Hanoi First Impressions - 11/17 - 11/20
First impressions of Hanoi is that it is like Bangkok on steroids. This primarily refers to the crazy traffic. The number of scooters, cars, bikes, tuk-tuks and pedestrians sharing a road without paying attention to a single light and managing to avoid collisions is just impressive. Here is a video of a standard Hanoi intersection:
We were told that in order to cross the street you have to close your eyes and just walk. We thought this was absolutely crazy advice. In fact, on the first day, I got stuck on one side of the street (when Levka already crossed). A hotel employee grabbed my hand and helped me across (kinda like you'd lead an old grandma or a small child) :)
Only one day later, we were using the advice and were surprised that as you walk across the street the traffic splits and comfortably goes around you. Interestingly nobody actually stops to let us pass, they don't even slow down:
Aside from traffic, we were shocked by the amount of 'action' on the street; people cooking and eating; fixing cars and bikes; sewing, wood cutting, painting; people getting massages, manicures and haircuts; and you can literally buy anything on the sidewalk (that is if you can navigate between the thousands of scooters that are parked everywhere)
Surprisingly, after 2 days we were used to all of the above. I was most annoyed with the noise and Levka with the smell. Noise primarily comes from the non-stop honking. Apparently our bus driver from Laos was more of a rule than an exception. And the smell is just a side effect from a large city.
I kinda liked Hanoi in the end, but Levka is still not a fan.
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| 2011.11.18 Hanoi |
