Hanoi, Vietnam - some observations

It's great to have a guide like Son, who both knows his stuff and makes it sound interesting. A good guide tries to tell you as much as possible about the places you see, but knows when to take a break and let things sink in.

After a few days, my head was spinning. Pagodas, temples, palaces, Buddha, dragons, snakes, history. France, England, China, the United States, Russia -- everyone who was involved in Vietnam's history, for better and for worse, in recent centuries. With plenty of emphasis on Communism and Ho Chi Minh. I was actually pretty impressed with the latter's world travels before seeking a safe haven in China from whence he spread his ideas of what would be best for his homeland. I had no idea that he had travelled far and wide -- France, the U.S., the U.K., the Soviet Union, China and Thailand -- to study, work, widen his horizons and develop his political views. If you want to know more about Vietnam's history and Ho Chi Minh's part in it, go right ahead. Meanwhile, I'll jot down for you some other bits of info which found their way into my travel notebook:

• Beer and cigarettes are very cheap in Vietnam. Seems to me like a government ploy to sedate the people. People smoke a lot, everywhere. Except on buses, where it's not allowed.
• The prevalence of cancer in Vietnam is among the highest in the world. Among the causes are air pollution, water pollution, unsafe food (possibly the result of said pollution) and heavy smoking. The Cancer Hospital in the center of Hanoi is always overcrowded. There was a plan, or at least an intent, to transfer it out of the city, but the local rich residents objected -- it would be too inconvenient for them. So a new hospital is being built out of town, for the poorer population. 
• Classrooms, too, are hugely overcrowded. The official standard of 35 pupils per classroom is not upheld; not even close. Some have as many as 70 pupils, and 3 teachers. (I can just see my teacher-friends rolling their eyes in dismay.) 
• If weather turns cold (in Vietnam terms), i.e. under 10 deg C (= 50 deg F), there's no school. Because there's no heating in the classrooms. And because most pupils get to school on their parent's scooter, standing in front, as you can see in my previous blog post, and it's just too darn cold!
• There's a restriction of 2 children per family in Vietnam.
• Supermarkets. I could see the entrance to our right, but Son, our guide, turned to a different door on the left. Apparently, you must first deposit your bag/s in the locker room, and carry only your wallet into the actual shop. There's a very prominent sign, in Vietnamese and in English, to that effect next to the real entrance. Phrased in very strict terms (at least the English is.) We had no trouble buying chocolate digestives (sorry, not McVitie's) and tonic water, while Son bought apples.
• The Temple of Literature -- Vietnam's first university. Isn't that a lovely name for a uni? Imagine my disappointment upon learning that it no longer functions as a university; it's just another pretty location with lots of tourists... 
  

• Which doesn't mean it didn't provide for some cute items:

• And a-propos universities: The government apparently agreed to the existence of a private university so long as it doesn't teach history, law, journalism, media; and does not grant a teaching certificate. Ain't that grand?...
• The Water-Puppet Show. Definitely one of the weirdest shows I've ever seen.  As you can see, the pics I took aren't much good, but there are plenty of better ones online.
  
  
  
  
  
  If you want to listen to some live Vietnamese music and singing, and watch puppets "dance" on the water and act out folk tales, by all means go and see it. 
• And just for fun:

Michael and Nina with Ho Chi Minh :-)

Hanoi, Vietnam - Crazy Traffic

Okay, so there we were in the center of Hanoi, in what's known as the Old Quarter. Narrow streets. Crazy, endless traffic in all directions. Most notably 2-wheeled motorized vehicles. You know -- scooters of all sorts. Total madness. Everyone riding in any direction they please, with no attention to the concept of "lanes" and very little attention to traffic lights, which are few and far between.

We are with our efficient and super-helpful guide, Son. He says the most common scooters are Honda, Yamaha, and Vespa. Yes, you do have to take a test and get a license. Officially, the age for a scooter license is 18, as opposed to 20 for a car. Unofficially, judging by what we saw out in the country, looks like there's barely a limit. Kids start riding bikes (your basic, non-motorized kind) at a very young age; one must learn to get around one's village and be of use to the family. Once you've mastered riding a bike, what's to stop you from riding a scooter?.. Oh, you don't have a license? That can be easily arranged. You can always pay a kind of "insurance fee" that ensures you pass your test, hint-hint, nudge-nudge, know-what-I-mean.

Um, there's also no de-facto limit on the number of passengers per scooter, or the amount of stuff -- livestock, chickens (dead or alive) merchandise, crates, flowers -- you name it -- you carry on your bike. Again -- there are official limits.

But who can live on a daily basis with official limits? You and your spouse must get to work, and you have to drop off the kids at their respective schools, and your eldest is using the other scooter, so the four or five of you pile onto the parent's scooter, and off you go. The older kid stands between the driver's legs, holding onto the handlebars, and the younger kid sits behind the adult (or relatively-adult) passenger, hanging on to him or her for dear life. Sometimes there's also a baby nestled against his mother's chest, wrapped and tied up in some shawl.

Kids with helmets! Yay! A rare sight.

The adults usually wear a helmet, and the women hardly ever drive in town without a fabric mask covering their faces from under their eyes to below the chin. Why? Against pollution? Perhaps, But also so as to protect their skin from the sun and prevent it from getting tanned. 

Selection of scooter masks

Keep your complexion as pale as possible, is the name of the game. All toiletry manufacturers adjust their products accordingly.

Huge selection of cheap toiletries in the market

Statistically, there are around 10,000 fatalities from traffic accidents per year in Vietnam. It may not sound shocking considering a population of some 92 million, of which about 7.5 million in Hanoi alone. But still, when you think of it in absolute terms, it's scary.

And talking of scary. On a practical, daily basis, crossing the street in Vietnam is a scary challenge. Son confidently demonstrated how he does it, and had us follow him closely. In the evening, when we went wandering about on our own, I clung to my husband and prayed each time we chose to cross a street. The scooter drivers seemed to pay us no heed. They minded their own business, while we had to look out for our bodies and souls. Later on in our trip, even though by then we were somewhat more adept at crossing streets, there was one place where we simply gave up. But that was in Ho Chi Minh City, and will wait for a later blog post.

One more factor that complicates pedestrians' life is the sidewalks (pavements, in British English.) They are taken. In use. Crowded. Not by other pedestrians so much as by rows upon rows of parked scooters; by merchandise flowing out of shops -- dolls, bags, toys, flowers, clothes, food, etc.,

Sidewalk taken up by flowers on low plastic stools

Sidewalk taken up by parked scooters

...as well as by coffee-drinkers perched on tiny plastic stools of the type used [in my country] for tots in nurseries and pre-school.
 Wish I could squat as these Vietnamese do. When we do squats in yoga class I am a total failure. My ballet-aficionada daughter introduced me to a wonderful fitness website that is guaranteed to improve my squatting skills if I only persist in practicing. These Vietnamese are just naturally gifted that way. And so they sit on those miniature stools, their knees close to their ears practically, sip their strong coffee and/or eat their lunch. Since I am a relatively polite person, I balked at staring at the squatting folks, and so don't have a good picture to upload :-(  The one I have doesn't do justice to this aspect of Life in Vietnam. But what's Google Images for? Search and ye shall find :-)

Useful info:
We stayed at the Hanoi Siesta Diamond Hotel, which belongs to the Elegance Hospitality Group. Extremely pleasant place, wonderful staff.

To be continued....