Understanding realities of Hanoi for prices for rides, services, food, etc
 

Hello everyone. I have upcoming trip of three of us - my wife and our family friend coming in Hanoi at the end of the year. This will be the first trip in Hanoi and would like to get some understanding what to expect and what are realities at ground.

Information I would like to get would be following:

Transportation:
What are your experiences using Grab, GoViet or some other apps to get get car and get delivered to your destination, in terms of:

- wait time: from the moment you booked the ride till the car arrives.
- cancellations: how often and/or if driver cancels
- price for the ride.
Also, how accessible/available cards from ride-share services (above mentioned Grab, GoViet, others) are and which one is preferred to use for minimizing hassle.

Services:
My wife and our family friend would like to go and have 1-2h massage. Based on quick check the prices for 1h body massage show starting from like 400K VND. This is surprisingly more than I expected and goes to the same and higher price level as in Malaysia. I was also told that there are obligatory tip which is the same amount as the massage price! That would be the same price as in Singapore. If this is the case I would tell my companions that they will be better of to have this done is Singapore instead.

Street food:
What are recommended places for self-exploring street food?

Museums:
Are there any not widely known but interesting museums?

Self guided walking
If there are interesting streets/architecture to see doing self-guided tour, where to go?

Finally - where to meet New Year
Is there a place where one should go and have good time to meet/celebrate New Year? Ideally - without 500 000 people next to you, but with the nice atmosphere.

I absolutely adore Grab. A million times better than Uber.

Using Grab, I can't ever recall a car not turning up. Most Ive waited might be 10 minutes.

The drivers do not speak English. So it can on occasion be difficult to meetup with the driver due to location and language issues.

Once you are in Hanoi, and presumably near the Old Quarter you will see lots of adverts for massages. I've not had a full body one, but I love the foot massages, and that's usually about 120k. I usually have these pretty much daily.

I was last in Hanoi in March and IIRC prices for full body were around 250k.

I've never had tips asked for.
I'd be thinking that the tips were requested when extra services were required. Extra meaning sexual. This is MY opinion.

The only museums I found interesting were the museum of ethnology AND Ho Chi Minh's home.

All those buildings of the different lifestyles of the different ethnic groups were memorable.

I did also find the Hanoi Hilton a surprisingly interesting but upsetting place to see.

I'm arriving in Hanoi myself on the 26th December to say for a bit... Not sure how long yet to be honest. Having said that I'm in VN until end of Feb.

Thanks for replies. Just to add that I travel budget - this is lifestyle and philosophy choice. For this trip I booked two rooms at Hanoi Central Hotel - $50 bor both rooms, with taxes expected.

Regarding Grab - I was using it from day 1, have already used it in Vietnam before and know how to use it to pick up source and destination. My question was that even Grab can deliver different experience based on location. That's why I asked for if one should try different alternatives like GoViet or Be.

Regarding massages - I would really doubt that my two lady companions will ask for the services warring demanding tips. There was rather unpleasant experience in Da Lat this way that tips were directly demanded and I would rather avoid having this experience again.

One more question - because we are there for four days/nights, would you recommend a day trip for nature but not Halong Bay and not cruise. I've read enough turning me off from all this scam.

What do you mean by scam of Halong Bay? I have been on a 2 nights 3 days Halong Bay cruise and to me it was worth every minute and we enjoyed it thoroughly. I have been on many cruises and this was fully worth it and the accommodation and the service was top class. In fact compared to many cruises this was cheap too.

Ride Hail: I have a couple of local, VN ride hail apps, but consistently use Grab. Zero cancels in 25 (?) rides. Cheap, often <$2 (?). Generally easy to identify car and no issue with the driver not knowing where to go.

Street Food: Repeating from another thread somewhat.

• work north toward Dong Xuan market from Bánh Tôm Ngõ chợ Đồng Xuân. Start at the deep fried shrimp patty place. 3 generations cooking :D
• Xôi Yến sticky rice with toppings. Filling, so you might want to share
• Nem Vuong the GMaps marker may be wrong. I don;t remember it on this side and up the street.
• Cafe Đinh traditional egg coffee, but try the Dream Beans variant, which is better to my taste
• Bún riêu cua Hàng Bạc
• or, just go to Noodle and Roll, which has most/all of the common Northern dishes at decent prices and you can forego sitting on stools :D

Self-guided walking:

