Hanoi - Second impressions

---

Last blog, I spoke of all the things I loved about Hanoi. What I want to do now is just go through why, even though I like the place, it's not my absolute number one place in the world. One thing that I loved about the Philippines, and Filipinos themselves may not even like this, is that it's kind of "loose". I don't mean that in a bad way, otherwise I wouldn't have said I loved it. What I mean is, at least where I was staying in Taguig, you could just kind of walk around the street with your shirt off, have a beer on the roadside, and it would be perfectly normal. Now I'm not even saying I like doing things like that, but I like places that feel free. Vietnam, as much as I like it, does not feel so free. Perhaps it's a reflection of the communism, or just a country steeped in traditional values, but to me it often feels officious. They recently had a cafe-lined bohemian area full of street art called Zone 9, but it was shut down due to a fatal fire that broke out. I'm sorry for what happened but it doesn't seem like the kind of place that would have met the local government's approval anyway.

As much as I love to explore the bohemian haunts of a given city, there doesn't appear to be much of an option for that here. I guess you can choose to feed that side of yourself which is into survival and looking out for the future; or, you can feed that side of yourself which is more into the passions of the moment and your individuality. I'd say Vietnam is more inclined to the former.

So if you want funky art stuff, I wouldn't recommend Vietnam based on my experience. But do remember there's plenty of other great things on offer here, as I went through in my last blog. Since then I've been continuing to enjoy the food, the nice people and the busy vibe of this city.

---