West Lake exploring

West Lake exploring

West Lake (Vietnamese: Hồ Tây)

It is interesting when I connect 2 different objects which are expats (mainly westerners) and West Lake. In Vietnam, people call westerners “Tây” and West Lake in Vietnamese “Hồ Tây”. Most “Tây” in Vietnam actually live nearby West Lake; I call it the law of attraction.

West Lake has a shore with the length of 17km (~10.6 miles). It is the largest lake in Hanoi. Thanh Nien road which is well known as “Love Road” divides a small part of West Lake become Trúc Bạch lake.

As most of the things in Vietnam, West Lake has a beautiful history. It was created from a curved part of Red River (also known as “Mother River) which flows from Yunnan in southwest China through northern Vietnam to the Gulf of Tokin.

According to Wikipedia, “one legend suggests that West Lake was shaped after the battle between Lac Long Quan (the second Hung King of Hong Bang Dynasty of ancient Vietnam) and a nine-tailed fox spirit, that’s why the lake was once called “Fox corpse Swamp”. Another fold story claimed that original name of the lake is “Golden Buffalo Lake” because it was formed from struggle of a buffalo after the disappearance of her calf”.

What can you do nearby West Lake?

West Lake is a popular place for recreation with many surrounding gardens, hotels and villas.

Morning:

• Exercise: it becomes more and more common for people to do aerobics nearby West Lake in the early morning. If you walk around West Lake, you can see a lot of different aerobics classes as well as people with bicycles and running

• Have breakfast

• Drink coffee and enjoy the surroundings

During the day:

• Working in any coffee shop located nearby the lake would be great

• Go for a walk around Truc Bach Lake

• Pay a visit to Chau Long market to see how is open market in Vietnam

Evening:

• Walk around Thanh Nien road where you can see a lot of couples and local/expats walk around
• Have dinner in one of the best restaurants in Hanoi

Restaurant nearby West Lake

I visited some restaurants to prepare for a group of 13 students coming to Vietnam. Let’s imagine after around 13 hours on the plane, they would feel tired and just want to relax. Sitting nearby West Lake and having a cup of Vietnamese coffee or Vietnamese Noodle would be a great idea.

There are some restaurants with suitable price and have quite good view that I found.

Coffee shops nearby West Lake

- Brown Bean Coffee – 4 đường Ven Hồ, Quận Tây Hồ (phone: 0989 336 568)

- Abu Cafe – 132 Đường Ven Hồ Tây, Quận Tây Hồ

- Mộc Miên Cafe – 19 Đường Ven Hồ Thụy Khê, Quận Tây Hồ

- Hallo Coffee – 168 Ven Hồ, Thụy Khuê, Quận Tây Hồ (phone: 0913 232 835)

- October Lounge, Coffee & Studio -128 Ven Hồ, Thụy Khuê, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội, Vietnam

I like October Lounge the most. The coffee shop is facing West Lake. There are 3 floors where customers can sit and enjoy the lake view, coffee and working. The coffee shop is designed with ancient style where you can see several old objectives like books, radio cassette, or telephone boxes.

Sockets are available everywhere so you can enjoy working while drinking nice coconut coffee. 

Menu in the coffee shop.

I believe you will have a productive working day with a great view in the coffee shop.

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