[the dude]

From the drive in from the airport, Hanoi looks like just about every other city I’ve ever been to – perhaps even worse. But ‘The Paris of the Orient’ was a great surprise.

Hanoi is a thousand-year-old city that has all the charm and character one might expect from a city of that vintage. It’s centred on a large lake and the Old and French Quarters are a real treat to explore – this is where the majority of my photos were taken.

You’ll see examples of French colonial, Chinese and Vietnamese architecture…unfortunately, not enough, though.

1.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1108.jpg

2.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1297.jpg

3.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1298.jpg

4. A small mosque in the old quarter that caters to Hanoi’s dwindling South Asian population.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1299.jpg

5.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1300.jpg

6.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1303.jpg

7.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1304.jpg

8.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1306.jpg

9.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1313.jpg
10.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1314.jpg

11.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1315.jpg

12. Opera House
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1316.jpg

13.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1317.jpg

14.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1318.jpg

15.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1319.jpg

16.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1320.jpg

17.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1321.jpg

18.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1322.jpg

19.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1323.jpg

20.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1324.jpg

21.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1325.jpg

22.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1326.jpg

23.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1327.jpg

24.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1328.jpg

25.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1329.jpg

26.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1305.jpg

27. mmmm, delicious.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1307.jpg

28. Yes, they are alive and will not be on the menu this evening. How do I know? They’re wearing sweaters.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1406.jpg

29. Hoan Kiem Lake with the French Quarter in the distance.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1421.jpg

30.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1309.jpg

31.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1310.jpg

32.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1312.jpg

33. So many scooters. So many BLOODY scooters!!
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1308.jpg

34.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1405.jpg

35.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1407.jpg

36.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1404.jpg

37.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1408.jpg

38. Main rail line into the city. Pretty tight squeeze.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1409.jpg

39.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1410.jpg

40. Hanoi Citadel. Unfortunately, it’s off limits to the public.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1412.jpg

41.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1413.jpg

42. Uncle Ho’s Mausoleum
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1416.jpg

43. Lenin
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1411.jpg

44.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1419.jpg

45.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/the_dude1974/vietnam/IMG_1420.jpg

That’s all for now but there’s much more to come.

[olga]

Wow, what a city! These pics relly blew me away. I love those old, small houses with one beautiful balcony in the centre (#1 and #36 for example). That rail line is pretty amazing. Great shot #39.

I'm looking forward to more photos!

[Jon Dalton]

Greetings from Hamilton, Ontario! That shot of the rail line is gold. That's amazing. Looks like it isn't continuous welded rail and there's no overhead wires. Are those trains diesel electric?

[Chelsea Spy]

Fascinating thread, cool pictures - thanks. Those shots of the rail track are especially interesting!

[Tom In Chicago]

cool pix. . . thanks for posting. . .

[Sekkle]

That’s all for now but there’s much more to come.

Looking forward to it! Great photos, very interesting.

[go_leafs_go02]

do you have problems with electricity out there, those lines look dangerous and very unreliable!

[ST1]

Very nice pictures!

[raisethehammer]

awesome!! great tour...fabulous city.
Whats with all the facemasks?? air pollution?

[flar]

Amazing!

[Jonas]

That's something exclusive! Very interesting to see how Vietnam looks like. Seems like a very probable destination!

[The Dirt]

Beautiful! Wow, I missed a lot when I was there. Here's a couple of noteworthy buildings from my trip:

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh162/dmatrixone/TheStreetsofHanoi6.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh162/dmatrixone/TheStreetsofHanoi31.jpg

The presidential palace(???)
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh162/dmatrixone/TheStreetsofHanoi19.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh162/dmatrixone/TheStreetsofHanoi60.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh162/dmatrixone/TheStreetsofHanoi65.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh162/dmatrixone/TheStreetsofHanoi68.jpg

The hostel where I stayed.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh162/dmatrixone/TheStreetsofHanoi38.jpg

Scooters, scooters, everywhere!!!
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh162/dmatrixone/TheStreetsofHanoi70.jpg

[Urban Zombie®]

Fascinating stuff! Thanks for the post.

[the dude]

trains - everything's deisel. i've taken the train here but it's not recommended. the system is fairly poor and unreliable. it is cheap, though. saigon and hanoi could really use metros. public transit is still in its infancy here.

facemasks - ya, the air is brutal. the streets are very narrow in hanoi so there's little air circulation. you could eat it with chopsticks. it's pretty much just women who wear them, though. it's a macho thing, i guess.

electrical - it's quite amazing that there's any electricity, tv or telephone at all. it's a real spider's web of wires. i've seen them working on it as well and it's pretty frightening. you'll see the same thing across se asia.

due to the lush, verdant nature of hanoi, there were many buildings that i was unable to get good shots of. many of the city's administrative buildings are completely obscured by foliage.

thanks for the comments and like i said, there's more to come.

[Blake]

I just spent 3 weeks in Vietnam - 3 days in Saigon, and the rest in the Mekong Delta region (Rach Gia, Long Xuyen and Hon Dat). Looks like Hanoi is worth a visit next time.

As for the pollution masks, women also wear them because it blocks their faces from the sun. They associate tanned skin with being a "peasant", so most women in the city try to avoid that.

[The Dirt]

When I saw many women on scooters wearing gloves that went up to their shoulders, I thought they had some sort of skin condition. Nope, that was just to make sure they wouldn't tan. I also saw way too many people wearing warm jackets in Saigon, where it was at least 100 degrees (F) with 100% humidity. Hanoi was a lot more hospitable, weather-wise.

[Bergenser]

Nice pictures. Scoters seems to be pretty cheap there. :)

[Austinlee]

Phoking awesome!

[Buckeye Native 001]

Holy wow! :tup:

[the dude]

before i left hanoi the temp got up to the mid 20s celcius. most women were still walking around in winter jackets. they definitely like keeping their skin covered. it's 30C-35C here in saigon and it's pretty much the same story.

[Evergrey]

incredible photos

[MSPtoMKE]

Cool photos! I live in the City of Lakes as well, Minneapolis. :)

[the dude]

Nice pictures. Scoters seems to be pretty cheap there. :)

you can get an used scooter for a very affordable price but the new ones are almost as expensive as you'd find in the west. a new vespa costs approximately $5000.

also, cars are very expensive here. in vietnam, a new honda civic will cost you approximately $40,000. it's hard to get solid data on average income, but it's something like $1,000-$1,500. so, aside from taxis, you see very few on the street.

[R@ptor]

Fantastic photos. I will be there in July. :)

[giallo]

before i left hanoi the temp got up to the mid 20s celcius. most women were still walking around in winter jackets. they definitely like keeping their skin covered. it's 30C-35C here in saigon and it's pretty much the same story.

Exact same story in Taiwan. I never got used to seeing it.

Sick tour, the dude. I'll be waiting for the rest.

[The Dirt]

I'm sure the prices have to do with ridiculous tariffs and shipping costs, as there is not a huge left-side driver manufacturer of Hondas in the SE Asia region (as far as I know). In China, I saw very few Hondas as well, but this may be due to the fact that the Japanese do not have a good relationship with China.

[Canasian]

Awesome!1 I've been wanting to go there now for years!!!
Thanks, The Dude!

[holladay]

I'm in love! Beauty beyond my wildest imagination. Thank you, thank you!