Hoan Kiem Lake 2

The area surrounding Hoan Kiem Lake is a shopping mecca for tourists. The streets radiating from the lake to the west, east and north are all full of stuff, from silk ties & scarves, wooden dolls, to pirated DVDs. Just be careful in moving from shop to shop and crossing the streets, as the shopping activities likwise bring in multitudes of motorbikes and peddlers.

A tip I would like to give is try to haggle for a 30% cut once, as this is almost expected. You will probably be counter-offered to a 20% cut. Tourists who overly try to bleed the sellers dry are frowned upon. Someohw, culture in Vietnam dictates that even for the locals, those who can afford are intrinsically expected to pay more in order that the not-haves will be soemhow alleviated. I reckon it is part of the socialist mindset that still of course lingers.

Around Hoan Kiem lake and perhaps everywhere else, motorcycle riders offer a "taxi" service for almost a 3rd of the price of a normal taxi. Of course there is no meter so you end up haggling again. If you must take a taxi, I suggest you avoid these motorbikes as they are drivers from hell. Take a normal taxi, and even then, choose carefully. You may wish to stick to my suggestions: Maianh Taxi, Hanoi Taxi and HanoiTourist Taxi only. These are managed by reputable companies. 

Army Museum & Flag Tower

We have yet to visit these 2 places. I will update as soon as get a chance to go. :-)

Ly Thai To Park

This tourist spot is very close to Hotel Metropole. You can also see Hoan Kiem Lake across the from where the statue is. Ly Thai To occupies a prominent position in Vietnam's history.

During weekends this place becomes bustling with tourists. It is very hard to get an opprtunity to take a good picture beside the statue. So what we did was to come on a weekday, and close to lunch. Presto, we had the place all to ourselves!

4 Pho Parallels

Aside from knowing the areas around the Hoan Kiem Lake, a tourist must walk the whole length of Ly Thung Kiet, Hai Ba Trung, Trang Thi and Tran Hung Dao streets ("pho" means street in Vietnamese; not be mistaken with another "pho", which means noodles).

These 4 streets are parallel to each other and run on an east-west direction (towards the west is the Hoan Kiem Lake).

You do not know Hanoi if you have not walked these 4 streets.

Friendship Palace

This big hunk of a building is a token of friendship from the former Soviet Union. It is also known as the Cultural Palace as most of the major events and conventions in Hanoi are help there. The Friendship Palace is located at the Western end of Tran Hung Dao St. If you walk the stretch of this road to the East, you will find the Philippine Embassy on the right hand side.

"Kem"

The best place to get ice-cream ("kem") in Hanoi is this very cosy restaurant in Quan Su St. called Clasico. They serve a good line of Italian pizza and pasta, but the ice-cream for desert is fabulous! VND25,000 per serving.

The other place to get nice "kem" is in Tran Hung Dao St., near the Philippine Embassy, there is this ice cream parlor called NZ Kem. they have one of that too at the 7th floor of Parkson.

Oh, and there is this drive-through ice cream shop at Ngo Quyen St. near the famous Thang Long Bookstore (famous because it is the only one that sells a wide range of English materials both for tourists and students who need to learn English.

Lastly, you can also find  kem made the Indian (not native Americans, but from India) way at Khazanna or tandoor restaurants. In these places "kem" is called "kulfi".

Hanoi International Fellowship

HIF is a non-sectarian, inter-denominational group of Christians and Catholics in Hanoi. They hold church services at the Grand Ballroom of Intercontinental West Lake ("Ho Tay") Hotel. It is about 10 minutes from Hoan Kiem Lake area. The service is in English, and is attended only by expats/non-Vietnamese believers.

At the door you get greeted by a member and gets shown to the stairs leading up to the 2nd floor, where another member wlecomes you at the landing. Free-flowing coffee, tea and cookies from 10:00AM to 10:30AM, then the service starts. The HIF also runs the "Kids Quest" program, wherein the kids woh come to the service with their parents can actually attend some sort of a Sunday School in order that the parents can concentrate on worship.

For more details, you may visit their website, just type "Hanoi International Fellowship" at the search bar.

Thanks so much, HIF!