626

January 22, 2009
It’s almost Tet and the streets of Hanoi are packed with a few million lunatics. Or at least it seems so. It is a whirlpool of mainly motorbikers who don’t care about anything but themselves. They simply go, while making phonecalls and sending text messages without even thinking about slowing down while doing that. The one year old helmet law seems forgotten by many and in this chaos there are some dare devils who try to cross the streets on foot.
How many accidents in Hanoi every day? Could be 626, could be more. Hope it won't be me.

627

January 21, 2009
Hanoi, city of confusion. Two hotels, both with English and Vietnamese names. One name is already bad enough to explain to a taxi driver, let alone two. Take Tu Do hotel for example. Both Tu and Do can be pronounced in six different ways and only one is right. Any other sound will not be understood.
Sounds like a chance of 1 out of 627 to end up in the correct hotel.

628

January 20, 2009
The Vietnamese don’t move house. Whenever they decide to leave their house they simply destroy it and have a new one built on the same spot.
I could ask myself, why don’t they just sell it and buy an other house somewhere else? Instead I ask myself if I would like to pay money for a house in Hanoi (or anywhere else in Vietnam). A firm NO would be the answer. So far I have lived in three houses in Hanoi: everything is of very bad quality and nothing fits. Every size is "almost right", resulting in many gaps around doors and windows and causing a draft which is strong enough to blow your coffee cup off the table.
They seem to use the wrong paint for everything and nothing is straight. The list is a lot longer, but you get my idea.
628 days is what it takes to make a new house look old here.

631

January 17, 2009
The Hash House Harriers are everywhere on this planet, so also in Hanoi.
They call themselves a "drinking club with a running problem", but it is much more than that. It is about running or walking in the countryside on a Saturday afternoon. You meet a lot of people from all over the world: Vietnamese, expats living in Hanoi and travellers who want to experience the Hanoi chapter of the Hash House Harriers.
Runs are about 7-12 kilometres long, walks about 5-6. It is a great way of meeting people, getting new friends and getting out of the city.
This time of year a bus leaves at 1:30PM from the American Club at Hai Ba Trung. Although the driver does his best not to get noticed (parking behind a tree, a pole, a phone booth and a rubbish bin) quite a few people find the bus.
They have a website, www.hanoih3.com, so check it out if you’re interested.
631 runs is a long time ago, today it is run number 934 and #1000 will be in the same year as Hanoi’s 1000th birthday

639

January 9, 2009
Graffiti is not a big thing in Hanoi, yet. But everywhere in the city it seems all walls are suffering from a different kind of pollution. Nothing artistic there, it's advertisement in its rawest form: just a phone number. Call it and the person on the other end of the line will help you with your concrete problems, such as fabricating a wall or drilling a hole in your wall. I don't know if their services also include removing all this from your property.
I sometimes wonder what the point is. When there are dozens and dozens of phone numbers on a wall there is just a small chance to get lucky. I guess each phone number is painted at least 10,000 times, all over the city. Some sort of Concrete Pages, with a few million people living in that huge book.

I also wonder why it is only about concrete. Always KH Cat Be Tong, nothing else. There are millions of other professions and none of them is marked on a dilapidated wall somewhere in a dark alley.
639 days to go. Maybe I will find out before reaching zero.

640

January 8, 2009
A typical Hanoi street view. First there is a layer of cables and then, if there is any space left, there is the rest.
It would be interesting to know how many of these cables are not working anymore. Or who is stealing electricity from who.
640 days to go. I am sure the cables will still be there.

641

January 7, 2009
Hanoi is divided into two parts by the Song Hong river. At the moment the water level is very low, which is why this ship is slowly and carefully (well, maybe not...) manoevring through the shallow water. To make it more challenging, in the middle of the river some sandy islands have appeared and there is a fair chance the vessel got stuck somewhere later.
This in stark contrast with the rainy season, when the fast moving water batters the land and takes some of it away. The spot where this photo was taken won't be there anymore sooner or later.
Certainly not after 641 days.

642

January 6, 2009
In several parts of Hanoi preparations are going on to celebrate the 1000th birthday. This sales woman is unaware of anything which is going on around her. Like many others of her kind she seems to be more interested in her phone than in doing business.
Who can blame her. Still 642 days to go and that is a long long way.