Find A Whole Different World

Vietnam is a country of smiles, wrinkles and the infamous pointy hats. Back in 2011 I persuaded my family it was the place for us to tour. Our first stop was Hanoi, the capital. My feet touched Asian soil and I felt immediately at ease in the musty humid city swelling with fast paced traffic and old ladies carrying wicker baskets full of fruit. Unlike London there was no danger here, just good intentions and lots of mopeds. The streets are playfully tricky to orienteer and it became obvious we were circling the same few blocks embroidered with stalls selling roasted rat and dried squid, both of which I must say, taste surprisingly delicious!
The second day we visited the One Pillar Pagoda, a famous site for Vietnamese couples to travel to in hope it will bring them a son. In a split second, as my dad would say, the heavens opened up. We rushed to take cover in a small temple next-door and watched as the courtyard's fire of gifts for the afterlife fizzled out leaving half-burnt paper fruit and fake money. An hour passed surrounded by the tranquil faces of the locals oblivious to the roaring thunder that drummed against the rood of the rickety drenched temple. We decided to brave the rain and given our shoes were canvas and now 90% water, we started to walk into the city centre barefoot.
You know that feeling you get when you run into the sea and some unknown creature or object wraps around your ankle or brushes your feet. Wading through the streets of Vietnam in murky water meant that sensation occurred every 20 seconds or so. Lychee may taste great peeled, but it is undoubtedly one of the most painful fruits to stand on with its skin on, and coincidentally one of the most popular fruits in Vietnam. Before we knew it the locals were in hysterics at our goofy clumsiness and shock.
In comparison they were completely unfazed. Out of the estimated 1.5 million moped in the Hanoi region and what I can imagine a worthy amount of them on the road, I saw not one accept defeat. The only difference- the tone of ongoing beeping got louder. Engines chugged along with the same unbelievable determination as their drivers.
If Asia had not shocked me enough, if it did not appear dazzling, vibrant and ridiculous enough already; it certainly did when it was submerged in half a metre of rippling water. Hundreds of wires knotted like webs above the streets dropped huge tears of water like urban waterfalls and the streets resemble Venice with a more energetic stubbornness.