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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 18, 2023 21:14:20 GMT
Just seen the temple in post #9& #27
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 19, 2023 4:51:08 GMT
Finally getting a chance to give all these pictures their due. To be honest, I did not expect to be so thoroughly charmed! I can finally say, Ahhh -- no wonder he was so eager to go to Vietnam. It's wonderful how all those businesses on crammed streets maintained homes and elaborate balcony gardens "above it all".
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 19, 2023 4:56:24 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 19, 2023 5:43:30 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 19, 2023 15:03:44 GMT
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Post by mich64 on Aug 19, 2023 22:18:29 GMT
I read through this yesterday but did not have the time to comment. I really enjoyed reading your memories and impressions of your past visits versus what you saw this visit. I never tire of street scenes.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 20, 2023 1:51:19 GMT
Not another word about "too many street scenes". They really flesh out the wonderful word pictures you've given us. There is something about candid street scenes that captures the feel of a country the way nothing else does.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 20, 2023 2:53:59 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 20, 2023 3:09:53 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 20, 2023 9:22:37 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 20, 2023 16:19:23 GMT
The post office looks as though there is a plan to convert it into a café with shop the moment they decide that a PO is no longer needed.
You captured some really wonderful shots. Love badminton boy followed by the view of the old man down the alley. The motorbikes passing beneath the ancient pedestrian bridge (city gate?) with the modern apartments in the background is a triumph. Ditto the fallen tree and its reflection. The bridge really inspired you! That first wide shot of it is gorgeous, as is the one of the women & little girl entering the shrine.
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Post by fumobici on Aug 20, 2023 19:32:34 GMT
The photos just keep getting better and better. Really evocative. I wish I could remotely smell the air.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 21, 2023 5:31:31 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 21, 2023 11:43:50 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 22, 2023 4:06:09 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 22, 2023 4:18:39 GMT
Hooray for food! This seems as though it was such a satisfying destination, with none of that awful discovery that all the natural charm of a place had withered.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 22, 2023 15:10:24 GMT
Yes, Hanoi has the best food of Vietnam.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 22, 2023 15:41:30 GMT
I fell victim to the kids wanting to practice their English. This was my interrogator. English "interviews" were in progress all around the northern end of the lake. Teachers supervise all of this. It's interesting to see international participation in renovations. Toulouse isn't even twinned with Hanoi (I saw that Toulouse is twinned with Atlanta, Bologna, Chongquing, Elche, Kiev and Tel Aviv.) Hanoi is not twinned with any other city (from what I could determine) but there was a project at one time to twin it with Frankfurt.
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Post by htmb on Aug 22, 2023 16:21:42 GMT
These photos are fabulous. They capture such a nice slice of life in seemingly one small area of the city. I wonder, I know you are typically fairly quick to take photos, but did you meet with any resistance? Also, was the bridge over the lake primarily a tourist attraction and not a regular passageway?
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 22, 2023 16:47:16 GMT
Nobody cared one bit about me taking pictures even when they saw me doing it. The bridge in the lake is a local tourist attraction and is a dead end. You have to go back the way you came. The vast majority of the people who go to that temple are locals.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 22, 2023 18:12:24 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 22, 2023 18:42:52 GMT
Oh, and of course I would like to thank everybody who commented. I hope I answered most of your questions but don't hesitate to ask again if I was remiss.
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Post by htmb on Aug 22, 2023 18:49:39 GMT
Very fine report, with a fitting ending.
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Post by fumobici on Aug 23, 2023 13:31:00 GMT
Super report, one of the best I've seen here. Highs around 20 in January you say?
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Post by mossie on Aug 23, 2023 14:07:56 GMT
Fascinating, thank you
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 23, 2023 14:56:39 GMT
Highs around 20 in January you say? Yes, a lot of (Western) people don't realise that Hanoi is 2000km north of Saigon so it isn't at all the same climate. When I was there at that time of year, the mornings were really brisk.
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Post by Kimby on Aug 23, 2023 15:32:32 GMT
Yet Hanoi is closer to the equator than Key West, Florida!
I was surprised, because when we were there in November 1993, it felt a bit autumn-like to us midwesterners.
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