Wow, what a year huh?

I’ve been in Hanoi for a while. A big part of the appeal was having an actual winter. It gets “cold” here- while daily highs can be up around 24C/75F some days it can be highs of 12C/55C other days. Which suits me just fine, I’d definitely missed experiencing weather other than crazy hot and humid every day.

I was reading my first Vietnam entry and it was funny to see how freaked out I was by the traffic, and how normal it seems now. First thing I did when I got to Hanoi - or anywhere else here now- is rent a motorbike, and the idea of not having one feels about as alien as not driving a car if I’m back in California.

Anyway, I dig Hanoi, you get some really different vibes in different area. The header image is from the “Old Quarter” which is pretty much the first place you’d want to go for sightseeing, and it’s where you see the kind of Hanoi you might expect in your mind’s eye.

Where I’ve been staying though is a neighborhood called “Westlake” or “Tay Ho”. It’s less congested, a bit quieter, and it’s where lots of foreigners like to live. I find the pace there pretty relaxed, it’s easy enough to hop on the bike for fifteen minutes to experience the bustling atmosphere of the Old Quarter if that’s what I want.

If you look at the map you can see that a lot of the Westlake district kind of extends “into” the lake which gives it this kind of remote and secluded vibe in a way which I dig, and the path is great for daily running.