PICS from HANOI, VIETNAM

[MattTheSkywalker]

Hey there everyone. Spent the day and night in Hanoi. Interesting place - French colonial history means great food, late nights, interesting streetscape. Think New Orleans garden district or the French side of St Martin.

Communism means poverty, scooters, bicycles and street vendors - remember, this is the capital. The rural poverty is far worse.

Enjoy the pics.

 

[hamstershaver]

matt how much does your camera cost?

 

[Subzeero]

matt how much does your camera cost?

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[Mr. dB]

Before the country was split into North and South Vietnam, which was the capitol - Hanoi or Saigon?

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

Before the country was split into North and South Vietnam, which was the capitol - Hanoi or Saigon?

I think it was always Hanoi, according to what I've seen around here. Hanoi was a capital of the area back over 1000 years.

 

[redguru]

Scooters are quite prevalent in Taipei, Taiwan as well. Not sure if its because of poverty there or the cost and availability of parking.

 

[JayC9]

Charlie don't surf

 

[jnevin]

My dad's been there since he fought there and said he can't believe how beautiful it is. I'd love to visit.

 

[anthrax]

So Saigon is more interesting than Hanoi?

 

[foreigngirl]

lol..communisam doesnt necesseraly means bycicles. IMO all Asia is dominated by bycicles. We were commies and there was a flood of cars, not bycicles.


BTW - awsome pix. Very beautifull

 

[gtrcivic]

Saigon or what they call it now, Ho Chi Minh City was the Capitol of South Vietnam. Hanoi was the Capitol of the North Vietnam. When it became one Vietnam, Hanoi prevailed.

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

So Saigon is more interesting than Hanoi?

Saigon is Ho Chi Minh city now, post war. Evidently it is more westernized than Hanoi. (Hanoi is not western, really, except for a few stores that target exclusively wealthy tourists - the Louis Vuitton and Chopard store, for example)

I don't have time on this trip to get to Ho Chi Minh city. Next time.

 

[Mr. dB]

My dad's been there since he fought there and said he can't believe how beautiful it is. I'd love to visit.

I don't think our boys went to the north very often...

 

[GoldenDelicious]

lol..communisam doesnt necesseraly means bycicles. IMO all Asia is dominated by bycicles. We were commies and there was a flood of cars, not bycicles.

combination of bicycles being impractical in the intense cold (duh) and also, greek noses overbalancing the bicycle, making them dangerous (double duh)

 

[foreigngirl]

combination of bicycles being impractical in the intense cold (duh) and also, greek noses overbalancing the bicycle, making them dangerous (double duh)

lol....do you press a wish with your nose after you drink your turkish coffee?

 

[mrdeeznuts]

lol at the vietnamese biker gang


best is when you see a whole family riding on those. baby straped to wife's back wife and husband on the sent, one kid sitting in each basket on the front and back and one sittin on the floor board between the husband's legs.

 

[curling]

What a dump we should have just nuked them back in 67' instead of letting any of our boys die over the craphole. Poor suckers.

 

[wutangnomo]

What a dump we should have just nuked them back in 67' instead of letting any of our boys die over the craphole. Poor suckers.

A redneck hill billy Texan calling Vietnam a dump?? Poor ignorant bastard.

Vietnam is by far one of the most beautiful countries you'll ever visit if you get the chance. Quite scenic. The French influence is more prevelant up north then it is down south, though you are right in that the south is more westernized. Eat any pho yet?

 

[manny78]

Before the country was split into North and South Vietnam, which was the capitol - Hanoi or Saigon?

Hanoi. It was set by the french.

Matt: did you see Jane Fonda ?

 

[bigmann245]

cool pics bro... having fun???

 

[Y_lifter]

How's that slight fever and wet cough doing Matt..
Any better or worse ?

 

[gtrcivic]

Matt, did you get to eat some Pho lom chai ??? spicy pussy pho ??? or beer um ? where the bargirl will lay next to you and hold your beer and pouringit in your mouth when you tell her to ?

 

[curling]

A redneck hill billy Texan calling Vietnam a dump?? Poor ignorant bastard.

Vietnam is by far one of the most beautiful countries you'll ever visit if you get the chance. Quite scenic. The French influence is more prevelant up north then it is down south, though you are right in that the south is more westernized. Eat any pho yet?

I didn't say it(what God created) wasn't pretty I said what those commy gooks have done with it isn't pretty.

 

[foreigngirl]

I didn't say it(what God created) wasn't pretty I said what those commy gooks have done with it isn't pretty.

oh, jesus...first muslims, then commies

 

[Testosterone boy]

oh, jesus...first muslims, then commies

Those accusations are the calling cards of ignorant rednecks.

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

Vietnam is by far one of the most beautiful countries you'll ever visit if you get the chance. Quite scenic. The French influence is more prevelant up north then it is down south, though you are right in that the south is more westernized. Eat any pho yet?

VN is very scenic, no doubt, and the french influence is striking.

However, Hanoi is still quite poor, and more polluted than everything I saw in China, which is saying something. Dirty city to be sure.

That said, the Vietnamese are a proud people who have forced out anyone who dared colonize or invade, and I suspect they will advance quickly.

What I did not see, as time did not permit, were the coastal resorts. I picked Hanoi because I wanted to see something unique.