Driving in Vietnam-physics or insanity

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We love Hanoi! The districts are seperated by the many lakes that give the city more of a puget sound area feel than anywhere we've visited. Ofcourse the traffic is totally insane and one can spend hours contemplating the magic that keeps traffic moving in an organized chaos amongst cars, trucks, tuk-tuks, cylcos, bikers, and the massive amount of tourists strolling the streets. Our first evening we strolled the Hoan Keim Lake area and after gawking at the fancy hotels and boutiques ate at Pepperoni's. Its a pizza chain that we thouroughly enjoyed after eating morning glory and water buffalo in Laos. We spent several days strolling the old quarter and mixing in with the chaos on the street. Once we left the backpacker area and ventured from one lake to another we got to know Hanoi culture much better. Its so easy to stay in one small area and have no idea how massive such a city actually is.
Vendors are much more aggressive than in Thailand and Laos but they soon become white noise-unless they are grabbing you, making sure you know they will give you the best deal on anything you may need, want, or haven't ever heard of. While strolling we wandered into one of the main Bia Hoi joints-one filled with locals and dryed dog(full body with teeth showing) on display. At first the locals couldn't keep there eyes off us milk faces but soon we were toasting with them and sharing friendly glances. Bia Hoi is cheap Hanoi beer that is served fresh every day and when the bar runs out people move on to another place. The places the locals go have the good stuff. The dregs get sent to the backpacker area we were staying in and distributed to tourist bars. There are bia hoi joints on all 4 corners of a main tourist area, each with there own type of Bia Hoi. We tryed out 3 of the 4 and they all tasted different. We met many men who teach or work in Hanoi and can be found at one of these 4 bars almost every afternoon. We spent some time at the Balcony bar watching the chaotic traffic and near misses which happen every moment. From this vantage point we were able to view several streets converging into one. It was fascingating and a bit disturbing that we found ourselves anxiously waiting for an accident. It was just unbelievable that the traffic works the way it does. Back home there would be accidents left and right as one driver waits for another to go by. In Vietnam its a free for all. Alex and I think the Asian aptitude for mathamatics must have something to do with it. In Thailand they believe in Buddha, but in Vietnam it must be physics or insanity. Alex is a safe and smart motorbike rider and decided there was no way he was getting on a bike in Hanoi-not even on the back of one of the many motorbike taxis.
After several days in Hanoi we took the famous Halong Bay trip. We went with low expectations as we've heard many horror stories and dissapointments.

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