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Published: March 8th 2008
Hoan Kiem Lake
in middle of city, near my hotel...only 20 minutes to walk around. I am picked up by my hotel at the airport and already on the way from the airport to the hotel, it is obvious I am somewhere new! I can see the women working the rice fields wearing the cone-shaped straw tent-type hats as they are bent over swinging their arms back and forth. Then a motorcycle goes whizzing by with 3 huge pigs strapped to the back! Yes, that's right! And the pigs must've been at least 100 lbs each! Sound impossible? Well, I saw it with my own eyes, but couldn't get to my camera quickly enough...sadly, since this was a site, with the snouts and hoofs flapping in the wind. Oh My....
Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam. Very colorful buildings all around with a lake in the middle of the city, a perfect place for me to take a morning jog around the lake and I'm only a few blocks from the old quarter, where it is impossible not to get fantastically lost in the crazy streets and markets. This city has lots of life, but at the same time extremely chaotic. The Vietnames motorbikes are EVERYWHERE and all vehicles seem to think it's appropriate to
seriously beep every 2 seconds to let you know they are there. I keep having an urge to punch each driver in the face for every beep I hear! Are you kidding me? Necessary?? It is a bit difficult to cross the street here since you have to be very careful to avoid the motorbikes, which is impossible and avoid the people constantly nagging you to buy something from them, equally impossible. I took a short video just so you could step into this crazy motorbike world of chaos for one second. Enjoy it.
I ate on the street, which is the real Vietnamese way; you don't even order, just sit and they bring you bowls of broth, pork, noodles, and leaves of some sort. Very good and about $3, but cleanliness is definitely a gamble. Also attended a water puppet show, which is an age old art of entertainment, previously done by the farmers. I went with a couple from Austria and Germany. Also, enjoyed some great dinners here!! Looking forward to hitting the countryside next.
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