Street Vendors, Hanoi

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On the doorstep of my hotel there is the weekend night market, great place to look for bargains.. I was able to buy the 2 handmade embroidered bags for only 90,000 dong. Of course its after a long bargaining as initial price is 120,000 for the 2.

The seller are an old couple, they dont have their own booth, only on a cloth placed on the streets, with their bags and they dont speak English, since I dont speak Vietnamese either, we bargain with calculator , LOTS OF SMILES and a lot of facial expression. :-)

Its one of the best deals that Ive got, as on some of the stalls at the night market, one bag is selling at 100,000 each, goodness how I wish I bought more. :-)

Night market / local market is always a great introduction to the local culture...

Dress Code: hide your camera, as its a testament that you are a tourist, and almost automatically increase the price by X times.

street smarts, there are some petty crimes, pick pockets since lots of people..

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So much of local specialities in the night market that you really need a bigger belly to stomach them.....

Cheap and tasty is how i describe the snacks and small eats in the night market. Don't worry, non of us had any stomach upset after consuming them.

To go with your beer have a snack freshly cooked at your stool by one of the many street vendors. They carry around a small pot of burning charcoal and a basket of thinly sliced dried meat and fish. When you ask for something - I had the fish (I think) - they fan up the charcoal and put the meat directly on it for a couple of minutes and serve it with a small bowl of spicy dip.