Choking on the fumes of Hanoi
If it wasn't bad enough getting off the overnight train from Sapa at 5 in the morning, the taxi driver drove us round the block in an attempt to rip us off. Thankfully we noticed as he drove over the railway tracks for the third time.
As we got to the hotel that we wanted to stay in, it was dead with only the staff stirring slightly as we knocked on the glass door, which was locked. Most of the shops were closed as we searched for a somewhere to grab a coffee.
Hanoi is slowly grinding me down, I feel like I'm melting into the pavement as I trudge along the gutter of the road avoiding various obstacles including left over food, motor bikes pulling in and women carrying baskets. The afternoon traffic is manic, I've never seen anything like it. A swarm of motor bikes are scrambling for position as they play "dodge but nearly kill the pedestrians".
I watch as a few tourists on a family holiday in their nicely ironed and nearly matching Hawaiian shirts attempt to cross a big road not really having a clue how to play the local's evil game of "frogger". There's a constant sound of "beep beep" from the horns as I dodge my way down the road (The pavement is helpfully used to park motorbikes and other obstacles). There must be thousands and thousands of these motor bikes passing though the area every day, sometimes completely jamming the road. My cough has become worse due to these toxic bikes, I have to wait before theres a gap between cyclos, push bikes, a car and numerous motor bikes in order to continue down the road to my hotel. Theres a smell of petrol and occasionally of grilling street food as I cross a busy junction in a daze ignoring a couple of beeps from the traffic. This isn't a main road in the city this is an area of small roads that run around the old quarter of the city.This is like a manic version of going to the Trafford centre (A shopping centre) on Christmas eve and trying to avoid all the people who seem intent on walking straight into your path but the main difference being these guys are on motor bikes!
The horn is used in a completely different way in Asia, it is used most of the time to let people know your coming. You can imagine how this works when in many areas motor bikes and scooters have no wing mirrors (Helmets are a rarity)..
My head hurts from the constant beeping and engine noises.....and if one more motor bike taxi or cyclo shouts "you hooo" across the road like they have just now I may get the guitar I'm carrying and smash it across his head. I must be shaking my head at the motor taxi's, cyclo drivers, touts, women selling etc about a hundred times a day, maybe I should be thankful that their selling technique is far less persistent and aggressive than in Cambodia. I may as well be smoking 50 a day after inhaling the fumes from this ''old quarter' of Vietnam's capital. It's a close call in which is busier Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City... but right now... in this area... I'd say Hanoi. I'm getting out tomorrow and heading to the coast to Halong Bay before returning to "Toxic Hell" three days later. Halong Bay should be enjoyable, it's supposed to be one of the highlights of Vietnam.....hopefully it's got some fresh air.
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