CITY
Hanoi is a strange, accessible, busy city. We're staying in the Old Quarter which is just chock-a-block with stores, homes, and people. But it has a very human scale.

HOTEL
We're staying in the Phan Thai. It's a bit tattered, but spotless and the staff is quite friendly. We have a balcony, and that's always good and bad. Great views, much noise. And the room in general is quite roomy.

MONEY
The prices take a bit of getting used to. Everything is very inexpensive. F'instance:
* Hanoi Map - $1
* lunch (spring rools, 2 noodle dishes, 3 500ml beers) - $5
* dinner (spring rolls, duck dish, chicken satay, beer, & water) - $7
* 2 large unidentifiable citrus fruits - $0.15

It's barely worth the brain power to do the currency exchange calculations -- it's going to be so much cheaper that you expect anyway. And when barganing, again, almost not worth the effort to talk the seller down by 50 cents. That money means much more to them than it does to me -- so I'm not doing much haggling.

SCOOTERS
The prevalent element in the street life here is the motorscooters. There are thousands of them, most at full throtle. Their ubiquity makes walking around more of an adventure than you'd hope for. The trick is to walk predictably through the traffic. Like water, the moto drivers will flow around you. The worst thing you can do is abruptly stop or go. With their speed, you are powerless to dodge them -- it is they who must dodge you.