Hanoi Local Customs

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When you are in Hanoi, especially at the Old Quarters area, you will see lots of local people going about their daily life e.g. riding motorcycles, shopping, eating at the roadside stores, relaxing at the park etc. Generally the people are laid back and the pace of life is not as fast as major developed cities. Also, if you are shopping, you will discover that you will not be able to bargain much unlike in China. Here, the most that they can reduced the price is about 20-30%. Please visit the travelogue section of this VT page to see more photos of the people of Hanoi.

This is the conclusion of a Swiss expat living in Hanoi, which was on the Pathfinder 2005. Enjoy!

HONEY'S HORROR

5. "HELLO MOTO"
The prennial hoohoo-ing of xe om drivers is as much a part of Vietnamese life as Pho. Is there anything more annouing that the strange mating call of the sadly unendangered species that greets you every morning as you walk down the same road? Admittedly now I find the noise a pretty accurate modd swing barometer.

4. Why did the chicken cross the road...
Because he had a death wish. Timidly stepping forwards like young chicks, edging slowly across, between the never-ending stream of motorbikes, to the safe-haven of the adjacent pavement, only to find it cluttered with food stalls. Mind you sitting at a good advantage point cafe watching fresh travellers trying to negociate their way through the motorbikes is a valid of top 5 experience.

3. Whingeing Poms
Whingeing certainly ismt confined to the sceptred isle. What is worse than hearing a fellow expat slagging of the the Vietnamese, from the comforts of a western cafe or air conditioned house overlooking the West Lake. And if I never hear another " he called me fat " conversation well it still will to be many. If you dont like it why stay.

2. Pennies from heaven
This really should be number one, but I've only heard of it through the grapevine. Sitting on a motorbike and having a bag of vomit, chucked from a passing bus, land on your lap, or worse still smack into your motorbike helmet. Yuck!

1. Xe om smells
" I love the smell of a xe om drivers shirt in the morning". Not really, but still, as bad as their mating call is, it's that ditinctive, higly toxic smell that gets my number one award. It's almost enough to make you wear a motorbike helmet.

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Vietnamese love to eat dog meat and other game meat. Thus dont be surprised when you go for a buffet in Vietnam as you may see some of the animals below being served on the table. Beside these, there are also tonic wine fermented with snakes. They are supposed to give vitality and provided cures. Well, for the brave-hearted, I heard that they were nice, try it! As for me, I will try to stick to seafood and diet coke.

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Driving from Hanoi to Halong, we noticed that right in the middle of some paddy & vegetable fields there were some red and white tombs. There were some large & tall ones and some smaller ones.

I didn't ask the tour guide for any explanation but I guess that there are some close kin of those who own the farms who are buried there, close to where they had lived and worked.


A few kind VT'ers have since explained to me that it is a common sight in Vietnam to have family members buried because in the fields where the family lives and works. Of course with modernity, it is become less common, but the older graves are still there, out in the middle of the open fields.

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A common sight in Vietnam are vendors in the unmistakable Vietnamese conical hat. These women walk from street to street and place to place to hawk their wares, which are usually food or fruits such as mangoes, strawberries and the local star apple.

I bought some mangoes from one of the vendors. Just carrying the 2 kilos with me to the airport and back home to Malaysia was a real chore. I guess most of us cannot imagine how hard these women work...to make a living.

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As it was close to Christmas when I was in Hanoi I could see that Vietnamese people haven't been able to escpae the commercialism of Western Christmas. There was a colourful street where they sold everything one can think of needing to decorate one's home for Christmas. Quite terrible and untasty I think. Though Vietnamese in general are Buddish they celebrate more and more Christmas as well.

Especially in night markets, you will see young entrepreneurs selling their wares. Innocent looking but you will be surprised that they are streetwise and persistent. Some can be seen just selling a couple of pencils or sweets.

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With so much of good food around in Hanoi, you ladies there might want to know how much you have put on. Well, step on the weighing machine - it's found along the streets of Hanoi, near the lake or you can even stop one as they push these weighing machines along the streets. If you happened to hear some music playing while you are on the street, its the weighing machine that is "calling" you.