Please forgive any typos as I am writing on a hotels computer and text doesnt always come up in english (and spell check for the English language wont work!)
Our flight from Vientiane, Laos to Hanoi, Vietnam only took an hour. Suddenly we were transported into another dimension. The city is intense! In the shuttle to the Old Quarter we zigzagged across the motorway like we were in a race and every bus, car and motorbike were participating.
Lanes, traffic lights and indicators are merely a formality that is rarely followed. The right of way goes to whoever has the largest vehicle and the sounds of horns beeping are constant. There were many moments where we were only a milimetre away from a serious accident. It was almost comical!
The Old Quarter ís where all the tourists stay and it has to be the most chaotic part of the city. Its even earned the gold star for being the craziest place I have ever been too, even over Egypt and Mexico! The tangled web of streets & alleyways are tiny and heavily ooccupied. The broken sidewalks are covered in parked motorbikes, stands full with clothes or trinkets for sale, rugs spread out covered in vegetables or even peices of raw meat, and makeshift bars or restaurants with tiny plastic chairs scattered around. (We ate at one of these 'restaurants' on the sidewalk and the chef sat at a table behind us with her pot and stack of dead cooked chickens with the heads and feet still attached... I really wish I was disciplined enough to be a vegeterian!)
We were forced to walk on the róad and in the gutter with motorbikes constantly flying past barely a cm between us as well as cárs trying to squeeze through, cyclos (people on a bike with a padded seat for a customer to be pedalled around at their leisure), people carrying large loads balanced on each end of a stick rested on their shoulders, people carrying donuts, dvds or various other items for purchase, children playing - and the list goes on! You can never let your guard down and must always be alert or you will be flattened. The noise of engines, horns beeping, birds in cages and people yelling is constant. My first instinct was to hate it ás it's incredibly exhuasting but it's definitely something worth experiencing as its so entertaining. How do people live like thís?! We quickly learnt the art of crossing the road - seeing as they dont always stop at lights - avoiding the cars, we just walk straight out infront of the endless motorbikes and very slowly shuffle across and they honk their horns and swerve around us. Dont stop and dont make any sudden movements (like running) as they wont be able to predict your movements and you'll be like a bug on a windscreen!
There are 86 million people living in Vietnam, roughly 7 million of which lives in this capital city. It amazes me how much they can fit on their bikes - stacks of boxes to the point you can barely see the driver, cages filled with animals, even whole families - 2 adults, 2 children! Some wear facemasks for the pollution, half seem to wear helmets, loads even swerve through traffic with their legs dangling, a cigrette in their mouths and a phone to their ear! There are modern expensive shops, restaurants and hotels in amongst the street stalls and dirty dodgy alleyways. This city has it all! Children go toilet on the sidewalk and women wear socks with their highheels - there are endless cultural differances that amuse me.
We spent 3 days there which is more than enough, but I think my frustration with the chaos is more due to the stresses of having to sort things out such as the dentist (a filling fell out on one side and another tooth on the opposite side hurt too much to eat on it) and trying to buy a new cheap laptop as mine died, or at least fix mine - both attempts were unsucessful. Amongst other stresses. When frustrations arise, small things like having to eat the same food all the time (noodles, rice or eggs?!), ATM Machines not working, not knowing ìf you've just been ripped off, not always being able to communicate in english, not being able to find a place that you are looking for, things being closed, and having to walk in uncomfortable heat as our feet turn black from the streets grime, really really get to you, much more than usual.
All the above pretty much sums up our time there, but we have also visited a few temples and the prison museum, walked around the lake (which you can hardly see through the smog), browsed at the shops / stalls (while keeping on eye on the hectic activity on the streets next to us), went to the dentist (and survived with minimal pain!) and booked our next few excursions (although unfortunatly the one we actually wanted was booked out solid). Many art and photography students were out in force. We saw loads of photo shoots with tiny pretty doll like girls posing in elegant long silk dresses. We even saw 5 wedding parties posing for photos around the same fountain!
Tidbits on Vietnam-
- Apparently Vietnam is still a communist country, but it hard to tell. The cities are awash with money, but not everyone is getting their fair share. Transperancy International rated Vietnam 121st out of 179 countries surveyed for their corruption index, on par with Nigeria.
- In 2008, 2 journalists were jailed for exposing a major scandel where public officials were using state money to bet on major football matches in Europe.
- The Vietnamese have been fighting chinese rule for over a thousand years but have still adopted many of their traditions. By the 10th century, Vietnam declared their independance.
- In 1858 the French managed to seize Vietnam. During world war two, the only group that managed to resist the Japanese were the communists. Afterwards, they became independant once more which led to war with the French. The North and South became split due to Communist & Anti-Communist rulers. In 1965, USA, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and South Korea sent in army troops which led to huge protests all over the world. In 1973 there was a ceasefire.
- Saigon (South Vietam) surrended to the north (Communists) not long after. Hundreds of thousands fled from Southern Veitnam causing a flood of refugees over the next 15 years. Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978 causing the Chinese to to attack Vietnam but the war only lasted 17 days.
- With the end of the cold war and the collpase of the Soviet Union in 1991, Vietnam and western nations sought rapprochement. The USA established diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1995 and in 2000 Bill Clinton was the first US president to visit North Vietnam. Vietnam was welcomed into the World Trade Organistion in 2007.
- Unemployment is nonexisent - everyone of all ages are out on the street finding ways to earn money - usually all day and into the night, seven days a week.
- The country, with its population of over 86 million, is the 13th most populous country in the world. 65% are aged under 30.
- Religion is a mix of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.
- Vietnam stretchs more than 1600km along the eastern coast of the Indochinese peninsula. Its slighly bigger than Italy and slightly smaller than Japan. Vietnam has 3451km of coastline and 3818km òf land borders.
