The bright yellow paint on the walls of Cho Chau Long peels away in long, dusty flakes, revealing the rough concrete underneath. Built in the late nineteen seventies, this market sits at a cramped intersection where the heavy scent of…
Early Morning Lake Rituals
Experience Hanoi before the motorbikes take over on this peaceful morning walk along the shores of Truc Bach and West Lake. You will catch local flower vendors, watch lakeside tai chi, and enjoy a steaming bowl of street-side noodle soup alongside early-rising residents.
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1. Chợ Châu Long
2. Phở bò không biển hiệu 58 Cửa Bắc
A narrow, soot-stained storefront on Cửa Bắc Street holds one of the most famous bowls of beef noodles in Hanoi. Diners crowd onto low plastic stools before the sun even rises, waiting for the owner to finish simmering the broth. He…
3. Vườn hoa hồ Trúc Bạch
The shore of Truc Bach Lake features a narrow, verdant strip of land known as Vườn hoa hồ Trúc Bạch, distinguished by its low-hanging willow trees and a central stone statue of a woman holding a small child. French colonial engineers…
4. John McCain Memorial
The John McCain Memorial stands on the edge of Truc Bach Lake as a jagged steel relief showing a downed aircraft and a pilot in a parachute. It marks the spot where John McCain, then a Navy lieutenant commander, parachuted into the water…
5. Tran Quoc Pagoda
The Tran Quoc Pagoda sits on a small island in West Lake, connected to the shore by a single stone causeway. Its red brick stupa rises eleven stories into the air, with a white lotus statue placed in each of its arched openings. Emperor Ly…
6. Cafe Duy Trí
Cafe Duy Tri on Yen Phu street has a narrow, faded storefront easily missed if you are not watching for the handwritten sign. Inside, the walls hold dozens of framed certificates and old photographs from the nineteen twenties. The owner,…