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First day exploring Hanoi in Vietnam.
Getting across the street is a major mission in this city of over 2 million mopeds and in the whole area we covered today we only saw 1 traffic light, which the locals seemed to ignore anyway. Seems to only apply to cars!
The food in Vietnam is amazing! The flavours are so complex and we have enjoyed it so much that we can hardly wait until our next meal.
We explored the Old Quarter today (which is where our hotel is situated as well). Each street in the Old Quarter is named after the items originally sold there, e.g. herbal merchants, Silk street, Ironmongery street etc.
So far, we are loving Vietnam, even though the hustle and bustle of this city is second to none compared to any other major city that we've visited so far. We thought that the Italian's drive like maniacs! But somehow there is organised chaos here. The Vietnamese ride along on their scooters crossing roads filled with pedestrians, cars, parked scooters etc. whilst they text on their phones or carry loads so large that Britian's Health-and-Safety police would have a field day with them! Yet in the 8 hours we walked around, not a single person got hit, not a single crash occurred and nobody shouted at anybody else.
Indicators are not used - hooters are the preferred method of commucation. To start off with we took forever to cross streets and negotiate between the scooters (as pavements are not really used for walking on). After a while we got the hang of it and it seems that the less you look before and whilst crossing a road, the easier it gets. Oh, and about 9 out of 10 scooters don't have rearview mirrors either and 4 people on a scooter is completely natural.
It's been great fun!
Our second day in Hanoi was spent walking around markets and museums and looking at monuments. We went to the military museum and also the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where we were lucky enough to see the change of the guard just after we arrived. Then we visited the One Pillar Pagoda, which was very pretty. We ended the day off at the Temple of Literature, which was a calm and relaxing sanctuary after a day spent crossing the streets amongst thousands of scooters again.
We're off to Halong Bay tomorrow for a cruise, so watch this space!
- comments
Naudes Ola.. THanks for checking in.. Sounds like you guys are having great fun!! Driving in Vietnam sounds epic. It's like Thailand when we travelled the world a few years ago. At times close your eyes and hope for the best. Where next after Vietnam? Have a good blast guys and enjoy ever moment. C ya later and save travels Naudes
G Hey Living the dreamers! Excellent - you'll love every minute. I missed out on Hanoi and Halong Bay :-( Will just have to go back on the next rtw trip! Looking forward to catching up when you're down under. G - and no, I am not jealous, not at all..... :-)
Jeanre Hi julle, sjoe maar dit lyk interresant en die fotos is cool! So tipies met die familie van 3 op die bike!! As dit nou in die UK was , was al 3 seker opgesluit in die tronk!?! Hoe gaan dit? julle geniet seker elke oomblik. Julle moet dit geniet hoor want mens kry nie sommer weer so geleentheid om so lank en soveel lande te sien nie. Vra ons, ons praat uit ondervinding....so enjoy elke minuut! Groete en mis julle vreeslik. Was Sondag by die Spur toe het ek so heimwee dat ek skaars my kop kan oplig met trane in die oe van verlange na julle, Glen, Sellers en of course Dempseys. mooi bly. pas julself op. J xx
Sunia Ag dis lekker om te sien waar jul is, nadat jul van die Aardbol af vedwyn het vir 'n ruk. Bly jul doen Vietnam, jul wou dit al jare terug gedoen het, nou doen jul dit ordentlik! Weet jul geniet elke oomblik. Geniet die travels namens almal van ons wat daai travelbug ook het.... Jy weet wie ons is ;-)
Deb Ferrell Oh, sounds fab! I would love to see these gorgeous sights as well. This is demo on my list! Have a great time. Can't wait to read more.
Dempseys Hi julle!! So bly om te sien waar julle is na d laaaang stilte!! Dit lyk na awesome tye daar in Vietnam hoop jul geniet dit baie. Heerlik om al d fotos te sien. Ons is lekker jaloers ......Ons kans sal eers weer kom oor 20 jaar ..ha ha! Mis julle baie ek ken Jeanre se gevoel v verlange...groete en geniet d travels sien uit na d updates.