In September 2019, some friends and I decided to travel through Vietnam. We started with Hanoi and then moved south to Ho Chi Minh.
Vietnamese food and culture is extremely exotic and attractive. Overall this country has a tropical humid weather, and because it is a tourism oriented country, they are very open minded about what you wear and eat as a foreigner. The Vietnamese vendors all wear a hat to save their skin from suntan and burn, and most of them are modestly dressed. The youth though love wearing whatever they please and are extremely stylish.
Coming to our first touch point - HANOI. This city is a busy one with a lot of hustle and tall sky line and people. However, we chose to pick a hostel in the heart of all the happening spots.
The first place we wanted to visit the day we landed, was the famous HANOI TRAIN STREET.
It’s a tiny narrow street ( about 100 mts where it gets really narrow) hidden in one of the back streets of Hanoi and surrounded by 2 storied narrow houses packed closely together. These families’ backyards are the railways where the train passes a few times per day.
We had unfortunately missed the train passing by timings, but never the less wanted to visit this place.
Since it was just a km from our hostel, we decided to walk it. Vietnam has so many food vendors. This country eats non stop! From fried to boiled. From cyclist vendors to shops, every one is happy to sell some form of food or beverage!
When we reached the train street, we were seriously surprised. Either side of this small patch of railtracks, have cafes and tiny eateries with small tables and stools for tourists to comfortably sit and wait for the train to pass by.
So we also chose a place , as I was desperate to have 2 famous dishes
1. Egg Coffee
2. Banh mi
Here are the top 5 things you need to know while visiting the famous HANOI TRAIN STREET.
1. Only 100 mts of the rail tracks seem extremely close. Ensure you go here so you get the best experience.
2. Check the timings of the train crossing and reach 30 mins prior so you find a nice table and chair for your self and get comfortable. Else this place gets crowded
3. You must eat at these cafes, as the quality is excellent. Banh mi specially, was delicious. We ordered both egg and chicken
4. Vietnam as a country is very comfortable with any sort of outfit you please to wear, so you are free to wear your favorites, however, the stools are very small and low, so if you are tall person you might feel awkward or uncomfortable. Also for women wearing short skirts you can easily lose balance on these.
5. Choose a timing during the sunset, the cute cafes with lanterns on , look amazing!
Hope this article was useful, do comment if you need any assistance on Hanoi!
