Raindrops on Hà Nội

What I love most about the times when it rains in Hanoi is color, with raincoats and umbrellas livening up a dreary grey day along the streets.

 

 

Bits & Pieces of Hà Nội

Here are some some of the little corners and often overlooked details of what makes Hanoi such a charming place.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Day at the Office

Self proprietors pushing their bicycles, weighted down by goods to sell to a tough, and often unforgiving, world of retailers and consumers is always a humbling sight. 

You have to admire the Vietnamese sense of enterprise and perseverance. No matter how little of an income can be made, they are willing to ply whatever trade disposable to them to survive the day. 

Survival is the order of the day for a loan roaming salesman swathed in belts, wallets and watches. So too for the young boys buffing perfect shoe shines for a dollar, and for the elderly women who carry thirty pound baskets of fruits upon their shoulders as they meander the streets, alleyways and walkways of Hanoi. 

 

 

 

 

Hà Nội Awakes

From the crack of dawn, many Hanoians are up and about, starting their day with exercise.

It's a common sight across Vietnam each morning to see people out on the streets and at public spaces, stretching their limbs and warming up for day.

Hoan Kiem Lake (Hồ Hoàn Kiếm) and Tay Ho Lake (Hồ Tây) are just two of the many popular areas in Hanoi for morning walks, jogs, tai chi and aerobics classes! 

   

  

And if exercise is not on the morning itinerary...

Hanoi is simply a great place to pull up a small...a really, really small...plastic chair (pretty much anywhere), order up a cà phê sữa đá (traditional Vietnamese coffee on ice, sweetened with condensed milk) and watch the world go by.

 

 

 

 

As the new day awakens, so too does the traffic. 

With what seems like an infinite number of bicycles and motorcycles, and now increasingly cars, Hanoians swarm the city streets to make their way to school and work.