Exploring Hanoi’s Old Quarter

On February 25, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Vietnam2 Comments

When visiting Hanoi in Vietnam, most of the hotels and rental properties are located in Hanoi’s old quarter. It is a very busy district with plenty of shops and restaurants making it a perfect location to explore the best of Hanoi. Some of the highlights of the old quarter are “Sword Lake”, Hoan Kiem Lake, the night market, and St. Joseph’s Cathedral. You will find plenty of street food and vendors walking with sweets and fruit for sale. Regardless of the time of day, the old quarter in Hanoi is extremely busy and the streets are packed with motorcycles, cars, and rickshaws. In fact there are so many motorcycles parked on the sidewalks that it is often easier to walk in the street than on the sidewalks.

The first thing that you need to do when exploring Hanoi’s old quarter is to learn how to cross the busy narrow streets. Many of the intersections don’t have stop lights and crosswalks and even when there are, the motorists usually ignore them. The basic rule when walking or even driving on the streets of Hanoi is that whoever gets to a spot first has the right of way. If you wait until there is no traffic, you will never make your way through the old quarter, so you simply need to walk out into the street, avoiding vehicles directly in front of you, and the other vehicles will simple swerve around you as you make your way across the street. It is a little unnerving at first, but once you get used to it, it becomes quite natural and is completely safe.

Strolling around Hoan Kiem Lake is a popular activity as the lake is centered in the heart of the old quarter and is a quiet refuge in the otherwise hectic area. The streets around the lake offer some of the best choices for restaurants featuring Bun Cha, Pho, and Egg Coffee. On weekend evenings, the streets on the north end of the lake are blocked to motorized traffic and converted into outdoor markets with live music and a variety of entertainment. Just north of that is the section of the old quarter referred to as the “beer streets” due to the number of pubs that can be found in the area.

Easier to Walk on the Street Despite the Traffic

We would highly recommend walking the streets of Hanoi’s old quarter in both the daytime and nighttime hours to get a true sense of the city. You are likely to see other tourists walking the streets as well, but it is predominantly local residents that you will find there. Families and friends gather on the streets at dinnertime and sit in their tiny chairs as they enjoy a meal together. We spent many nights in Hanoi’s old quarter and found every exploration to bring us a new and enjoyable experience.

Walking Along the Mekong River in Vientiane, Laos

On January 22, 2020January 22, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Laos, Uncategorized4 Comments

When visiting Vientiane in Laos, one thing that should be on your itinerary is spending time along the Mekong River. There are many restaurants on the road that sits along the river as well as Chao Anouvong Park, the main park in Vientiane. There are also a few rooftop restaurants that are only a block or two away from the river that offer great views of the city as well as the river. We had been told before visiting that we should be sure to see a sunset over the Mekong River and we were definitely glad that we did. At night, the area around Chao Anouvong Park that is near the inner city turns into a night market with street food, family activities, and vendors selling locally produced items.

We decided to walk along the river to get a couple of cold drinks at a pub to escape the heat and watch the sun set. As we walked the street to get to the pub, we were distracted trying to find where it was located and we walked into a section of the sidewalk that had fresh concrete. The workers hadn’t blocked of the sidewalk and were gone for the day, so we didn’t realize that it was fresh cement. We quickly hustled off of it, but our footprints were already there, so we joke with ourselves that we have left our mark on Vientiane.

From the restaurant, we walked along the river as the sun set over the Mekong River, which was truly gorgeous. On the other side of the river is Thailand, so many people from Laos and Thailand cross back and forth every day. Afterwards, we continued to the night market as the crowds began to form as people came out to enjoy the cooler temperatures. One of the things that we noticed during our time in Vientiane was that there were a fair amount of expats in the city, which didn’t actually expect. We also enjoyed a sunset from one of the rooftop restaurants, which also provided cooler breezes as the sun slowly went down over the horizon.

Watching the Sun Head Toward the Horizon

There are many interesting things to do in Vientiane, such as visiting Buddha Park, going to the Golden Stupa, seeing Victory Gate, as well as just seeing all of the temples. In addition to those places, it is certainly worth taking some time to unwind along the Mekong River and enjoy a beautiful sunset.

Buying Ingredients at a Local Market in Hanoi

On December 4, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Vietnam1 Comment

We decided to take a cooking class during our trip to Hanoi, Vietnam where our chef took us to a local market to buy all of the ingredients needed for our dinner. Obviously we wouldn’t have been able to navigate the market without the help of our chef and there were plenty of ingredients that we can’t necessarily find at home. We were told that the local people of Hanoi, like in a lot of cities, go to the market every day or at least every other day in order to buy fresh ingredients for their meals.

We needed both beef and pork for our recipes, so the butchers trimmed the fat for us as we waited. There were stalls that specialized in vegetables, spices, fruit, as well as different meats. You could find live chickens as well as fresh fish swimming in buckets of water. It was very colorful as well as very busy as people navigated their motorcycles through the stalls picking up items.

Getting fresh ingredients to create local dishes was definitely an incredible experience and we are looking forward to trying our best to create some of the meals in the near future. Picking out all of our vegetables, meats, and other items was as interesting as the experience that we had actually preparing the meals afterwards. Taking a cooking class in a foreign country is definitely an experience that we would recommend and getting to go to the market truly enhances the experience. It was as close as we could get to preparing a meal like a local.