Tidbits and Tips from Hanoi

Greetings from Hanoi. I made it back here, after some seriously grueling bus rides through Lao, and a hassle to get from the VN border to Hanoi on a series of motorbike, bus, pimped-out SUV, and 14-year-old-drivers bus... The water had receded (apparently the main lake in the Old Quarter rose to street level and washed up to the businesses' steps across the street, a couple dozen people died due to the floods, and other roads were 2 ft underwater).

Speaking of water - went swimming at a public pool in VN for the first time. Yes, they swim like they drive. No lanes, no speed limits, no order - so, there were several moments of certain head-on collisions, avoided at the last second with a swift kick or stroke to the side. So that was fun.

More time on the motorbike the last couple days. I consider it one of their biggest compliments (and one of their few) that they'll confidently rent out their motorbikes to foreigners, with the words "it's easy to drive, runs well." And then send you out to the beehive frenzy of the streets here. General rules: whoever is out front (even by a thread on the tire) has the right of way - correlates with rule that you're only responsible for not running into what's in front of you; no word for U-turn - instead the description of it literally means "turn your head," since that's the only time you do; bigger vehicles trump smaller ones; sidewalks are occasionally necessary to utilize as roads.

Found venues for badminton and pingpong the last couple days. One of the better ways to make them think you're a local. I recommend it while traveling.

Found favorites for street food - bun cha (grilled meat with fish sauce and rice noodles), banh bao (steamed buns), various soups (bun bo, of course pho, and rice porridge with eel); eggplant and pumpkin are in season and delicious. I'll bring a few new recipes back with me...

Let your sense of smell guide you around Hanoi. Walk down the Chinese herbal medicine street (Lan Ong St), then past the durian corner (I wonder if there are zoning laws for that fruit), maybe hold your breath along the metal works (Thuoc Bac St) and granite carving (plaques, portraits on stone, tombstones?) streets. The streets in the old quarter were named after the main item sold there; there are still streets with filled with, for example, wedding and business cards, holiday celebration decorations (incense or, now, cheap plastic Christmas crip crap), tools and tailors.

A couple more days here in Hanoi, then I'll go back to China for a week or so. I want to do some rock climbing on the karst peaks, in Yangshuo (near Guilin), where it also sounds like camping is an option. So, will be good to get out of the city and into nature. Hopefully the weather holds - the last couple days have been downright chilly! After acclimating to the tropical weather, 65C is surprisingly cold - though that would be shorts and t-shirt weather in Seattle late spring or early fall...