While food shaped many of our days in Hanoi, slow travel opened the door to other kinds of discoveries as well. With time to linger rather than rush between sights, we found ourselves connecting with fellow travelers and observing the rhythms of everyday life. These ordinary moments offered insights just as rewarding as traditional sightseeing.
Meeting New Friends
One such connection happened soon after we arrived. We were fortunate to meet a couple in Hanoi who are travelling full-time. I connected with them through a travel forum, and we arranged a lunch date when we realized our stays overlapped.
Walking into a restaurant to meet strangers felt slightly awkward. Yet as soon as we greeted Trevor and Shannon, the tension vanished.
I felt as if I’d known them for years, even before the meal ended.
We were so engrossed in conversation that we weren’t ready to part after lunch.
As we walked around Hoàn Kiếm Lake on the way to a nearby coffee shop, we stopped at Đình Nam Hương. It was a communal house we had visited on our walking tour but our new friends hadn’t.
After showing them around, we continued to the coffee shop and barely noticed time passing until it was nearly 5 p.m.
Trevor and Shannon were finishing their stay in Hanoi and flying out just a few days after we arrived.
We were lucky to reconnect on their last day, enjoying lunch together and attending a traditional Vietnamese water puppet show.
By the end of our Hanoi stay, we met another couple from the same forum — Kevin and Felicia.
We shared a long lunch, talking for hours on end, and it was remarkable how easily connections form with like-minded travelers on the road.
These meetups became real highlights of our time in Hanoi. Yet some of our stay unfolded at a quieter pace, shaped by the routines of everyday life.
Slow Days at Home
Our apartment was in a busy local neighborhood — far from the tourist-packed Old Quarter. Living here gave us a perfect window into Hanoi life, allowing us to observe everyday routines and interactions up close. During our stay, several days were dedicated to staying home, working on projects, exercising, cooking, and taking walks. These slower days helped us decompress — but they were far from uneventful.
Life in Thong Nhat Park
On our daily walks to nearby Thong Nhat Park, local life unfolded around us. From early morning until late evening, the park buzzed with energy — people walked and jogged, as in any city park — but there was so much more happening:
Active sports & games: Groups played badminton and informal versions of soccer, alongside spirited matches of Đá cầu — Vietnam’s national sport — where players used their feet and legs to volley a weighted shuttlecock over a net. The steady thwack of shuttlecocks and the squeak of sneakers echoed across the courts.
Exercise & movement: Men worked out on outdoor machines, teenagers skateboarded and rollerbladed, and several groups danced in different corners of the park.
Valery tried the exercise machines himself, and we joined the dancing more than once. The second time, a few locals exchanged simple English phrases with us and attempted to teach us new steps. The third time we passed by, they simply pulled us onto “the dance floor.”
Calm or playful activities: Evening meditation groups sat together for hours, while small children drove toy cars with flashing lights and music, their laughter blending with the park’s ambient hum.
As dusk settled in, market stalls appeared along the pathways, selling snacks, drinks, and small goods. The aroma of sizzling street food and the glow of colorful displays added yet another layer of vibrancy to our evening walks.
Hanoi Food Festival in the Park
One evening, we noticed unusual activity — stages being assembled and decorations going up. A three-day Vietnamese food festival was about to begin.
For the next few days, the park transformed: food stalls filled the area with steaming soups, sweet desserts, and sizzling street snacks, alongside live demonstrations of traditional cooking.
The laughter and shouts of children mingled with the music from multiple stages, creating a festive atmosphere.
Most dishes were rice-based or sweet, so our options were limited — this was our first challenge. Eventually, we found eel soup, ordered it with extra greens and no noodles, and it was quite tasty.
The second challenge was the cacophony of several stages playing different music at once. After a while, the overlapping sounds became overwhelming, and we left earlier than planned — a reminder that travel also means understanding your own limits.
Haircut à la Vietnam
After nearly two months of travelling, we went for much needed haircuts at a small local salon — only to receive an experience that went well beyond our expectations.
I was offered a hair wash and head massage along with the haircut. Curious, I agreed. I lay on a massage-style table with a sink at one end. The washing alone took over twenty minutes — and my hair is short. I lost count of how many times it was shampooed, conditioned, rinsed, and thoroughly massaged.
When the washing ended, I assumed the head massage had already happened. It hadn’t. For another thirty minutes, my head was massaged, followed by a full facial treatment — cleansing, face massage, and a mask. It felt unusual, indulgent, and utterly relaxing.
Only after all of that did the actual haircut begin, and the entire experience lasted more than an hour and a half.
While I was enjoying the full treatment, Valery’s session offered its own dose of indulgence.
Gentle head and face massage made even a routine haircut feel special.
We left the salon feeling pampered and refreshed. What had begun as an ordinary trip to the hairdresser turned into a quintessentially Vietnamese experience.
Sometimes the best way to learn about a culture is not by visiting a museum — but by getting a haircut.
The Hanoi We Came to Know
Living in Hanoi this way showed us that the city’s true charm lies not only in its famous sights, but in the everyday moments in between — shared meals with new friends, lively evenings in the park, and even an unexpectedly indulgent haircut. Slow travel gave us the time to notice these small experiences, which became some of the most memorable parts of our stay.
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