Hanoi, the Rising Dragon. Lovely, lovely Hanoi.
If Saigon is the young, brash, sprawling Los Angeles of Vietnam, Hanoi is Vietnam's old New York. This town is a distilled, concentrated, high-octane crack-like substance of Parisian grace and vietnamese culture. It feels a lot like a medeival European city. It is absolutely gorgeous. Hanoi has already earned its place as one of my favorite cities in the world.
The shopping is top notch. Trendy boutiques are housed in crumbling French colonial buildings, and the street food is to die for.
I have found many little antique stores in winding back alleys, and after frequent visits, i have amassed an impressive opium pipe collection. One is shaped like an elephant!
I also found a shop that sells original HAND PAINTED communist propaganda posters. You can see the pencil lines. I stood there drooling for over an hour. I bought a reproduction of one that depicts Vietnam's ill-fated space program. It has this vietnamese astronaut with a fanciful, ridiculous, seventies-style space station in the background. I'm happier than a pig in shit.
My had to get back to work, by the way. I'm on my own until China.
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