Had a spur of the moment thought of visiting Hanoi in June (yes,

>>1236671
>street food
my buddy who backpacked in SEA got a pretty bad food poisoning and got a little busy shitting brown water and wanting to die 24/7 to enjoy hanoi. i've never even been there so it's possible he was retarded and bought from a shady seller but beware

I've been to vietnam but not Hanoi. I've heard, however, that it has no nightlife because of it being the head of govt. at least in comparison to HCMC.

Sapa is nearby tho so that's cool. Tbh senpai the most fun I had in 'nam was in Mui Ne, which I highly recommend obviously.

>>1236890
I once had an iced coffee from a street vendor in HCMC and thought this was going to happen, but I guess I dodged a bullet there.
>>1236922
Thanks I'll check those out. Not hugely into nightlife, quiet bars are more my speed. I might also pop out to Ha Long.

>>1236890
I was in Hanoi a few months ago, just eat from popular stalls and there's no issue.

Before that I stayed in Saigon for a month and ate street food every day. Later I went to Taipei and ate street good for every meal for 2 months.

In Bangkok for 3 weeks I ate street food for every meal, and stayed outside of the city center at that.

I think there's a pretty low chance of food poisoning anywhere.

>>1236671
Weed everywhere. Every cigarette and newspaper hut on the street offered me 'Canadian weed' once they found out I was Canadian.

Don't eat from any street vendors unless you have a full box of Pepto or Imodium ready. If you must my general rule is if it's boiling it's safe to eat, and if the vendor looks health conscious ie: wearing plastic gloves and not handling money plus food at the same time then it's perhaps safe. I never drank anything with ice in it though everybody gives you ice coffee with hot tea (i just drank the tea, gave the coffee to other people).

Don't fall for the lottery ticket scam either you will see crying kids putting on a show claiming they aren't allowed home until they 'sell all these lottery tickets'. They are trained scammers to cry on command and scumbag relatives are around closely watching and use them because tourists always fall for it. If you give them money they'll just keep using them for scamming.

I did however buy merch like flowers and shit off kids who aren't trained for theatrics/scams since the guy I worked with in Hanoi grew up as one of those child vendors and said it put him through school.

>>1237347
Taiwan and Bangkok are very safe with inspection and workers who are generally clean.

Hanoi I saw meat fall on the ground into piles of rotting cuttings and people just pick it up and use it in their banh mi sandwich with a quick dusting.

>>1236922
The nightlife part is true, at around midnight you would see police vans cruising the streets with loudspeakers telling shop owners to shut down their outside seatings and turn down the music

>>1237347
Taiwan street food is remarkably safe. They don't have many standards for the people who make it, but it's a developed country and everyone knows good food safety rules. If someone gets sick then there are a hundred other places that won't get them sick when they want to eat next time, so I think that's motivation enough, besides they fry or stew the shit out of everything. I've eaten some really sketchy street food and never had any problems at all.

>>1237348
Good weed? Where I'm from, weed is hilariously illegal so we only get shit weed at inflated prices.

I'm pretty used to sketchy food and have a reasonable sense of food safety so I think I should be good, but thanks for the advice. Also familiar with organized gangs using kids so no trouble there.

>>1237348
I really am wary of any drugs in SE Asia
I know you can get them but I also know the police are on you hard for any drug use and I don't want to be thrown in jail

Bamp

>>1237441
>The nightlife part is true, at around midnight you would see police vans cruising the streets with loudspeakers telling shop owners to shut down their outside seatings and turn down the music
Yeah, I was in a bar when those guys came around, they're not just shutting the outside seats, the whole bar is supposed to shut.

The place I was in was one of the speakeasies though, they pulled down the roller doors and had a lookout posted who'd warn of incoming cops and everyone would go silent. If you wanted to get in, you had to know where the lookout was and give the special wave, then they'd open a sidedoor.

Otherwise, it was business as usual with quieter music. Good for conversation actually.

The ridiculously hot bartender was making 6' long joints and selling them to everybody. I don't smoke so I have no idea if it was good or not.

>>1237555
>I know you can get them but I also know the police are on you hard for any drug use and I don't want to be thrown in jail
Vietnamese police would almost certainly be happy to give you an on-the-spot fine if you asked. They treat crackdowns like a bonus system. It's one reason why motorcyclists are so compliant with helmet rules, it's much cheaper to have your papers in order and wear your helmet than not to do so.

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>>1236671
>street food

One way to approach this, if you are nervous about it, is to find a "street-food tour," and do that, pick up 4-5 places that you know are at least safe enough for the tours to include them. That would give you a base of places to expand off of as you get your feet under you.

