Walking in Hanoi

Today we took a walking tour of old Hanoi. Wow. I think I'm lucky to be alive, because I spent so much time gawking at everything that I was in definite danger of either getting run over by a motor bike or tripping into the path of a car after stubbing a toe on one of the many obstacles on the streets. Notice I say streets. Sidewalks here do exist, and in places it is even possible to walk on them. But. They are more often blocked by parked motorbikes, women selling meat or produce from baskets suspended on wooden poles, shops that overflow their storefronts, small tables and plastic stools that make up lunch spots or family dining rooms, or all of the above competing for about two square meters of space.

Imagine first deafening noise. Motor bikes revving their engines and car and truck horns honking continuously to warn smaller road users (including motor bikes, scooters, cyclos, bicycles, pedestrians, and women carrying heavy loads). On top of this is conversation and business carried out at full volume, to try to compete with the road noise. Add to this all manner of folks coming and going, with little regard for lines between street and sidewalk, and almost no regard for things like crosswalks or traffic lights. Mix in heat and humidity (though not as much as further south), dust, pollution, and random bits of garbage and loose hunks of concrete. Then, just as you should be trying to avoid stepping on the woman breast feeding her baby while serving tea at her sidewalk cafe, you are instead staring open mouthed at the square meter of gorgeous roses strapped to the back of a bicycle going by. Closely followed by the motor bike with 5 costco size packages of toilet paper perched behind two riders. And the shop which sells nothing but packing tape. A few blocks later, the shops sell nothing but metal items--tools, nuts and bolts gradually giving way to tin boxes and cooking pots. Round the corner and it's nothing but shoes. Then tourist souvenirs, then back to practical things, like fake paper money and incense for burning as offerings.

As I said, wow. We'll put some pictures up in a few days which I hope will convey some of this. In the meantime, we are off to Halong Bay for two days of exploring mother nature.