I, on the other hand, ordered bacon and eggs, an omelette, some fruits!!! Ha ha ha. The breakfast was big enough to tide us over until lunchtime. Their coffee was very good as well.
A fruit plate was also provided to us everyday. :)
Moving on to our walks!!!
Hanoi's Old Quarter is composed of 36 "old streets" which we will cover by foot. The hotel provided us with a map which we followed, as well as a photocopy of the walking tour we read at our Lonely Planet Vietnam book. These are the snapshots of the streets we visited. Most of the streets start with "Hang" meaning merchandise, then the name of the commodity they sell or feature.
It's my first time to see jade Buddhas and vases this big!!
We found some antiques on one of the streets:
Bamboo poles at another...
Jars and jars of different candies...
different kinds of spices,
as well as the famous WEASEL (yes, kopi luwak!) coffee, along Trieu Viet Vuong (Coffee street). Our biggest regret was we didn't get to take home coffee beans as we still had another country to go to after Vietnam, and coffee beans, though airy, can actually be heavy.
So many types of coffee!!!
Baskets carried on the shoulder, bikes, and motorcycles are used by vendors to carry their merchandise. This is the most common sight in the Old Quarter, and maybe in all of Vietnam.
We passed this lady on a bike several times. She was selling stargazers in the middle of the road.
More pictures of vendors:
We've almost covered the entire walking tour, so we decided to have some Ca Phe Nau at Vinlands Coffee. One of the more famous coffee shops in Hanoi.
I told D that this is actually one of the best coffees I've ever tasted. Very delicious and chocolatey. Reminds me of the hot chocolate albeit stronger, from Pangasinan, my dad's hometown in the Philippines.
Vinlands' Menu:
As we walked on we passed quite a number of art galleries. We wanted something to remind us of Hanoi, more specifically of the conical hats and the vendors carrying baskets over their shoulders.
We chanced upon a generic painting of the elements we were looking for. But what surprised us was that the painter was actually there to sell his own work of art.
And in another art gallery, we found a painting just like the one we purchased a while back. The artist was there too!
And gladly signed his painting for us. :) What a great souvenir!
Next we paid a short visit to Hoan Kiem Lake.
At its entrance at the start of the Huc Bridge is the Thap But or the Pen Tower. A phrase is inscribed on it, "Ta thanh thien", which means "Write on the sky".
The Turtle Tower is found at the center of Hoan Kiem Lake. It was quite hazy today thus the fuzzy pic.
A monument on one of the sides of Hoan Kiem Lake.
It was time for lunch after the long walking tour of the Old Quarter. We had some more pho'.
Then it was time for a little rest!
:)
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