Hanoi: a maze of alleys, lakes, pagodas, jazz clubs, cafes, and Soviet statues. Even for us Vietnamese people, Hanoi is infamously inscrutable. It’s Vietnam’s enigma wrapped in a mystery, with egg cream on top. You can take the easy, well-trodden path: the tourist market, the tourist pho restaurant, the tourist beer street, and a dude in a glass case. Or you can go local: eat the pho that Vietnamese foodies eat, drink the coffee VIetnamese hipsters drink, and hang out on the other beer street, the one that’s not in any guidebooks, the one for locals. I'll even show you a super-creepy abandoned amusement park. Instead of canned propaganda, you'll understand the real stories behind the places and people you’re seeing. You'll meet “the locals.” Yes, they’d love to chat with you, they want to practice their English, and no, they don’t hate Americans. Nobody cares about the war anymore. We’ll wander down sketchy alleys and experience amazing places you’d never find in mass-market, foreigner-produced, ChatGPT-written guidebooks. I’ll also teach you practical skills to break away from the guided tours and well-worn tourist attractions: the lowdown on Vietnam visas (the rules were completely changed in 2023), how to get around, how to buy things, what to say, and what (and whom!) to avoid. My guidebooks took you to Saigon and Da Nang. You had a great time. Now, let’s meet the final boss: Hanoi. You’ll love it, I promise.

Wide-open beaches, Insta-worthy scenery, five-dollar seafood feasts, and villagers excited to see visitors… You’ve never heard of Quy Nhon, despite its stunning scenery and welcoming atmosphere. Neither have all the tourists. That’s the point. I’ll show you where to go, where to stay, what to experience, and of course, where to eat and drink. The travel bloggers are wrong about Ky Co Beach. I’ll show you how to do Ky Co like an expert. But there's a little-known beach that's a million times better than Ky Co, with soft sand, rolling waves, and a giant Buddha statue. I'll take you there. Quy Nhon’s biggest seafood restaurant, the one with the pretty-girl waitresses, isn’t all that great. I’ll show you much better seafood. We’ll make Vietnamese sashimi hand rolls for lunch. In the fishing villages I show you, people will ask to pose for photos with anyone they don’t recognize. For dinner, you can choose your free-range chicken while it’s still free on the range. Then we'll have coffee in a miniature lighthouse, and explore a creepy abandoned theme park. Let’s discover Quy Nhon!

Experience real Saigon: My Saigon 2024 Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) offers bustling streets, amazing walks, too-hip-for-you cafes, rocking music clubs, luxurious salons, explosively delicious restaurants, and indoor cat zoos. Saigon is Vietnam. It’s young, practical, crowded, and a little bit brash. Most visitors to Saigon see the same boring “attractions”: boring restaurants, tourist-trap markets, and War propaganda. Saigon has so much more to experience than tourists see. My Saigon gives you the insider track: the most amazing experiences, the cultural backstories, the practical go-to tips, the best coffee, the best food (far beyond pho and banh mi), the best hangouts, the coolest stuff, and hipsters, hipsters everywhere. Details about 90-day and multi-entry electronic visas to Vietnam (new as of August, 2023). Big-picture navigation. History your tour guides aren't allowed to mention. Good hotels for cheap, without hostels, bedbugs, and weird smells. Get mobile data up and running without being scammed. The best pho in Saigon: no, it's not the one in the backpacker district. Awesome, authentic, cheap restaurants where my friends and I eat -- and Tripadvisor has no clue about. Coffee. Did someone say coffee? 1930s coffee, street coffee, "specialty" coffee, all kinds of coffee: I'll tell you where. Hang out with Vietnamese people, munch on dried squid, listen to Viet Pop (if you dare). Make cool friends, date guys or girls, whatever flag you might fly. Bust out with Saigonese slang to make your new friends laugh. Watch out for Saigon's mafia: they run the streets, and they don't announce themselves. Don't unintentionally offend people by wearing a popular tourist souvenir t-shirt. You definitely shouldn't give money to beggars and street kids. Avoiding taxi scams in Saigon is so easy, but most tourists refuse to learn. My Saigon is a guide, a love confessional, an instruction manual, and an ode to the city.

