After spending 23 nights in Laos it was time to move on to Vietnam. Since we were in Northern Laos, it only made sense to hop on over to Hanoi, in the north of Vietnam, and take a month to work our way south. We had the option of the 26-hour bus ride over the mountains from Vientiane Laos to Hanoi Vietnam, or for $75 each we could take the 1-hour flight. No need to do the math or make any justifications on this one. Vietnam Airlines, here we come!
Arriving in Hanoi, Vietnam
We arrived in Hanoi after 9pm and our hostel arranged to have a car pick us up. Oh that was nice arriving into a new city and seeing your name on a sign. He already knew where we needed to go, so no need for the charades and pointing at the smart phone to try to communicate where we wanted to go. By the time we made it to our hostel, in the old quarter of the city, it was well after 10pm. It was dark and the streets had a little traffic. We ran across the street to buy some snacks for dinner and off to bed we went. The next morning was quite a different experience.
We woke up to the buzz of city traffic and a 7:30 loud-speaker with announcements, followed by a song (perhaps the National Anthem?). Alan and the kids were still sound asleep, but I just couldn’t resist going outside to check it all out. I got dressed and headed outside, only to find Gma Bev doing the exact same thing. There she was on the sidewalk video taping the traffic.
We both laughed and realized we would never be able to cross the street. We would be stuck on our little island (block) forever! We walked to each end of our block and around and were amazed with all of the traffic and the vast number of bikes and scooters. What fascinated me most was what they were all scooting around Hanoi.
During our 5 days in Hanoi, I just couldn’t resist capturing a few photos of the things transported via bikes and scooters. On many street corners you will find people with a scooter for hire. They can taxi you or your things to your destination, so think of it as a bike messenger, delivery man or taxi. But don’t miss out on buying goods from people scooting around in bicycles too. They have it all in Hanoi! I have put together this photo essay so you can see what’s scooting around Hanoi, Vietnam.


Photo Essay: See What’s Scooting Around Hanoi, Vietnam


































Thanks for stopping by. We do love to read your comments, so let us know your thoughts. Share with us what crazy things you have seen scooting around and where.
Oh by the way, we eventually did figure out how to cross the street in Hanoi. We even walked across the highway! We will tell you more about that later.
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Adventure333 (3 Generations, 3 Months, 3 Countries)
Laos, Vietnam & Cambodia
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Happy New Year family! What skill! My son is just learning how to ride a bike. So I can’t imagine how much practice you’d need to ride a scooter without being able to see haha. It looks horribly cold though. I thought it would be all tropical.
Hey Serena, so glad to hear from you. Happy New Year! Yes, it is crazy how much skill they need. Hey, I thought it would be warm everywhere over here too! In the south it is, but up north they have real winter. I guess kind of like Spain.
Hope you are doing well and so glad your son is learning to ride a bike.
Vietnamese are so skilled in balancing. Im sure it took them a lot of practice and time to be able to balance those heavy things on their scooters and their bikes. This is an interesting story. Enjoyed reading it.
Yes they are! I wish I had my camera out as we were crossing the border from Vietnam to Cambodia. Down the street came a big mound of packaged chips/snacks. It was about 2 meters wide and tall. You could see just the very bottom of two scooter tires and they were just floating down the road. I am not sure how the person driver could see, as we couldn’t even see the driver or handle bars. Amazing.
Love it! We spent a month South to North when our kids were 9 months and 4. I still can’t believe I had my baby in a sling on the back of a motorbike and got to feed her alongside the hill tribe woman in Sapa xx are you exploring Sapa at all?
Hey Bron! We won’t make it to Sapa on this trip. We are heading North to South and it is cold. Well, cold for us anyway. Further North would likely be too cold. It is amazing seeing people holding sleeping babies and toddlers on the scooters.