Some Tips To Eat Like A Local In Vietnam
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Be adventurous
Many restaurants in Vietnam (especially Hanoi) don't always look like traditional restaurants in the US or Europe. Sometimes, the "restaurant" is the front room of someone's house, and they serve food to you in what is essentially their living room. Sometimes the "restaurant" is just a grill setup over an open fire on the sidewalk. If you see people sitting on little plastic stools, go ahead and join them. We did this many times, and had amazing meals, and never died. It's perfectly safe.
Look for locals
This golden rule of eating in a foreign city applies anywhere, but especially for Vietnam. If you look into a place and see nothing but wide eyed westerners looking back at you, run away. Often times this tactic does mean that you will end up going into places that may appear to be less than "100% sanitary" (though you'll get over that quickly in Vietnam), and they most likely will not have a translated menu for you. Deal with it. Find someone who is eating something that looks good and point to it when you order. Odds are you'll get delicious, authentic food, and for a fraction of what you'd pay in a restaurant that caters to foreigners.
Don't always expect to get a menu: Many places we ate in Vietnam only served 1 dish. You basically walk up, grab a stool, and within 30 seconds someone walks over and puts down a bowl or plate of what ever it is that restaurant makes. It could be skewers, bun cha, pho, or something else you may not always recognize, but whatever it is, that's what you're going to eat, there are no substitutions.
Drink beer
It's hot in Vietnam, and nothing helps cool you down like a glass of beer. You'll see it for sale everywhere. We bought some from an old lady selling it out of her house, and we sat with her on little stools on the sidewalk and drank a few bottles. Also, a bottle of beer is cheaper than a bottle of water in Vietnam, use that to your advantage, and remember beer is 95% water anyway! Cheers!
Speaking of Beer, try Bia Hoi
This is a dirt cheap local style of Vietnamese beer. Expect to pay a few pennies for a glass. Bia Hoi literally means fresh beer. It's brewed each the morning and is sold later that day! Don't be turned off when you see it served with large amounts of ice. It's surprisingly refreshing and when it's hot and humid (even inside the air conditioned rooms), you'll be thankful.
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Ovad and Angela
Israel | 11/02/2018
Trip to Vietnam and Cambodia
We would like to highly recommend Funny Travel as travel agency to arrange a trip as you desire. We asked Joe to help us arrange a honeymoon trip for 3 weeks in Vietnam and Cambodia. He did everything and sent us a done schedule with every fine details (activities, flights, hotels, guides, drivers, meals etc.). From the moment we arrived, we didn't have to worry about nothing (pick up from and to an airports/hotels, a local sim, money exchange, advises, making sure daily that we are ok and if we need anything). A very big appriciation to Joe, Vicky and their staff, everything they did for us was above and beyond. It was a pleasure. We absolutely sure that whoever will choose Funny Travel, will not regret. Thank you again for a perfect honeymoon, Ovad and Angela
Hawkoinc
Australia | 11/02/2018
Motorcycle city and street food tour
Loved it, loved it, loved it. We organised a tour with Joe at the last minute but our guide and 3 drivers turned up at 9am the following morning. Our guide Chien was very knowledgeable and made it a fantastic day for us. He had a great personality and sense of humour and the street food we tried was beautiful. Joe has gone out of his way to help us with anything we needed. He is a wealth of information and local knowledge. Do yourself a favour and book a tour with Funny Travel. They have a tour to suit everyone. I highly recommend Funny Travel.
Moniqueavelaine
United Kingdom | 11/02/2018
Funny Travel made our trip amazing!
WOW, where to start. We had the most amazing experience in Vietnam with Vicky and the Funny Travel staff and there is no way we would have had such an incredible experience without their expertise. From the moment we booked Vicky communicated with us about what we hoped for in our 8 day trip in North Vietnam and now at the conclusion of our trip we are so happy because of the incredible experience they arranged. Everything was thoughtful and we'll orchestrated - we had great accommodations everywhere (including a homestay in an ethnic village near Sa Pa), we had AMAZING GUIDES!!! (thank you Thuc, Ben, and Hieu) and they were so knowledgeable of the communities and places we were visiting, Vicky set us up with a Sim card which made communication easy, she checked in and helped us easily get things done to make our trip more comfortable (arranging laundry, mail, etc), showed us amazing food and answered every question, and all around was so warm and welcoming. It was an incredible trip because of Funny Travel. We 100% recommend and plan to use Funny Travel again when we are back in Asia!
Samsee
Switzerland | 11/02/2018
Tour Halong Bay e Sapa
Dopo aver visto le varie recensioni positive, ci siamo rivolti pure noi a questa agenzia. All'ultimo minuto Vicky è riuscita ad organizzarci due giorni e una notte in crociera alla baia di Halong e tre giorni e due notti alle risaie terrazzate di Sapa. Tutto organizzato al meglio: trasporti comodissimi, hotel al top, guide simpaticissime e sempre disponibili, escursioni e attività molto piacevoli, abbiamo trascorso anche una notte in una homestay a sapa ed è stato davvero tutto perfetto. Un paese molto interessante abitato da persone gentilissime. Se volete andare sul sicuro rivolgetevi anche voi a questa agenzia!! Super raccomandata!!
Rebecca
Australia | 11/02/2018
Perfect Travel Agency
It's not just a funny travel agency - it's a perfect agency! We've never aspected to get such a good trip to sapa and halong bay! Everything was organised very well. They took care about us the whole trip, they were always very frindly, kind and funny :p was a pleasure to meet them in Hanoi! thank you Vicky!!!
Colyn D
Poland | 11/02/2018
Wonderfully warm, friendly and excellent service!
I would like to thank Funny Travel for their absolute fabulous service. We had a great time doing the bicycle and food tour and highly recommendit to anyone in the Hanoi area! A definite must-have experience!!
Relinda G
Philippines | 11/02/2018
Hanoi Vacation
Funny Travel, you made our vacation memorable, great experience. We had fun in our day tour, friendly staff. They even have an incredible food trip to top it all with. The whole trip was exceptional! A must do when you head over to Hanoi. Thank you to all our guide and to the staff. Keep up the great work
Danielle O
Australia | 11/02/2018
Craig & Danielle Overend
We were lucky enough to come across Joe and he offered a street food tour to us. He and his colleague Ken took us on a tour trying all different types of food in the old quarter. He was also full of information about his country, we had a fantastic day and highly recommend Joe and his team. Great value for money.
Fager1898
Spain | 11/02/2018
Buen hacer y excelente trato
Si quieres evitar agencias sospechosamente baratas y no te importa pagar un poco más, esta es una excelente opcion. Muy atentos en el trato, tanto a la hora de la contratación como durante el tour. Hicimos un tour de un día sin prisas, a nuestro ritmo, con un guía muy agradable y seguimos exactamente el recorrido que queríamos dedicando el tiempo que considerábamos necesario. ¿Hay otras agencias más baratas? Sí, las hay, pero a veces por unos pocos dólares no merece la pena arriesgarte con sorpresas que puedan estropear tus ilusiones. Con esta agencia te quedará un muy buen recuerdo de un día irrepetible, en nuestro caso en Mua Cave y Tam Cốc.
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Head Office Only At: 35 Gia Ngu Street, Hoan Kiem District, Ha Noi city, Viet Nam
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