Saturday, June 15, 2013

Hanoi - Streets of the Old Quarter

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and has been continuously settled for more than a thousand years.  Like any ancient city, it has its "old town" with its warrens of narrow, maze-like streets and bustling commercial activity.  I was struck by how alive and, surprisingly, pretty the old city was.  I loved the energy and the graceful framework of French-inflected architecture under a jungle-like canopy of trees.

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Property was traditionally taxed based on the width of the facade.
Not surprisingly, this led to extraordinarily narrow buildings.
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As far as traffic is concerned, the rule of law was nowhere to be seen.  Seriously, these streets are one big free-for-all.  It's intimidating at first, but once you dive into the fray you realize that an assertive but good-natured sense of give-and-take moderates what otherwise would be a chaotic brawl, and the result is a fun and exciting dance with a thousand partners.  Not gonna lie -- I loved it.
 


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2 comments:

The Atomic Mom said...

Did you do your own driving? And all of those wires. Somehow I think though, if they were to blow, the people would just go on fine.

Anonymous said...

Great photos. Love the driving. Did you guys have scooters? Lady