Impressions of Hanoi
Some images of the city of Hanoi, a pleasant place to live! A lot of green, nice lakes, wide streets, monumental buildings, mixture of French and Asian culture, bars and restaurants which make you feel as if you are in Europe and pagoda's and shops which feel very Asian.
The first six photographs are borrowed from Hans Kemp, a famous Dutch photographer who has made fantastic images of Viet Nam
(see also his website: www.hanskemp.com)
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| The Hanoi opera, a copy of the opera of Paris, is located in a historic part of the city, many office buildings of international organisations are nearby (by Hans Kemp) . | A shoe-maker in a street in Hanoi (by Hans Kemp) . |
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| Lunch time for a group of women, rice and 'morning-glory' and soup seems to be on the menu (by Hans Kemp) . | Early morning exercise at Hoan Kiem Lake, the legendary and beautiful lake in the center of Hanoi, Tai Chi and Badminton are the other early morning activities seen everywhere between 5 and 7 (by Hans Kemp) . |
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| Cyclo driver taking a break, taking a cyclo is a nice way to see the busy streets of Hanoi, but you have to bargain hard to pay the right price (by Hans Kemp) . | Cyclo in front of one of the historic buildings (by Hans Kemp) |
The following photos I took on various occasions
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| Traditional Dutch Sinterklaas celebration on 5 of December 2001 in the residence of the Dutch Ambassador in Hanoi. | Jasper during that Sinterklaas celebration! 'I am not going into the house where that strange man and black Piets just entered' |
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| Hey, I am on TV, let me tap that guy on the shoulder! | The permanent circus theatre in Lenin Park has daily shows. Jasper loves to go there, we too, but we feel pitty for the animals, who look extremely unhappy. |
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| There is a lot of water in Hanoi, Truc Bac Lake on the left en West Lake (Tay Ho) on the right side, in between the famous lovers' lane. | Rowing boat on West Lake, amazing in Viet Nam to row forward! What an invention, you can see where you go! (Typical Hanoi weather, sometimes you do not see the sun for weeks, although the temperature may be up to thirty degrees or beyond!) |
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| Boys having fun at a civilised bachelors party, ".... so the next stage will take place overthere and we have to reach it by parachute" | Same boys, still having fun, enjoying Czech beer (Pivo) in a later stage of the evening. |
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| Alternative means of transport! This boy is going to be a natural driver, probably a genetic thing from his grandpa.. | Cyclos are made for two Vietnamese behinds, not two European ones as you can see here!. A few blocks later we switched places with the cyclo-driver. |
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| One of the pleasant places to have lunch or drink a beer, mostly visited by foreigners but like all places in Hanoi, still extremely cheap. | Street view in Hanoi, no car in sight! |
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| Motorbikes and bicycles, only look forward and take the shortest route, no matter if you have to drive into the opposite direction are the main traffic rules in Viet Nam |
During Vietnamese New Year (February) people give each other 'Tet- trees', small orange trees which are grown with a lot of care in the area close to where we live. |
