It's 7 am. The street, Ly Thuong Kiet Street in Hanoi began to cry, to shout. Endless sound from car horns fills the air. It is like that all day long and into the night when the street gets tired and started to keep quiet, and perhaps go to sleep. Nakamora did not wait that long to see if the street ever goes to sleep. But it was much more quieter than in the day time.
Being here only a few days, and mostly spent away from the noisy and crowded street, Nakamora could not fully taste the city or understand its heartbeat. But the roads of Hanoi, one of the major cities of this country, Viet Nam, with population of over 80 million are filled more by motorbikes and bicycles than with cars. Driving in Hanoi definitely is not for the weak-hearted and non-spirited driver. Even while riding motorbikes Hanoi bikers can read and reply sms on the hand phone. No problem. Can you beat that, asked Nakamora.
Nakamora has seen the name of the country spelled in two different ways, Vietnam ad Viet Nam. Both are correct but perhaps the later is a closer description of the old history of the country. Viet represents and ethnicity of the people at the south, Nam, of China. It was not after looking at a map, subsequent to asking his host, that Nakamora realized that Hanoi, this almost closing parenthesis-like country is actually slightly to the West of Kuala Lumpur. His mental image has always been that Vietnam is a country east of Malaysia, and hence would see the sun rise earlier.
The seriousness on which they market and promote their crafts to tourists impressed Nakamora. There are actually so much to learn.
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