- egg coffee from Cafe Giang
- yogurt coffee from an unidentified cafe in the Old Quarter (I loved this! We could only find it in Hanoi and it wasn't the same when we tried to re-create it ourselves elsewhere in Vietnam)
- condensed milk coffee from everywhere
- coffee jelly freeze from Home Coffee Store (it's like a frappuccino with jelly and yogurt mixed in)
One of my favourite Hanoi meals was bun cha. You get a plate of vermicelli noodles, a bowl of fish sauce broth, and lots of grilled pork and pork patties. So simple and so delicious!
There are a lot of rules to adhere to when visiting the mausoleum. There are stone-faced guards all over the place who will tell you what to do; including:
- no cameras or phones (keep them in your bag, which may have to be checked at the entrance)
- no talking, laughing, or noise of any kind
- dress appropriately (no shorts or sleeveless shirts)
- walk into the mausoleum 2-by-2
- don't cross your hands while in the ausoleum
The entire visit was very short but it was interesting to see the amount of reverence paid to Ho Chi Minh. Apparently, in his will, he had stated that he wanted to be cremated but the government decided that he was too important and the mausoleum was built to house his body. There's no admission fee so if you have some time in the early morning we'd recommend checking it out.