly, this is also a place where you can find information on motor-biking Vietnam. Others are Bar Le Maquis, a cozy little bar; Funky Monkey, a bar with pool table, loud music, and serious cocktails.

Nightclub
If you want to see how fashionable Vietnamese yuppies 'do the hustle', there are several local discos to check out. These places have a strong tendency to change with the wind, so ask around for what's hot or not during your visit. Most clubs have a cover charge of around US$4.

Circus Troupes
The Central Circus is one Russian entertainment tradition that has survived and thrived in Vietnam. Performers - gymnasts, jugglers, animal trainers - were originally trained in Eastern Europe, though today's new recruits learn their skills from their Vietnamese elders. The Circus has performances in a huge tent near the northern entrance to Lenin Park (Cong Vien Le Nin). There is a special show staged for children on Sunday mornings.

Water Puppets
This art form originated in northern Vietnam and Hanoi is considered the best place to see. Municipal Water Puppet Theater is just near the shore of Hoan Kiem Lake. The higher admission price will get you the best seats and a take-home cassette of the music; fans and multilingual programs are free and it helps to read the title of each vignette in the program as it's performed.

SHOPPING

Whether or not you wish to buy anything, you first encounter will likely be with the children who sell postcards and maps. Of course, they are found all over the country, but in Hanoi many are orphans who have a special card to prove it, which they will immediately show to foreigners. They are also the most notorious over-chargers, asking about triple the going price. A reasonable amount of bargaining is called for.

Handicraft & Antique
There are quite a number of stores in Hanoi offering new and antique Vietnamese handicrafts (lacquer-ware, mother-of-pearl inlaid furniture, ceramics, sandalwood statuettes etc), as well as watercolors, oil paintings, prints and assorted antiques (real and fake). Pho Hang Gai, Pho To Tich, Pho Hang Khai and Pho Cau Go are good areas for souvenir hunting.



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