Live well for $500 a month Vietnam has warm weather, fast internet, cheap, modern apartments, great food, and low prices on everything. In Vietnam, you're not just living cheaply, but living very well for very little money. Whether you're a digital nomad, a long-term traveller, a location-independent entrepreneur, a retiree, or all of the above, and whether your budget is $500 a month or $1,000 a month or $5,000 a month, Vietnam is a great place for you to live. A good meal costs $1, a month of mobile data costs $5, and seeing the doctor costs $3 It's easy to live well in Vietnam. But there's not much information out there about Vietnam. Most digital nomads go to Thailand. Vietnam is actually a much better and cheaper option. Take it from Elly I'm Elly Nguyen, author of the acclaimed My Saigon series of travel guidebooks to Vietnam. In my books, I've shown thousands of travelers the best of Vietnam. Now I want to help digital nomads and others who may be interested in longer stays in Vietnam. Inside info to make your stay a success Prices of everything from meals to massages to apartments Secret three words for finding an apartment for the Vietnamese local price A typical digital nomad's day in Vietnam Being a solo woman in Vietnam Why Vietnamese people like me don't ride motorcycles around town Making (useful) Vietnamese friends and dating Vietnamese girls or guys The lowdown on dealing with government and police How not to find yourself wearing concrete boots in the Saigon river Language tips Reasons you might not like Vietnam This is a complete inside guide to living in Vietnam, with local information to help you decide whether you want to move here, and to make your stay a great one.

Hanoi Tourism, Vietnam. Travel Guide, History Information. Hanoi, one of the most beautiful of the colonial Indochinese cities, is often the start or end point of a trip to Vietnam, and what a great welcome or farewell it is. Oozing with charm, Hanoi has gone through wholesale changes since Vietnam swung open its doors to tourism, but it remains true to its essential personality and is an amazing city to experience. Though considerably quieter than big sister Saigon, Hanoi still retains a vibrant atmosphere. From the early hours until late at night, the fig-tree shaded streets swarm with careening motorbikes, often with four, five or even six people aboard. A cyclo is available on most street corners, but unless you are making a particularly long trip, the best way to explore Hanoi is by foot. It seems that in Hanoi, no two streets meet at 90 degrees and there so many one-way thoroughfares it sometimes feels like you can't get there from here, nor here from there. Count on getting lost. But a day of dodging traffic and elbowing your way through overcrowded footpaths is exactly how most people spend their time in Hanoi, and it's more fun than any purpose-built tourist attraction. Keep a map close at hand though, so when you find something that tickles your fancy, you can mark it down otherwise you risk never finding it again. Hanoi has a number of lovely parks and museums where you can while away the hours of a warm summer's afternoon Lenin Park, south of Hoan Kiem district and just north of Bay Kau Lake are among the most popular, especially on holidays, when it's packed with picnickers.In winter months, you can find yourself a cozy cafe to snuggle up in, or find a streetside restaurant boiling up a pot of something belly-warming and delicious. While Hanoians are certainly happy to be free of the French occupation, they continue to embrace French culinary culture

Are you excited about planning your next trip? Do you want an edible experience? Would you like some culinary guidance from a local? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this Eat Like a Local book is for you. Eat Like a Local - Hanoi by author Linh Le offers the inside scoop on food in one of the most gastronomically diverse countries in southeast Asia. Culinary tourism is an import aspect of any travel experience. Food has the ability to tell you a story of a destination, its landscapes, and culture on a single plate. Most food guides tell you how to eat like a tourist. Although there is nothing wrong with that, as part of the Eat Like a Local series, this book will give you a food guide from someone who has lived at your next culinary destination. In these pages, you will discover advice on having a unique edible experience. This book will not tell you exact addresses or hours but instead will give you excitement and knowledge of food and drinks from a local that you may not find in other travel food guides. Eat like a local. Slow down, stay in one place, and get to know the food, people, and culture. By the time you finish this book, you will be eager and prepared to travel to your next culinary destination.

The Hanoi Travel Guide is the most up-to-date, reliable and complete guide to this wonderful place. Travelers will find everything they need for an unforgettable visit presented in a convenient and easy-to-use format. Includes quick information on planning a visit, navigating the location, experiencing Vietnamese culture and exploring the beauty of Hanoi. Also includes a Vietnamese phrasebook to help you communicate with the locals. Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is known for its centuries-old architecture and a rich culture with Southeast Asian, Chinese and French influences. At its heart is the chaotic Old Quarter, where the narrow streets are roughly arranged by trade. There are many little temples, including Bach Ma, honoring a legendary horse, plus Đồng Xuân Market, selling household goods and street food.