unusual stuff we saw in hanoi

we came across this gas cylinder, topped with something that looked like a home-made rocket. there was a hose attached to somewhere near the base of the rocket. what do you think is this object standing by the roadside? is it a lamp? or is it a petrol pump? i had thought it was used to illuminate the roadside stall but my friend told me it was an illegal petrol pump. they sold petrol to motorcyclists mainly. there were a few of these pumps on that short stretch of road.



these bundles on the sidewalk look like chop-sticks. i do not think they are chop-sticks. they were outside a shop selling incense papers and joss-sticks. joss-sticks are made out of bamboo and covered with sawdust or sandalwood. those coated with sawdust tend to be more smoky.



this man was smoking the local tobacco (thuoc lao) using a bamboo pipe. it is commonly smoked immediately after a meal to 'aid in digestion'. it reminds me of the opium pipe which i had seen my former neighbour in the kampong used. the old man would recline on his bed to smoke his opium.



the vietnamese woman carrying two shallow trays of large water apples used an old fashioned weighing scale called a daching. a daching is a weighing scale used in the old days, and it is still being used in some chinese medical shops to weigh the herbs.



these are not half bras. these are masks which the vietnamese wear over their mouth and nose to protect themselves from the dust and dirt. they are especially popular with women on motorcycles. some pedestrians were also spotted wearing such masks on the streets. each mask costs around $0.60 - that was the amount we paid.

balestier walkies in hanoi

our 5-day trip to hanoi was conceived not long after our first overseas trip to melbourne. it was not possible to have a longer trip because although the former teachers in the group have all retired, the former students are still working. other than the city tour on the second day and the halong bay trip on the third, we were very much on our own. part of the city tour included an hour long segment when we were taken on a very interesting cyclo ride around the old quarters of hanoi. our accommodation was at the fraser suites, one set up by singapore's fraser and neave.

judging from all the happy faces of our tour participants, you can be sure that there will be more follow-up trips. our next trip is either to guangzhou in china or kuching in sarawak. our visit to the temple of literature coincided with a visit by a group of vietnamese male and female undergraduates who were there to pray for success in their university exam. the young girls were very obliging when approached by the men in our group to take pictures with them in their ao dai.

the men were not the only ones happily snapping away; the ladies also wanted to be in the thick of the action. we all took photographs at the various tourist attractions - ho chi minh's mausoleum, ho chi minh's stilt house, one pillar pagoda, tran quoc pagoda, quan thanh taoist temple and even at the water puppet theatre. the unique water puppet performance was quite interesting.

typical of singaporeans, we sought out the best local food. when we arrived on 4 december, our first vietnamese meal was room service style. the general manager of fraser suites arranged for lunch to be served in our duplex. that night we had local cuisine at a high-end restaurant called the ly. the next day, we had a very satisfying lunch at another vietnamese restaurant called wild rice.

on our 'free day' we went to buy dvd and vcd at one of the shops near the hoam kiem lake in the old quarters of hanoi. we also strolled along 'hang gai' (street of silk) where the ladies bought lots of silk clothing and embroidered materials.

in hanoi, vietnam we were literally millionaires (in dong). a japanese meal we had cost us about 3 million dong. the smallest unit in the vietnamese currency is 500 dong. i do not think there is any vietnamese coin. in singapore, the best exchange rate we could get was $1 to 14 800 dong; in hanoi, we managed to get $1 to 16 300 dong.

from friends who have been to vietnam, we heard about dog meat (thit cho) being sold on the streets. however, although we visited two markets and explored the old quarters, we did not come across any stall or shop selling dog meat.

playing chinese chess seems to be a favourite pastime among the man folks of hanoi. one of our group members, a chinese chess aficionado, was so tempted to play a game with the locals by the roadside.

of course, we were on the lookout for snatch thieves and pick pockets after being warned by well-meaning friends who have visited vietnam or who have heard of incidences of such petty thefts. the ladies had to secure their handbags while riding in the cyclos and the men made sure their wallets were inconspicuous at all times.

motorcyclists in hanoi

before i visited vietnam i was told that the roads were swarming with motorcycles - that appeared to move in a haphazard way - and that it was a challenge to cross the road. so, when i came over to hanoi, i was looking out for motor-cyclists all the time. after a while, i discovered that crossing the streets of vietnam was not as life-threatening as back home because the traffic here moved at a much slower speed.

seems like anything and everything goes in hanoi, vietnam. wearing a crash helmet may be compulsory for motor-cyclists but not everyone complies. generally, most riders and their pillions put something on their head but it may not be a crash helmet. in fact, so long as it resembles a helmet, it seems to satisfy the requirement. i have seen baseball caps and construction workers' hats. it is as if wearing something on the head is a token gesture; sometimes, the strap is not even secured properly.



most riders were able to multi-task while riding. carrying on a conversation on the mobile phone was not something unusual here. some were even able to text and send a message while the bike was moving and, mind you, they were not pillion riders. the bike could be used like a four-wheel vehicle to transport more than one passenger and to carry bulky goods and heavy items. some carried both passenger and goods. while most pillions sat behind the rider, some, especially small kids, rode in front.

here are some tips on how to cross the noisy and 'crazy' streets of hanoi where you should not expect motorists and motorcyclists to stop at pedestrian crossings:

wait for a break in the traffic before stepping onto the road.
don't run; move at a steady pace
don't hold hands while crossing the road
do not stop and do not turn back because you will confuse the riders and drivers.
if you still cannot cross, then just depend on blind faith - close your eyes and just walk across.