Manouevering through Hanoi

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Happy Solstice to all!

Cherith and I made it safely to Hanoi, we were doubtful for a while condsidering the 7000 near-accidents en route from the airport. We quickly learned that the driving techniques lack stop signs, signalling, watching for pedestrians, and load/weight restrictions (i.e. pigs, water bottles, bags of rice, construction materials stacked on top of little motorbikes). A neat discovery is how the horn is their main form of defensive driving. Honking seems to indicate "you better make room for me or I'll run you over!" We also realized we forgot our face masks at home...a staple for all Hanoi drivers, as the fumes, dust, and smog are quite overpowering.

We will be heading to Halong Bay and Sapa over the next week. We are very anxious to get our photos uploaded, as I'm sure you are all anxious to see them as well. Our internet opportunities are hit and miss and we seem to always be on a schedule for buses or tours, which doesn't support the time needed to transfer the photos onto the website. We ask for your patience, as ours is running out a bit...All the computers we use seem to get stressed out very easily!

Hope to be in touch again soon!

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Photos

Pinapple vending
These is a wooden balance that vendors in the city use to sell their products. Small women will carry these loaded with fruit. It looks very heavy, but they manage.