Draft - Hanoi (Vietnam)

This city is so alive! Hanoi has a unique heartbeat. We walked many km exploring and taking it all in. I absolutely love the vibe here. And the food.

Most of the businesses we saw - besides the really fancy ones downtown - are run from someone's home. Business in the front, living in the back. Once can often see the family's toothbrushes in the restaurant washrooms, clothes hanging on racks somewhere near the back, beds on the side, kids doing homework. It seems anyone with a kitchen offers a restaurant or food stand. Very few places have 4 walls. At closing time a metal grill closes the space. Restaurants are open to the street. I love that!! Fresh air - OK city air probably not so fresh - all day long.

Traffic is insane. A mad and kind of beautiful dance. I can't even describe it - check the video. We crossed the roads many times. There are never breaks in the traffic. Just go for it! Walk at a constant pace. No running, no stopping. It works. People move around each other. It's super scary at first and I would probably still be on the side waiting for a break if it weren't for Naila taking my hand. She and Justin are pros!

Things I've now seen vying for space in the roads:
- Cars
- Lorries
- Trucks
- Scooters (like a comfy motorbike); some with dogs in the foot-well, tons of cargo, family up to 5 persons
- Scooters (like the kids use)
- Cows
- Pedestrians - people of all ages
- Motorbikes
- Tuk-tuks
- Dogs
- Motor-taxis
- Cows
- Wheelchairs
- Vendors selling things
- Rickshaws
- Pushcarts

That's a lot of stuff to dodge!!

We stayed at the Hanoi Lullaby Hotel in the heart of Hanoi ($26/night). The staff spoke English. What a luxury.

Two of the highlights are in separate footprints - the pagoda and the water puppet show.

One thing I did not love was how dirty the city is. We found this in rural areas too, from small cities and small towns to rural areas. Litter everywhere. The land here is beautiful and it's too bad it's not being cared for. At least that's my western white woman perspective. Surely there are issues at hand but since I can't find any info and no one who speaks English well enough to ask such questions, I have no idea about that.

Why can't I find info? Google anything in Vietnam and all that comes up are links for government sites and clearly the info is filtered. It's even near impossible to find info about sites we visited. That was beyone frustrating. They are a communist country but someone told me it was kind of a modified Capitalist Communism. I may try to learn more from home later on.Read more