Hanoi Local Customs

If you take a walk around the Hoan Kiem lake you will see a very interesting aspect of Hanoi everyday life. In the morning and in the evening you can see people jogging, doing TaiChi slow exercises, chatting on the benches...
...or just sitting there on their pijamas, with that pleasant rural relaxed atmosphere, doing nothing, watching the time go by, like the old man in the pic :-)

In Hang Bac street, in the Old Quarter, you will find many little shops where artisans carve handmade gravestones with images of the deceased in it.
I found it rather peculiar, as we only use to put names and dates in our gravestones in Spain.

Lots of ladies (didn't see any men) carrying goods with two baskets balanced with a piece of bamboo or stick on their shoulders... don't know how they do it -- i saw ladies carrying huge bags of goods on both baskets that they were almost invisible!!

Good thing Hanoi doesn't have parking meters, otherwise all those motorbikes would be in big trouble... ;)

People get around Hanoi mostly by motorbikes, mopeds, and bicycles -- there aren't that many cars, but the traffic is intense!

At the corner of the park behinde HoChiMinh's mosuleum there is a company preforming traditional music, and selling musical instrument. the show was very nice and the artist very freinly. They took the time to explain the instruments and let us try them

To watch Vietnamese practicing Tai Chi aound Hoan Kiem Lake early in the morning is very beautiful.
At that time of the day you might feel like hundreds of years back...just peaceful..before Hanoi wakes up and becomes busy and noisy.

-One good new for whom to speak French .As Ha Long is belong to Northern VietNam ,most people are living here speak French and familier French culture . They call all 'white people ' is TAY ( call french people) .As u know VN was a French's colony for almost 100 yrs ,the North people still have good memory about French language .

Like I said earlier, if you take a walk in the streets, which is pretty sure, people of all ages, kids even more, will follow you and try to sell anything from postal cards to flags and maps. If you are not interested or already have bought something, don't be afraid to say so and don't be pist off of the insult that will follow your refusal (it doesn't appen all the time). You'll soon realise that vietnamese are wonderful people with a unique culture.
(the picture is the view from the roof of my hotel.. it wasn't a busy corner!)

Just be side the exit point of the airport you will spot a Tourism Information Counter on the left. You can get brochures and free Hanoi maps here.