Hanoi
ASIA · GOLDEN HOUR · OLD QUARTER
A thousand-year-old capital that eats breakfast on the sidewalk and never quite stopped being a village.
The plan
Pho for breakfast
6am, plastic stool, brisket pho, chased with tea. The correct start to any Hanoi day.
Hoan Kiem at dawn
The lake hosts tai chi, badminton and ballroom dance before 7.
Egg coffee ritual
Cà phê trứng — whipped yolk over dark coffee, invented here, perfected everywhere here.
Old Quarter by cyclo
Thirty-six streets, each named for what it once sold. Some still do.
Ha Long Bay overnight
The limestone bay deserves a night on the water, not a day-trip sprint.
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