Landing in a new country and city I was interested to see the differences between these two asian cultures.
The first difference was the immense number of motorbikes in Hanoi. The streets in the old quarter where i was staying were quite narrow and this coupled with the footpaths being used to park motorbikes made the first journeys seem a nightmare. The street were basically wall to wall motorbikes travelling and honking at the same time. Cars were a minority and buses were few and far between since it was nearly impossible to travel down the street. The method we found was to walk slowly and methodicially with no sudden starts or stops and the motorbikes flowed around you as you walked or crossed the street. Quite unerving at the start however. There are say 5M people who live in Hanoi and there are 3M motorbikes on the roads.
That evening we went for a meal which was similar to Chinese food but not as spicy with both vegetables and meat mixed together whereas in China they were nearly always seperate. After this we had a few local beer sitting on a street corner pub. Stools 200mm hign and beer served out of a keg on the floor. At 10 p a pint who could complain.
The first morning was an early rise due to a cockeral who started to crow around 5am and just did not stop. Breakfast was basic and then it was out sightseeing around the city. Hordes of taxi bikers were offering rides to any of the attractions but walking though the bikes was much more preferable.
The revolutionary museum was interesting and illustrated how this country has had a successive numbers of colonial rulers over the previous centuries and also also the horrors of various wars. All slightly biased but nevertheless a diary of years of occupation.
Stalls selling everything under the sun plied their wares with the rule of thumb being bargain for everything.
Over the next day or so we went around the city which we found to be fascinating and well worthwhile to visit.