• walk around Hoàn Kiếm lake, duh, and go by foreigner central, Opera/Hilton area, (once) :rolleyes:
• start at Pho Ga and walk north, following the alley. Actually the little alleys in this area are pretty interesting.
• Travelfish has a bunch of suggested theme walks, but you've probably looked at them

Other things to do:

• Tam Coc Ninh Binh boat and bicycle was a lot more fun than I expected, though clearly touristy. Someone else organized it, but I'm sure any of a 100 Hanoi agents can set you up.
• There may be Christmas Carols are St Joseph's. You can sit inside in Eden Coffee

Ha Long Bay is no scam. Its one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

Yes, the in cruise activities were boring - I'm not one for grotto exploring and the pearl farm was kinda interesting for 15 minutes.

But overall I really enjoyed that cruise. I'd do it again. In fact I am contemplating doing it again.

Scam means - it is overcrowded, overpriced and and you are dropped at certain places to force to buy junk made in China. No I don't want that or continue discussion on that subject.

So, going back to the question - what other day trip, park/nature activities would be there not involving cruises?

The full body massage I had in HCMC was an unpleasant experience. The staff did a poor job (one handed massage because the other hand was holding the phone she was glued to). at the end she and a co-worker blocked the door until the demanded tips are paid. Foot massage are different. It is usually done in public and harder for them to block the exit and demand tips.

I have avoided full body massages in Vietnam since that includes Hanoi.

I went solo, and booked a driver before I left. The poor guy waited a while because I was going through immigration. I usually book a driver when entering a country where I don't speak the language and don't want to deal with potentially scam taxi drivers.

If you do Halong, instead choose Bai Tu Long Bay, much less crowded. I did a 1 night, never saw a pearl farm. Some kayaked, but I stayed on board.

I also prebooked a massage before going, it was at a spa. No dodgy tipping experience. Though it was my first Swedish and good lord, she was standing on my back and moved me into positions never seen before LOL. It was in the old city area, in fact I saw it on my first morning walkabout. I also booked a free college kid motorbike tour and night food tour.

As an at the time 57yo female, I'm less likely at night to wander around, in fact when traveling solo, at night....I'm in.

Could you share more about this?

I have not done tours with this group but they are pretty well-known: http://hanoikids.org/

OP, there are fantastic street food places spread all over the capital city suiting different tastes. The one that I recommended below are my my personal favorites and all located in the Old Quarter, in case it helps with your logistics.
I have checked that they have reviews in English so you can decide accordingly:

- Bun Dau Hang Khay - this place is right by the Hoan Kiem lake, located about 100 feet back of an alley. The alley is not well lighted but just follow the crowd or walk toward the lighted restaurant (it is on the left side of the alley).
- Cha Ca La Vong - my only caution is that the dining area is on the second floor, and the staircase is straight up and a bit steep in my opinion. An alternate place to try this famous fish dish is Vua Cha Ca (on Mai Hac De street, although not in the Old Quarter).
- Bun Cha Dac Kim - I prefer this restaurant more than the one that was featured in the segment between Anthony Bourdain and President Obama. Just my opinion.
- On Ly Quoc Su street, check out Banh Ghoi Ly Quoc Su (this is how it is shown in the English review site, but the correct Vietnamese spelling is Banh Goi, direct translation is the pillow cake, due to the shape of the food).
- Also on Ly Quoc Su street, Pho Thin which serves beef noodle soup Hanoi style. I have to confess that I find Vietnamese Pho in US cities with large community of Vietnamese folks (such as San Jose CA or Orange County CA) is much tastier. Again just my opinion.

Beside these specialty places, I go sometime to Quan An Ngon on Phan Boi Chau street, 10 minutes walk from the Hanoi Opera House/Hilton Opera Hotel. You can find a wide variety of local dishes made in a half-dozen of separate kitchens representing all 3 regions (North, Central and South) of Vietnam cuisine.

I second a day trip to Tam Coc Bich Dong as previously suggested.

Bring a hat and a raincoat depending on the weather and enjoy the row boat ride on the river and visit the caves along the way. Although I pay the entrance fee that includes the row boat trip, I always leave something extra to the rower (and they are mostly women by the way) because of the physical work they do.
Local travel agencies may also suggest as alternative a trip to Bai Dinh Pagoda which is situated a few miles away. Personally I don't care much about all the hype with Bai Dinh Pagoda. It is indeed a huge complex with hundreds of statues and incredible prayer halls. However, it has a more Disneyland feel to me than an authentic house of prayer. Your opinion may be different.