The normal things you may need to know to have an easy life in Hanoi
by
BN
- May 24, 2020
Hi, the life in Hanoi is coming back after the time of pandemic. The streets are getting crowded again, people are coming back to work.
Today I've come up with the idea of listing the things you may need to know, to avoid or to enjoy to have an easy life when living in Hanoi.
And here's the things:
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| The normal things you may need to know to have an easy life in Hanoi |
1. If your stuffs are stolen by a thief, you can have chance to get it back by going to Gioi Market.
When my mom was a child, her dolls were stolen. Sometimes her neighborhood also lost some chickens. There was a time that people in Hanoi are easy to let the thief stole their stuffs.
It was about 20 or 30 years ago and their experience to get the stuff back is to come to Gioi Market and buy them back with the cheap price, because the thieves usually bring the stolen stuffs to this market to sell for money. And of course my mom found the dolls there. Her neighborhood found his chickens there.
That is the story of 20 or 30 years ago. I'm not sure about the current time. However, the experience has existed for so long and and you loose the things like a bicycle, the high possibility you can succeed in applying this tip. Don't worry to go there because the sellers of that market are not dangerous so much. They're just the reseller after buying stuffs from the thief.
In case of loosing electronic devices such as a phone or a table, I'm sure that the thief has sold it at a phone repair shop. But there are thousands of shops like that in Hanoi, the possibility to find it back is harder. However, you can still use "Find my iPhone" hhaa.
Address of Gioi Market: 33 Thinh Yen Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi.
2. Ask the price of lemon tea or maize ear/corncob before buying when you are on the Long Bien Bridge.
Long Bien Bridge of Hanoi is popular as the history witness of Hanoi which across though the Red River. The youth usually come to Long Bien Bridge for watching the sunset, sunrise, enjoying the wind together with eating corn, drinking lemon tea.
However, I don't know why the the seller of corn and tea must require the price which is much higher than normal. As normal, you can have a cup of lemon tea with the price from 10,000VND to 20,000VND and a corncob with the price under 10,000VND. If you don't ask the price first, after getting the food, the seller will ask you to pay more than 100,000 VND or even 200,000 VND, maybe.
This is one of the things I really don't like.
3. If you run out of money, there's one way to enjoy the Vietnamese food with the very cheap price as just for students
Don't hesitate to catch a bus of the number 26. The bus 26 go through a lot of universities especially the zone of Hanoi University of Technology, National University of Engineering and National Economic University. This zone is considered to be the street food place for students because of the cheap price with variety of food.
4. Never forget to bring the mask, which is not to prevent the virus but to prevent the heavy sun in the summer and the smoke and dust from the vehicles in almost every seasons.
My foreign friend once asked me few years ago why Vietnamese people must wear mask when riding bicycle. She wondered if there was something wrong with the people or the people got sick or what?
The answer is no. If someone ask how many seasons there are in Ho Chi Minh City, the people in Ho Chi Minh city will make a joke that there are two seasons: "the hot season and the hot as f*** season". What about Hanoi? Although Hanoi has winter, but the summer of Hanoi will be scarier than "the hot as f*** season" of Ho Chi Minh city. That's the reason why all the people wear mask every time going out. Not one wants to get skin cancer.
In case you are outside in the rush hour, as I've said above, the mask is to prevent the smoke and dust.
5. If you want to go to somewhere on time, don't forget to estimate the time you get stuck on the street due to the traffic jam.
This tip may not be true in this time because of the pandemic that makes everyone stay at home. However, in the normal days, especially at about 8 in the morning and 6 in the evening, it may take you a very long time to go to where you want because these times are the rush hours.
6. Dinh Le Street is always the place to buy the books with the cheaper price than the market price.
That's Dinh Le Street - the oldest book street of Hanoi and it takes only 2 minutes to walk from Dinh Le Street to Hoan Kiem Lake.
The book stores may look old, but you can find the newest books here, even the Vietnamese versions or the English versions.
I think Dinh Le Street is one of the things you may not know about Hanoi Walking Street.
7. Ha Trung street is the place to exchange money.
Ha Trung Street is also a street in the Old Quarter, so I think it's easy for expats to get there.
Actually not every store on the street have all kind of currency. However, this is still the place to exchange money according to the experience of locals living in Hanoi.
When I come up with anything to add into this list, I'll make it for you. I think this post can help you have easier days living in Hanoi.
