Tips from expats in Hanoi

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Hi Teacher Mark!

Why don't you post these advices on the forum so that anyone can benefit from it?

Regards
Armand

Ha Noi is way less friendly than TP HCM. May be it was all the bombing they had.

(1)Water: Ha Noi water contains naturally occurring arsenic, either boil water or use bottled (I never use bottled in TP HCM).

(2) The police are more strict on traffic violations = even by pedestrians.

(3) Most of the 17,000 cabs are driven by crooks. Use only Mai Linh, De Luxe and Ha Noi Taxi. Taxis at the airport have no meters. Never ride a taxi where the meter is not mounted on the dash.

Always ask someone how much a ride should be; in case of dispute hold the door open and tell the cabby to call the police. The open door will stop him from 'kidnapping' you.

(4) The Ha Noi transit system is very good - check out their web pages for routes and first/last buses.

(5) Pick-pockets abound in Foreigner areas. If you think something is going on, rotate (360) on the spot.

(6) If you are being followed, either walk against the pedestrian flow or dive in to some tourist facility and wait.

(7) For some reason there are often spontaneous street fights in Ha Noi. Disappear. Fast.

(8) Ha Noi has many high security areas where Foreigners are banned. Those guns the guards use are loaded, You can get in the National Assembly, though.

(9) Ha Noi has many historical monuments; the libraries are very good for researching things Vietnamese.

(10) Ha Noi is a good town for walking. Even if you take a Mai Linh cab to an area, many things can be reached o foot. Example, the One-Pillar Pagoda area is an area dense with history and it is about a 30-minute stroll to Hoan Kiem.

If you are going to visit the mausoleum, you must dress conservatively, no cameras, etc. permitted (one of your party will have to guard your stuff outside in the plaza).

Always check to see if Uncle Ho is in town, he flies to Moscow annually to get patched up.

If someone in that area, usually with a jacket and tie, asks where you are from the answer is Mongolia. These people are guides looking for business.

(11) Nothing, but nothing, beats an early morning coffee seated alongside Hoan Kiem Lake opposite the ugly Buu Dien building, watching the locals doing their exercises.

(12) The 'trades' villages are outside Ha Noi, best seen with a tour.

(13) Don't miss the Water Puppets. Buy your tickets early, When in the theatre area, there is a tourism information centre about 100 metres to the left (as you face the theatre) which has plenty of free maps, brochures and information.

(14) Ha Noi temperate; the coldest month is February (0-10C) and heating systems not so common (but getting better). If you don't have warm clothing you can get stuff at the Russian Market.

(15) The beer is good and cheap in Ha Noi.

please do tell more about HCM City, I'm moving for job next month from Hanoi to HCM. I'm confusing about what you wrote. My expats friends told me they prefer HN to HCM because there's way too much swindle there and theft and robbery might happen in daylight. Please do tell more about this city. I hope HCM city is not more expensive than Hanoi any longer?

1. Ha noi water source is in the same region with Ha Noi brewery.

Previously, Ha Noi brewery was built by the French at the Ngoc Ha erea, where is the Ha Noi brewery, now. At that time, they called Ho Men Beer (L'Home). It is said that to take a long time to find out Ngoc Ha erea, where is a region with well water source for cooking beer.
In brewing technology, water is the most important material. Despite you have real hop flower, good barley, modern machinery and production processes, it can not make famous beer without good water source.
Ngoc Ha - Hoang Hoa Tham Region, near the West Lake, Hanoi  have the very suitable water source, which is ideal for brewing.  Made exclusively Ha Noi beer style. What about Ha noi water???

Westerners love Hanoi beer Intersection
This is VNess link, you can use Google Chrome brower to get in English.
And how American said:
In Vietnam, Traveling an Unlikely Beer Trail

How to take cheap taxi from Noi Bai airport to HaNoi center:

From International arrival gate, u go to 2nd floor(Departure gate). U should take caps there. These cabs just take clients from Hanoi center to Noi bai, and they can offer a better price for a trip back to Hanoi center.

Last time i paid VND190.000 for a trip to Hanoi center. Maximum is VND300.000. U can negotiate with drivers around VND200.000-VND250.000 (all in)

Hope this tip is helpfull ^^!

Hi,
just want to give u guys new information regarding taxi fare. The Airport no longer allows outside taxi to pick up clients within the airport base. So basically, if you want cheap fare, u will have to walk outside, specifically outside the gate (where you pay 10,000 tickets to get out), there might be some taxis for you to catch. Warning: don't use that method if you carry 2 cases coz you will have to walk a bit.

Alternatively, they have 4, 5 taxis permitted to pick up clients at the airport including Dai Nam, Venus, Noibai, Viet Thanh and one that I forget the  name. Tell the receptionists where you want to go, they will tell you a fix price then get on a taxi and pay the driver the exact amount you were quoted previously. Safe and reasonable.

Hope this helps.

From Hanoi to the Airport, you can take Venus taxi which cost only 200K VND oneway, no surcharge. This is the cheapest price I know now in Hanoi.

From the airport to the city, I usually take mini bus which is 40k/person. the mini bus can load 13 persons each time and its stop is right outside the arrival lounge on the first floor. You can to to the center of the city with this bus since the last stop is Quang Trung street. The taxi is way more expensive and public bus locates outside and you gotta walk. You can't reach the city center with one public bus because the last stop of this bus is near Russian embassy which is not the center. You gotta change the bus and be careful with pickpocket.