Hanoi Scenes, 1

We were in Hanoi for the better part of five days, taking walks nearly every day, sometimes to specific sights, sometimes not. The old city, where we were (as well as most of the sights), is a dense and intense place, full of curiosities and wonders. (And motor-cycles, -scooters, and -bikes; whatever moves in Hanoi is generally on the back of a moto.) I took perhaps a thousand pix, and it will take some time to work through them, much less draft blog posts. Then there's Halong Bay and then trekking in Sapa. Somehow, neither Vicki nor I have ever been into "relaxation" travel.

Welcome to Hanoi International Airport; a 45 minute flight from Luang Prabang
that left early (as in China 12 years ago, the plane leaves when everyone's there,
not at the scheduled time--an important lesson to remember if traveling in these
parts)

Glitzy bridge over the Red River; yes, it turns pink, then yellow, then purple...

Business Hanoi, which we never saw

Our first glimpse of the moto culture; carrying flowers to the market

Our next (boutique) hotel, O'Gallery Premier; at first I
thought it was Irish; no, an Oriental Hospitality Group
property; Hang Bong Street

Ample and very nice

Down the street (which included several more boutique
hotels and then stores and shoppes of every description) was
this electrics shop; at first I thought maybe they were
extracting copper or something else from all these dead
appliances; nope, they're repairing them! right out on the
sidewalk

Most properties, I would guess, are no more than about
thirty feet wide; so, as in the case of this hotel, you build up

Every nook and cranny, sometimes maybe only six feet
wide, has a shop of some sort

When the French left in 1954, our food tour guide said, they left behind just two
good things: baguettes and coffee; nearly every block has a cafe of some sort as
well as a shop like this that sells an incredible variety of beans and grounds

Hat shop on wheels

Tiny alleys, sometime wide enough just to get a moto
inside, along every street

Grandfather doing what grandfathers do; there are roosters all over, seeming
pets; and quite loud

A tree that has seen some grim history; but lived to see
perhaps the best years Vietnam has yet had

Our first walk was to and around nearby Hoan Kiem Lake

Thus, with one of its two ancient temples

Need a new North Face backpack? There are hundreds of shops such as this
selling them; counterfeit? you ask...maybe...but probably made at the same factory
that makes the real ones

Still processing...

In the pretty park surrounding the lake

Entrance to one of the temples; we demurred

War monument of note

Temple in the lake

Other, much older temple, 10th century

Leader of note we'll meet later

Convoy of "cyclos" carrying tourists

Street scene...a big street for the old city