Hanoi Traffic is .....

...well, significant! I am sorry to say that the pictures just dont do it justice.
Jolie writes in an e mail today from Hanoi: back from Halong Bay where we hired our own boat and went kayaking for four days...We drove back today, survived the perilous road journey ( see post: Halong Bay). However in four days in Halong Bay, I have forgotten how to cross a street in Hanoi. Owain crosses and I stand in fear on the other side for 10 - 15 minutes.

Tom says that is genetic but really I remember when we were there, Steve, one of the friends that we were traveling with, returning from a morning walk and proclaiming proudly, I even crossed the street!

You will notice some of the faces covered with a bandana. As with the workers at the farm in Coachella ( see Prime Time in archives ), the mouth and nose is covered to protect lungs. There are even designer face covers that button in the back that one can purchase. In Hanoi there is a cloud of motorbike and auto pollution visible much of the time. Or, at least, that was the case when we were there.

Another thing you will see in the pictures is a bit of how bikes are loaded with cargo. Live cargo is not remarkable there although we were definitely compelled to remark when we saw live hogs tied to the bike frames.

And you will see that the mad,mad,mad,mad,mad driving can result in a spill but, on the occassions that we saw this, the riders and passengers just remounted,reloaded and plowed right back into the mobile insanity.

Our symptom of mental instability may have been taking an hour long cyclo ride in that ocean of wheels but, you know, ya gotta do it. It was all very slow mo and turned out to be a huge sensory overload but not scary. We even took another cyclo ride in Saigon but more about that later!