Hanoi

If you like cats, small dogs and random detail shots, then this post is for you. We arrived in Hanoi after traveling from a wedding in Perth, thinking it would be good opportunity to show Genevieve how other cultures flourish in this world of ours. Just driving from the airport to our accomodation I think her eyes were as big as saucers and I could see her gripping the edge of her seat. Clearly we were about to die in the insane, 'no rules' traffic! I on the other hand was so excited about all the photographic opportunities that lay ahead that I was like a kid in a candy store. Marc had been to Vietnam before... quite a while ago... like maybe over twenty years, but he was keen to show us around. The adventure began...

Well as it turned out, we just happened to be in Hanoi at the exact same time as the Peace Summit was occuring between President Trump, and Korean leader Kim Jong Un. There were combos of flags everywhere, Vietmanese, Korean and American in little bundles tucked in all the telephone poles; multitudes of police; Amercian tv cameras crews with huge lenses; and people!!

The people were leaning over railings in a desperate attempt to see both leaders as they zoomed past in the near dark while a local cafe tried to push their way through the crowd with trays of hot coffees.

It was all such a serious business, you could even get a T-shirt to commemorate the event, but better still, you could buy a giant painting of your favourite leader!

Along with presidential visitors, the year of the pig had only just begun and there was an insane amount of piggy products everywhere, even plants shaped like pigs. I must admit they do topiary amazing well!!

Then there were the street vendors and the impressive array of things you could carry on a scooter. Think something is impossible to take on a bike or scooter? You'd be wrong. Kitchen benches, air conditioning ducts, reinforcing steel and live goats are all perfectly normal.

Wandering along the streets there is colour everywhere... just a feast for the eyes. Of course you can't hear the constant tooting, but that just adds another sensory layer to the experience. There was also the many pets wandering the streets. Genevieve got to pat lots of cats and dogs on our travels.

The French influence can still be seen in bakeries, the coffee culture and architecture...

The One Pillar Pagoda which was built in 1049, was entirely constructed with wood on a pillar made of single stone, pretty impressive engineering... and more mandarins of course.

Right beside the Pagoda was presumably someones little cottage with the washing drying outside... the juxtsposition of it all.

Every home or business had little Buddist shrines at their entrances too.

Hanoi's Ancient House is what the homes used to be like. Awesome courtyards with trees and plants in the middle... I'd love to replicate that myself back here in NZ

Le Duan Street, affectionatly know as the 'Train Street' has the train come between peoples homes so close you could put your arms out and touch it as it passes by. Just imagine drying your clothes beside the railway tracks, cooking and eating beside the lines...

Hoàn Kim Lake.. quite pretty at night and at the weekends the road that encircles it gets closed off so kids can play there.