So Hanoi is cold, but otherwise, fascinating. Much more Asian than Ho Chi Minh, so lots of Chinese pagodas, many more women in straw hats, more jade in teh stores, etc., but then also a huge French colonial presence, in certain buildings, the fact that everyone calls you "Mad'me" (well, me anyway, being female). It's also much older and narrower. Which means slightly easier to cross streets, although motorbikes still seem to rule and run roughshod over any and all traffic signals. And it's still the drive-by-honk method of navigation for cars. Street names change about every block in the old city, where I"m staying, but it's not as hard to get around as I thought b/c each block specializes in a different ware -- i.e. , to get to the lake, you go down steamed
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