Park – HCMC

This is a park in central Ho Chi Minh City. There are lots of parks in the city. Most of them are quite nice. Hanoi had lakes. Saigon had parks. I think I prefer the lakes, but the parks will do nicely.

My Hanoi Guide

This is Toni, my Hanoi guide. He took me around Hanoi for four hours for the princely sum of 250,000 dong. About $14. Plus lunch – another 2.50. He was a great guide. Not much of a scooter driver. He kept wanting to tell me things as he was driving through the Hanoi traffic and as he did he would loose track of what was going on around us. He also liked to sing American Soft Pop favorites as he was driving. It was all a bit strange. I would, however, give him a very positive recommendation as a guide. Very knowledgeable. Very good command of English.

Hanoi – Old School

These two women examplify a scene I saw over and over again – people doing manual labor in Vietnam. Notice the woman on the right is pulling a cart. Notice the woman on the left is carrying a load on her shoulder. Notice the hats. Notice the dress. This was a very common scene the further one got away from the center of the urban area. This was in the center of Hanoi and it wasn’t an uncommon scene there at all.

Hanoi – Ready to Rumble

They line up at the traffic lights. It seems like, sometimes, there are hundreds of them. They start off slow, but pick up steam. They’re Hanoi scooter drivers and they’re deadly. To themselves and others.

Traffic Jam

Here we have another of the many traffic jams which seem to tie up Hanoi during the daytime. Notice the strange mix of automobiles, scooters, cyclists and pedestrians. Okay, maybe you don’t see a lot of automobiles, but they are there, hidden among the mass of humanity. Some people say that the rise in the number of automobiles in Hanoi has caused the traffic jams. I’ve heard people say that the traffic jams weren’t there until the cars started using the steets in larger numbers. Thank God for prosperity, right?

Going for a Ride

Here we have me and Chun. We are going for a ride. Chun is a driver. I am his passenger and his fare. In Hanoi, many vietnamese make their living as drivers. Chung took me from near-northwestern Hanoi to my hostel, a ride of about 20 minutes for $1.50 and we had a great time in the chaos of Hanoi traffic. I rode on the back of many scooters to get around Hanoi. Typical fares where $1-2 for the tourist areas where I wanted to go. I even rented one of the scooters myself and rode around Hanoi. It cost me $6 to rent the scooter for a day. That was a mistake. I may have a driver’s license, but I think you have to have some other form of certification to drive a scooter in Hanoi.

Uncle Ho

It’s Uncle Ho. Like it or not, HO Chi Minh is a cult figure in the country of Vietnam. He has his own museum. It’s very modern and the best example of combining politics and art I have ever seen. Ho would have been proud of what they’ve done for him. If not proud, then perhaps humbled, at the very least. If there is one museum in Hanoi I would not miss, it’s the Ho Chi Minh museum. I wouldn’t say it’s the best museum I’ve ever seen, but I would say it’s one of the most unique. That’s what makes it worthy. Plus, it only costs a dollar.

Hanoi Digs

This is the street where I stayed in Hanoi. In the picture you can see
the hostel on the street where I stayed in Hanoi. I would estimate there were about 200 people staying there while I was there. Every morning there were people lined up waiting on my bed to empty out. Eventually, it emptied. Then, they had to shell out the $7.50 to sleep there.