Photo Gallery of Hanoi

These are but a few of the myriad of photos I took during our stay in Hanoi (check January 30th for the original posting).  They don't capture the sounds (uhmmm, rather make that  'noise'), smells (thank goodness) or general vibrancy of what we experienced but they give a bit of an insight into what we saw and did. 

 





 

The first sight to catch our eyes was the wiring, both up the poles and down on the ground, known jokingly as 'Vietnam Telecom'.  It's a wonder any phone calls ever get through.  Adding to them was a matter of standing below and throwing lines up or, as in the photo, climbing a handheld ladder then sitting on the rest to finish the connection. 

 There's even a t-shirt available

We named this street just outside our hotel 'Tin Alley'.  The entire street was dedicated to anything and everything made from tin, open and still working at it until late each night.  Other streets were dedicated to the likes of silk, paper products, jade, baby goods, shoes, mannequins, jeans, t-shirts - you name it.

These ladies carried and sold just about anything one can imagine, sometimes the loads were extremely heavy and sometimes they had lit coals to cook their wares.

 

Street scenes:

Paul & Paraic enjoying local brews & the others getting into the spirit of things too

This is definitely where I got left out.  I'm not a beer drinker so while the others quenched their thirst with a nice cold beer, I was stuck with a bottle of water or the occasional coke which, believe it or not, is considerably more expensive than a pint of brew.  I received no sympathy from the others who just told me to 'get with it'.

Jade and marble

Peach blossoms for Chinese New Year

New Year decorations

 

 Motorbikes, bicycles rickshaw cycles galore!

Touring the city sights

Kumquat trees are used for Chinese New Year the same way we would use a Christmas tree.  When used internally, they're decorated the same way with lights and ornaments.

We visited a 'factory' making enamel goods using a variety of techniques but this one (right) was made entirely from egg shells.

 

Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum

 

Inside a temple

A very old sample of bonsai

Made entirely from fresh flowers

A Vietnamese beauty