Ah, Ha Noi--where traffic lanes and signals are mere suggestions...
It is just as I remember it--only it's not. In 1996, the Old Quarter was filled with incessant streams of bicycles. The rich rode motorbikes and cars, an oddity, created a scene. Today the mix has changed. Motorbikes have replaced bicycles--and indeed bikes are rare. Cars are everywhere, and the only rule of the road that seems to really matter is that the largest vehicle wins whatever right of way dispute there is!
The mix of people has also changed. We were most unusual in '96--some of the first Americans to walk the streets of Hanoi in decades. In the three weeks we were here last, we saw only one other Caucasian family that was not with our small group of 3 adoptive families. This time, tourists are everywhere.
