Tintin in Hanoi

I was in Hanoi this week and it was one busy busy week. We landed a day after the general elections were over so the roads still had the red banners etc. Whoever thought Vietnam is a democracy can change their opinion, it is a complete communist dominated country!

There are too many motorbikes here in this country. Percentage wise I think this city would beat any Indian city on the number of two-wheelers. Traffic is worse than India and the streets are narrow streets with vehicles parked all over the place.

A typical shop with everything displayed outside the shop into the road


The Vietnamese coffee and tea are very famous and people keep drinking them all the time. Their special coffee is their version of our filter coffee.


This is Cha Ca (Shaaa Ka). Its one of the best South East Asian dish I have ever had. Its fish fry with herbs that you can fry right on your table. It is to be taken with Rice noodles. And I can tell you it tastes like heaven. Yumm...
There is only one restaurant in Hanoi which serves this and foreigners find their way to this restaurant which is located somewhere inside a maze of streets and lanes stuffed with shops and two-wheelers.

It was a bit more peaceful near the place where we stayed.

Oh ya people drive on the right side of the road here. The city has couple of water-bodies inside it. Hoan Kiem lake is bang in the middle of the city and there are nice jogging tracks around it. The west lake is another lake which is a bit away from the city centre.

French architecture from its colonial past is something which you cannot miss in this city. They still have a good relationship with France. This is a arch which welcomes everyone to the "International city of Hanoi".

If you are wondering why "Tintin", its like this. I met this guy in the street who accosted me for selling novels. He first asked me if I want books, next question was "Do you want Marijuana". Thats when I looked at him more carefully and he resembled one of the chinese characters I have seen in Tintin comics, wearing a long t-shirt and shorts. The rest is left to your imagination.