Did one of these in Hanoi, right around Hoàn Kiếm Lake, and had good food and didn't get sick.

Enjoy your teeny-ass backless plastic chairs...

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>>1237339
>I might also pop out to Ha Long.

Do this.

Also, remember the first rule of travel:

Never travel 'cross the sea,
without Imodium, AD.

Possibly a dumb question, but whatever. Whenever i read about SEA, one of the most common topics are street food and poisoning.
Like, 80% of the people that eat street food there get some kind of food poisoning.
So, how do theese places still operate? Who eats that shit? Do they live purely from tourists eating and getting sick, or are locals immune and sort of used to it?

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Would it be doable to rent a motorcycle and ride out to the Perfume Pagoda? Wikivoyage says it's 60km from Hanoi, which sounds doable, but I know nothing of the traffic, road conditions, whether I'd be able to park there, etc.

>>1239239
The locals are immune

>>1239216
food tours are way more expensive for what it's worth, i don't think it's worth it paying 50$ just for a walk around that you can do yourself

>>1239427
It never costs 50$ you homo, why would you lie like that

>>1239239
Perhaps partly an immunity thing but more that they're used to it and better able to know which places to avoid.

Most of the time eating street food is fine but sooner or later you'll get unlucky, maybe you're in a rush or isolated location or just don't judge the cleanliness right. Often 'street food' where you can see the food prepared in front of you is safer than shitty restaurants where you don't know what goes on in the back room.

You need to find a balance between caution and acceptance, if you go too far one way you'll never get to eat anything or you'll be sick all the time. I always think when traveling in that part of the world allow a few extra days in case you get sick.

Finally getting the shits isn't that bad most of the time. Just get a private hotel room, rest up, and by the end of the 2nd day it should be clearing up. If you do get caught somewhere remote or in transit, use loperamide until you get to safety. Be considerate with your hygiene so you don't spread it to other travelers - best to use separate bathrooms while you're sick and be sure to wash your hands thoroughly

>>1239239
I usually only eat street food unless I really want a burger or something western. I've never had food poisoning. I've had some thailand tummy where you do runny shits, but that's probably just lack of protein to be honest.

>>1239239
I'm convinced food poisoning is largely a mental thing. I mean if you get legit shit-gushing out, want to die food poisoning, you're obviously not faking it - but if you're constantly fretting about what goes in your mouth you risk making yourself *feel* sick when you may well not be. Relax and roll with the punches.

I just shit liquid in vietnam but its not too bad, just slight stomach aches and then eventually you stop shitting liquid. Can;t say the same about my recent India trip that was fucked, shat liquid all day forever and got food poisoning with vomit and everything.

Vietnam is pretty good if you axe me

>>1240075
had similar experience in india where at its hight i got the shits every other day, couldn't bring myself not to eat non-vegetarian desu

>>1239239
i moved to india for two years when i was 18 and never got food poisoning. i ate a lot of street food yall

>>1239239
>So, how do theese places still operate? Who eats that shit? Do they live purely from tourists eating and getting sick, or are locals immune and sort of used to it?
Locals aren't immune but they're resistant and they probably won't get it as often or as badly as you.
Also, mild food poisoning isn't that bad, you're just going to be running to the toilet for a day or two.

Locals tend to have better hygiene than you think too. Western hygiene means making sure the food is clean and you wash your hands after toileting but asian hygiene is more about not putting your hands near your mouth at all.

>>1236671
most of the activities are around Sword Lake and at the Old Quartier,

food - river snails (Ta Hien street, also street beer in the area), pickled fruits (O Mai Van Loi) coconut jelly and a bunch of other soup desserts, hotpot (goat if you can find it), for Viet cuisine other than street food go to Net Hue and Quan Ngon

Sapa is great to visit, but it's not exactly a day trip

just last month the govt started to remove a lot of street stalls to clear up the sidewalks (also being done in Bangkok, check the news), I'm not home though so don't know to what extent, so prepare to be disappointed

>>1241078
>remove a lot of street stalls to clear up the sidewalks (also being done in Bangkok
Yeah, I read. I'll manage my expectations

Also, when I visited HCMC a few years ago I ended up staying in Pham Ngu Lao and got really irritated by the sheer backpacker-tourist-trap vibe. Anywhere like that I should avoid, in terms of looking for accommodation?

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>>1241115
don't know what your budget and requirements are, but it sounds like you wouldn't like staying at the Old Quartier (the circled red area)

so go with the green area, or maybe the blue one

don't stay somewhere far from Sword Lake or you will be among just homes and schools