It only takes about 2 hours to get from Bangkok to Hanoi, but the two cities feel centuries apart. Bangkok is all brashness, noise and bluster; at just about 200 years old it’s one of the youngest capital cities in Asia. Hanoi, on the other hand, is getting ready to celebrate its 1000th birthday as the hub city for northern Vietnam.

Hanoi wears its history proudly — from the ancient pagodas and the crowded shophouses to the French opera house and the shiny new modern condos, it’s all on display admist the neverending sea of motorcycle traffic belching noxious fumes into the air.

We spent a few days here on our last trip to Vietnam four years ago and I was looking forward to getting back and seeing the city again. The Ghormley family trip was a good excuse to spend a few more days here.

We were staying at the swanky Maison D’Hanoi in the old quarter just a quick walk down to Hoan Kiem Lake which is always bustling with locals, tourists and vendors.

our first night in Hanoi, the group heads down to the Lake

early in the morning, Hanoians show up for lakeside exercises. There are varous tai chi groups, one massive aerobics class and joggers — all going counter-clockwise around the lake. This fellow was going solo.

fan tai chi

Chris and his mom on the bridge to the temple in the lake

and us on the same bridge

Mostly what we did in Hanoi was a lot of walking around, but we did a bit of sightseeing around town, too.

at the Temple of Literature

Hanoi street pups check me out to see if I’m OK. Don’t worry — I still have my rabies vaccine from last time.

at the Hanoi Botanical Gardens. Pop has his camera at the ready.

kids at garden

more from the Botanical Gardens

Pop and I with a dragon made of flowers

But I know what you’re thinking: sure, Hanoi has a lot of nice architecture and pretty sights to see, but what about the food? Well, rest assured we ate well. Here are a few of the highlights:

Our first night we stopped off at this restaurant near the hotel which would have been pretty forgettable except for the elaborate way they cooked this delicious fish for us tableside. It was, like, 150,000 dong, but worth it for the show alone.

The fabled doner kabob banh mi which we did not actually eat, but it looked good. This is near the place where one lady tried to shake me down for 10,000 dong for a fish skewer, but the conscience of the grilling woman caused her to slip a 5k note back to me.

My favorite stop of our trip in Hanoi (maybe my favorite meal in Vietnam) was at Bun Cha Hang Manh, a classic multi-storey, claustrophobic Hanoi affair where they only serve bun cha (pork slices, meatballs, noodles and tons of fresh herbs) and nem (spring rolls).

bun cha greens

A pile of delicious nem which unfortunately had crab in it so my dad couldn’t eat it.

Pop enjoys his bun cha even if he couldn’t have the nem.

bun cha pickles

Chris says: enough!

We stopped in at Fanny, a Hanoi ice cream shop with fancy sundaes and some unusual flavors. I got the Young Rice flavor which had the subtle, floral flavor of green rice.

C + sundae

Our last breakfast in Hanoi was at a chao ca (fish and rice soup) stand. In this picture I am moments from discovering that the bowl is crammed with fresh herbs and meltingly tender fish just beneath the surface of the rice soup.

Hanoi loves its donuts. Most mornings I was pursued by vendors who would repeat, “Hello, Madam. Hello, donut!” which is the greeting I imagine getting in my magical dream world. We got some street donuts, but we also stopped in at a national chain called DOCO (for DOnuts and COffee) where they have wacky flavor combos, a la Voodoo Donuts.

I didn’t get anything too crazy at DOCO

I can add this one to my collection of pictures of me eating donuts.