Entree Kibbles: Dong Xuan Market - Just the Ground Floor of Hanoi's Biggest Indoor Market @ Vietnam

Dong Xuan Market was well known as the biggest market in Hanoi and for bargain hunters, it's a must-visit for the expected exhilaration when one scores a great deal!

Built in 1889 by the French, it was heavily renovated in 1994 after a major fire, resulting in a slightly more modern interior that reminded me of Singapore malls built in the 1980s.

Similar to Chợ Bình Tây, it would be an eye opener for those not accustomed to the layout that would have safety officers shaking their heads, given the numerous safety issues on site. So what would you expect to buy or see from the market?

Souvenirs! A relatively good range from lacquered wares to key chains, fridge magnets etc. Nowadays, I am actually quite lazy to bargain, since it can be so time-consuming!

In addition, Cho Dong Xuan is a wholesale market; hence, it's always easier to bargain if you are buying in bulk. I was also fortunate that no one had came out with fortune beckoning pigs in different colors as I might just buy the whole set.

There were shops selling shoes, handbags, watches, bras, caps, socks and a reminder of the COVID pandemic; masks! If not for the fact that Alex wasn't keen to explore the market much, I might have gotten a few pairs of those CROCS imitations!

I believe you can buy the mannequins if you want.

Dried foodstuffs - the 'aroma' isn't for everyone but for a Chinese who often accompanies his mom to the such markets, catching whiffs of the smell would actually make me crave for signature dishes that my mom would cook during festive periods.

Knowing my mom pretty well, it's highly probable she would spend her time going through the products and making some neat bargains. To put things in context, she bought salted vegetables from Bangkok and had even hand carried raw yam from China!

You can find electronic products too although I didn't remember seeing a lot. Maybe they are more on the higher levels, which I didn't manage to explore.

A wet market can be found at Dong Xuan Market; the raw stench can be hard to stomach but still an interesting walk-past. I found these poor soft-shell turtles, which are also delicacies in Singapore amongst the Chinese, although I am not a fan.

Random photographs for reference.

Did I buy anything at all from the market? Of course I did! My objective was to get lotus seed snacks and got them from this super lovable lady manning the store (Name: Lan Ca, at B1 level, Unit 37-37a). Her pricing was reasonable at 390,000 dong per kilo for the lotus seeds and 200,000 dong a kilo for the cashew nuts. She stuffed me with so much lotus seeds!

I would have gotten dried jackfruit chips from her too but she didn't have the products. So I got them from another store that's faced the main road surrounding the market; Huong Hung.

Pricing wise, I couldn't remember but it was the only store I saw that offered jackfruit chips. What I wasn't quite happy about from this store was that she shortchanged on the weights, even though I admit I did sample quite a bit. Okay, seemed more like my fault.