Hanoi Part I

I just arrived here last night and already I can tell I vastly prefer it here to Ho Chi Minh City. In fact, I think I love it here! It feels older, and the streets are narrower, less crowded, less overwhelming and filled with stores selling silk, wooden bowls, lanterns, Buddhist tchotchkes -- everything that's irresistible to tourists. Plus, it is ever so slightly cooler, which makes walking around (in a t-shirt and shorts) much more comfortable. The people, though, find it frigid and I have seen some fur-lined parkas.I wandered around this morning. Here are some photographs. More to come.Hoan Kim Lake above with the Turtle Pagoda. You can walk all around the small green lake, or park your wheelchair by the water.

There is some rivalry between the northerners and southerners, with the southerners assuming a faintly superior attitude overall. But I've so far found the northerners to be much more genial! They also seem to be a bit louder and more emotional, although those are the classic attributes generally ascribed to southerners.

The market on Pho Hang Bac, a little street, below. Prices are higher here, by quite a lot, and people speak more English -- I assume because Hanoi is more popular with tourists?

Dried fish and spices. And myriad styles of tofu below.

Fancy home or something more significant? I can't tell! It's frustrating that so much of what I see is mystifying!
This photo is back lit, but it shows one of the gnarled ancient trees that hang over the streets; one of them I saw this morning was bending so low it almost grazed my head.


Much of life seems to happen in the streets. And a few house cats I saw get to check it all out, but they can't stray farther than their leashes.


A snack. Banh chuoi chung -- it is some kind of fried banana cake, but it's not sweet. Quite delicious and filling! Here I must put a plug in again for Vietnamese food: the mangos, pineapples, peanuts, coffee -- it's all so delicious, always, you never buy a bad piece of fruit here. No bad nuts! It really makes sense to live in a climate where you can grow fresh, outrageously yummy food year round. I wish Maine were more tropical.