Hanoi

Adventure in Vietnam .

On the ride into Hanoi from the airport, cars toot continuously at seas of bicycles, while women in rice-paddy-hats and men in olive-green pith helmets pedal old-fashioned bikes loaded with everything from pigs to produce to pottery.

Vietnam is on the brink of change. As the amount of traffic increases, the tunnel of trees lining the narrow main streets will inevitably be replaced with parking spaces. No longer will one be able to wander the main streets, stopping for a few minutes to see a craftsman squatting in the doorway of his shop making tin ware. Women preparing and selling food on the street will be replaced by fast food restaurants, and gone will be the barber clipping hair on the sidewalk.

The last vestiges of “old” Hanoi will probably be the “cyclo” drivers who only serve tourists, preserved to provide “local color.”

The best way to get to know Hanoi is on foot, where everyday street life can feel like theater. Some may prefer to rent a cyclo or the day, while the adventurous—or those with a death wish—may want to rent a motor bike.

Vietnam is one of the last remaining communist countries. Even though there are cracks in the system, strict communism is still the order of the day. Hundreds of people line up daily to see Ho Chi Minh on his deathbed in the manner of Lenin. Even though the Ho Chi Minh and the Army museums try to keep the memory of the Vietnam War alive, most citizens seem to have put the war behind them—more than half of Vietnamese people alive today were born after the war.

Hanoi’s best-preserved ancient site is Van Mieu, or the Temple of Literature. Dating from the 11thcentury, it’s the oldest institution of higher education in Vietnam. Dedicated to Confucius, it educated mandarins (high court officials) for more than 700 years. Today, musicians play in its courtyard, adding to the ambiance.

To visit Hanoi is to see Asia as it was decades ago. The people are gracious, the food is excellent, and the prices are rock bottom. Signs of the tourist boom, which the Vietnamese have been hoping for, are everywhere, which means that now, when it remains antithetically Vietnamese, is the time to visit.