There is no second chance to make a first impression

Really? I beg to differ.

Hanoi isn’t very pretty at first sight. Not all that interesting either. No smiling ladies in straw hats as far as the eye can see. No pagodas. No temples. The ride from the airport was rather gray and dull. If not for a few occasional signs in some unrecognizable language I wouldn’t even have guessed I was in Asia but rather in some East European small, poor and boring town, back in the fifties.

Could it really be  ‘it’? I simply refused to think so. There must be more. And there was.

Pichup? Oh well, Whatever. At least my name was spelled correctly and I was welcomed.

What a vibrant, interesting, buzzing with life, constantly on the move yet at the same time so very different city Hanoi is. All activities, including the ones we are used to doing indoors, are taking place outdoors, in the streets, right in front of our eyes. Paradise for street photographers.

Hair Salon. If you need a cut just give him a call

Even though I haven’t been in the country for more than 48 hours, I could already write a book “Hanoi, First Impression”. Therefore there is no way to describe all impressions in a 2-3 page blog so I will only list a couple of main points for now: 1. things that I found not to be true and 2. general reflections – things that surprised me the most. Later I’ll elaborate in more detail on some of these topics.

Pride of Hanoi. The famous Hoan Kiem Lake and Huc Bridge leading to Ngoc Son Temple. This district is center of Hanoi which also houses The Old Quarters (and my home away from home)

Things that I found not to be (entirely) true

It is not always advisable to read too much about your destination. Not only ‘too much’ information may spoil the fun of discovery but may also provide very subjective and bias information that may not necessarily be correct, at least from one’s personal perspective.

Waiting for the ‘vacant’ sign. In the background Hoan Kiem Lake and the Bridge.

Crossing the streets is apparently a number one obstacle for many visitors. I must be a ‘natural’ street crosser, or perhaps driving in Dubai had some advantages after all, for I didn’t find it difficult at all. In fact, I kind of enjoy joining in and then just following the rhythm/pulse/flaw of the scooter culture. Yes, there are scooters everywhere and yes they do sometimes go against the traffic but they do go so slow that the chance of getting hit by one is next to none. The sheer number of scooters slows down the speed to a minimum and consequently makes navigation a piece of cake. Seriously. I’d rather worry about scooters that are not in traffic as you never know what motorists can do to join in, e.g. pull out without even looking if the coast is clear. So far I haven’t witnessed any accidents and I hear they are very rare and very minor.

Traffic lights are suggestions and not rule/law. Nah, not really. In the Old Quarters the rules are not always followed but everywhere else they sure are.

Who said traffic lights weren’t respected?

Hanoi is not as noisy as I was made to believe it is. It is true there is a lot of honking going on. However, scooters are not cars so the volume of their horns is (almost) acceptable.