Hanoi streetscape

Hanoi traffic is nothing short of intimidating. Motos, cars, trucks and buses weave their way around each other according to a hierarchy in ascending order.They warn each other of their approach with their horns, the trucks being particularly deafening, and the noise assault begins early in the morning and only relents around 10 at night. The single set of traffic light that I spotted with great relief turned out to be a sham. My saviour the little green man flashed for ONE second only and the stream of motos continued unaffected.

Obviously people come last in the hierarchy. So how do you cross the road? just walk onto the road...and edge your way forward and let the traffic flow around you. The motos don't go that fast anyway. I know because I had a moto stop right next to me because i was too new/slow/crippled to dodge it. It's good to know people are on the ball haha.

Actually, motorists must be incredibly focused all the time, you just don't know what other vehicles or pedestrians will do! In fact they are so focused, they can ride parallel to each other, chat, and hold onto huge flower arrangements/cardboard boxes/3 other people all at the same time.

I'm ashamed to admit that I often used these hardworking ladies as shields when crossing the road...

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Apart from the safety hazard of crossing the road, here on the footpath you have:

BOILING WATER

pavers going for a walk

tentacles of our new alien overlords coming up from the ground...ok these are pipes for wires but what happens when it rains?

Other constant features include: brief 'rain' or 'hail' when people throw things out of the window, which may become things on the ground that you can trip over. Also got hit by a fallen bamboo pole. They use it alot here, for scaffolding etc.

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some Hanoi streetscape - it's 1000 years old this year!

the only KFC I saw...didn't see any maccas or starbucks!

there's a competition going on for the narrowest buildling in Hanoi



this one takes the cake



nice contrast of the old and the new



there are temples everywhere



often wedged between big, new buildlings



in the poorer areas, haphazard construction makes for interesting views



for example, windows are normally placed under beams; not sure what's happening here!



but there are many pockets of beauty...of colours, symmetry and history