Old Quarter, French Quarter, and Working from Hanoi

Well, it's been a crazy week here in Hanoi. I've kind of spent half the time just trying to find my favourite café to work from, and then the other half of the time trying to figure out where the best place to stay is if you're going to be spending a little bit more time here.

I totally ditched hostels. I'm definitely not doing them here and potentially not at all in Vietnam. They're just not necessary when you can spend like less than thirty dollars a day on accommodation.

I'm pretty familiar with the city now. I know about the Old Quarter, I know about the French Quarter, and I know about this place further south of these main areas where I've rented a little apartment just to have a stable sleeping situation. I mean, I say that I'm getting a stable situation, and then some lady rides past on a bike in the middle of the morning, blaring something in Vietnamese that I have no idea what it is.

My days consist of kind of walking from this rented apartment to the French Quarter and working there pretty late at these all-day cafés, which are actually open fairly late. I think I made a mistake not staying in the French Quarter, because it looks like that's where all the good work spots are.

The pollution is really starting to get to me as well. I've had to start wearing masks when I walk outside.

It's funny, because I couldn't wait to leave Japan so I wouldn't have to eat out of convenience stores, because food that isn't from a convenience store over there is actually quite expensive and difficult to come by. I think a lot of people just end up eating at home. But now that I'm here in Vietnam, where the food is cheap, it's the air that's bothering me.

Train Street

One thing I have to mention is Train Street, which I've ended up going back to a couple of times. It's an ordinary residential lane in the Old Quarter with a live railway line running straight through the middle of it, and the cafés along it just put their tables and stools out on the tracks. When the train comes through, everyone pulls their chairs back against the wall and then goes straight back out again.

French Quarter

Anyway, here's some shots of the French Quarter. You can see it's quite cute, with interesting places to walk and a lot happening.

So, overall, the coffee and food is amazing, but I'm just not sure I'm going to be able to finish my deliverable while I'm staying here. I think I actually need to move on from this kind of daily grind of not getting enough done and being stuck between where I'm staying and the French Quarter, where I've found my little café hangouts. Tune in next time to see how I go.