Hanoi is absolutely ridiculous. There's about 89% motorcycles on the road with no traffic lights and no sidewalks (well slight sidewalks, but blocked with motorcycles). You just need to cross basically in the motorcycle stream and they go around you..barely. Having a fear of busy traffic since my near-death Greece experience has made this incredibly stressful, just walking three blocks gets me all anxious. I guess this is the stuff to make you feel alive, when you're ducking in and out of traffic and parked motorbikes. Also, you constantly feel like you're being ripped off since Hanoi is the capital of scams and bargaining, so you always have to be on your toes and be a stringent bargainer but you still always feel ripped off in the end. With the traffic and the bargaining hassles, I'm absolutely shattered after an afternoon.
Its not very easy to meet people, you really have to put in some effort and approach people at cafes and such. Everyone I've met so far has been leaving Vietnam the next day or in a couple hours because they started in the south and worked their way up north. I give myself credit for trying at least, I approached about 10 people total today, asking about what to do around here and what's the best way. I met some nice people but they were all leaving, but I at least learned a lot. I arrived last night and approached some people about where a cafe was and ended up eating with them at a nifty vietnamese restaurant (I paid $2 for two plates of food and drinks), and then a water puppet show which was interesting. Unfortunately the people were not quite my type, but at least it worked out well that I got to experience two places that I would never have found myself. Another exciting point of Hanoi is I get around by going on the back of motorbikes (the Vietnamese taxi basically), it's nuts! I got an "asian tattoo" which means I burned the side of my leg on the exhaust pipe. Crazy. In any case, I'm going to go lay down, my brain is still spinning...
Here are Laos photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2080076&l=66c55&id=1700835
Vietnam photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2080358&l=ce968&id=1700835
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