Vietnamese Iced Coffee

I just wandered out of the hotel for a little snack and pick-me-up. Vietnamese Iced Coffee was it. It's the best. The best.

strong, dark coffee
condensed milk at the bottom of the glass
ice cubes and stirrer

*Key Ingredient: condensed milk*

It tasted just like coffee ice cream.

The locals are also your friend

We left the hotel last night without a plan except "go to the Metropole" and came back 5 hours later with 3 new spots under our belt. You don't even need a guide or guidebook when you have locals. We asked the bartenders at Angelina where to go and they recommended 3 awesome places. And wrote down the address for us to give the taxi driver. Big help.

The first place we went was tucked away on a side street in the Old Quarter called "Funky Buddha"--cool little discoteque. After a drink here--one can only handle so much black light, laser lights and untz music--we walked across the street to another spot called "The Cheeky Quarter"....this too was small and filled with expats. One guy from Long Island, another from Manhattan with a house in Miami living in Hanoi working as an engineer. Girls from Spain traveling through the area who I recognized from earlier in the day. There aren't many Westerners in Hanoi so when you see one you remember. One of the girls went to high school in the middle of Connecticut of all places. Another girl from Wales teaching English. Two guys from France. Oh and when we walked in they were playing Ben Harper--Carter's favorite musician who lives in Venice, CA. The world really is flat. Or at least getting flatter.

Travel is cheap in Hanoi

I had $60 USD in my wallet in LA which I changed at the Hong Kong airport into HK Dollars. We used this money to pay for dim sum and cabs in Hong Kong. Then I changed the remainder into Vietnamese money at the Hanoi airport. And I still haven't gone through it! We've lived off probably $35 USD in Hanoi over 2 days.

If you want to retire cheap this is one place to consider