Vietnam: Hanoi

HECTIC IN HANOI

Vietnam has changed since Jan last visited in 2003. It has become a beehive of commercial venture and although it will never lose its charm, it did seem a bit hectic in Hanoi. There are many more cars and scooters and fewer bicycles. The traffic is truly frightening.

We stayed in a wonderful hotel in the old section of Hanoi that provided respite from the pace of the city. The service was charming and we ate delicious pho each morning for breakfast.

The old quarter of Hanoi is more than 1000 years old and is a maze of crooked and twisting streets that baffle most tourists but not Mr. Doug. He rented a pedal taxi for an hour and a half and armed with a map, he had a clear understanding of Hanoi which is organized by wares. There is a flower street, a holiday street, an electric motor street, a silk street and on. By the time we had been in Hanoi a day, he had the Old quarter figured out. It is a maze of activity and amazing sights.

Doug and I have fewer fashion consultants than those of you who have more children but we do have Shari, Doug's lovely daughter. Periodically she buys him fashionable clothing and comments on this engineer glasses that he has worn and replaced with identical frames for the last 25 years. The clothing was not a priority but Doug spent millions (of dong) updating our glasses. It is quite economical to do so, we spent about $100 for glasses that the frames alone would have been triple that in the states. The quality was excellent. Shari may wish to continue with her advice on clothing. We just aren't there yet.