hanoi street scenes

We are back in Bangkok at Shanti Lodge for a few days. I have a cold, so we aren't going to do much today, other than take the shuttle boat down the river to the Grand Palace. In the meantime, there is plenty of free internet floating around, so I can catch up on some of my Hanoi stuff.

It's about 72 degrees here this morning (I have been reading your weather posts in the US).

I loved being in Vietnam, and particularly in Hanoi. It is a place I will like to visit again. There is so much going on, and none of it feels touristy at all.



These women are everywhere, selling all sorts of things off bicycles, carts, or in baskets balanced on their shoulders. Sometimes they are carrying entire little restaurants on their backs--food, something to cook with, and little plastic chairs for customers.



They will set up right on the sidewalk and make pho for you. You will see entire families sitting there eating dinner.



These folks are making fried banannas. The guy flattens them with a stick, puts them in batter, and the woman cooks them. Very yummy! I almost cropped out the guy on the left, but there seems to always be one guy just hanging out, and I thought I ought to include him, just to illustrate that point.



The twins.



29.

I have a couple of other hanoi posts--I think the next one will be about Ho Chi Minh.