Morning
6:30am — join the tai chi around Hoan Kiem Lake, free. 7am pho at Pho Gia Truyen, 49 Bat Dan, $2.50, cash only, sit on plastic stools. 8am walk north up Hang Dao to Dong Xuan Market (1889) — do one wet-market loop, buy nothing, notice how the meat, textile and dry-goods zones map onto the old guilds. 9:30am the 1890s Heritage House at 87 Ma May, $1, is the calmest 30 minutes you’ll spend in Hanoi and the best pre-1900 domestic architecture in the city.
Afternoon
11am egg coffee at Cafe Giang (invented on this very spot in 1946), $1.20. Noon bun cha at Dac Kim, 1 Hang Manh, $3.50. 2pm slow browse of Hang Gai for silk, Hang Bac for silver — real workshops, not showrooms. 3:30pm cross to Ngoc Son Temple on its red Huc Bridge, $1.30, home to a preserved giant softshell turtle from the lake's semi-mythical species. 5pm bia hoi on Ta Hien corner, $0.40 a glass, sit and watch the intersection do its thing.
Evening
6:15pm early water puppets at Thang Long Theatre (57B Dinh Tien Hoang), $4-10, 50 minutes — a Red River delta art form dating to the 11th century, and one of the few remaining troupes performing traditional repertoire. 7:30pm cha ca la vong at 14 Cha Ca, $10, turmeric-marinated river fish grilled at the table, unchanged since the 1870s. 9pm nightcap at Skyline overlooking the lake. Bed by 11 — you’ve earned it.
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