Hanoi
When I first arrived in Hanoi from Luang Prabang, Laos I was overwhelmed by how busy it was in comparison. Making my way around the old quarter on foot I was accosted by scooters from every direction, it's a very dangerous place to be a pedestrian. Thankfully I met an expat who gave me some good advice.. simply walk slowly and calmly across the road without stopping and the scooters will avoid you - amazingly this works. I enjoyed walking and people watching around Hoan Kiem Lake; old ladies gossiping on the bench, young folk exercising, even bridesmaids out on photo shoots. You're never too far from reminders about the nation's revolutionary socialist roots. I visited the notorious Hanoi Hotel, the prison built by the French and used to suppress and torture revolutionaries: later it was used by the Vietnamese to hold US PoWs, including John McCain. The pain and suffering still clings to the walls of the building and I became very emotional at the unbelievable cruelty huma
