Hanoi, Vietnam’s “Old Quarter”-Walking In The Eternal Soul Of The City

Hanoi is one of my favorite cities in Southeast Asia. It’s “old quarter” is packed with atmosphere from the colonial buildings to the back alleys filled with little shops and fruit vendors. From the break of dawn until 11pm when the police kick the motorbikes off the sidewalks and everywhere doors are closed for another day it remains one of the most energy packed places in Vietnam and Asia!I’m already craving another visit. Wandering the streets each filled with it’s speciality, toy street, lantern street and more! Grabbing a coffee with coconut milk from Cong Caphe and sitting on the sidewalk in a tiny chair watching the madness of motobikes dancing in and out of car, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic. Having a meal of snails, noodles and whatever else looks good washed down with Hanoi beer or eating in of the many restaurants that specialize in the unique fish dish to Hanoi, Cha ca. In this episode, a previous live Periscope broadcast, I wandered around Dong Xuan Market on the northern edge of the old quarter, checking out the goods that are for sale outside of Hanoi’s biggest indoor market. From live frogs to drapes there’s almost as many interesting things to see on the outside as there is on the inside of four storey Soviet style building.Describing the traffic and the challenge of crossing the streets and finding a place to walk safely hopefully will give you a sense of the madness.