[Part of the Five Faves series, wherein locals in the know give quick tips to tourists. Simple as that.]

If you want to see the Sapa market, you want to see it with Marcela - project manager by day, Vietnamese food tour guide by… ehhhh… day, too (but mostly on weekends). Warm, friendly and passionate about food, she is the perfect companion to what at the beginning might seem like an impenetrable maze of warehouses and hole-in-a-wall pho places. (Did we mention she’s beautiful, too?) Heck, she gave us her own tips when we wrote about the market, and they have never failed us on our own visits.

Born in Vietnam yet raised in the Bohemian town of Chomutov (“No-one comes from there,” she claims incorrectly, not knowing that Zuzi was in fact raised there, too.), she has a unique insight into both Vietnamese and Czech food and culture, and isn’t afraid to share it. What started as cooking Vietnamese dishes for her friends (and she has many, often recruited from young fashion and design circles) eventually snowballed into one of the most popular tours to Sapa. She also seems to be travelling all the time, which we often observe on social media with thinly disguised envy. So yes, we like her, and we think you’d like her too. Here’s her five faves for Prague and social media.

FIVE FAVORITE PLACES IN PRAGUE

I have so many favorites in Prague! It's hard to choose, but this is my ideal day in Prague:

Eska

Gotta do breakfast there. The bread! Just add butter and salt, and I am happy camper.

Kavárna co hledá jméno

Coffee time. They will be opening again. I am stoked! Love the premises! Beautiful and cosy.

Bú cá Hai Phong

Lunch in the Sapa market. My favourite eatery in the market. They just serve one single dish: broth with rice noodles and bits of fried carp with lots of herbs. A great hangover cure that has saved my life a few times already. :)

QQ Asian Kitchen

Hungry for dinner yet? Fantastic Asian food in a casual setting and nice atmosphere. I like sharing plates because you can taste more things in smaller portions. Smart.