What surprised me most about Hanoi was the French architectural influence. If you ever saw news footage taken in and around the city during the bombing, which occurred later in the war, what you saw was generally in black and white and appeared very bleak. Certainly nothing pretty, just simple utilitarian functional.
No doubt it was bleak given the pounding the city was subjected to but visiting years later it was clear that Hanoi once was and could be again, quite beautiful just as are Paris, Washington, Venice and many of the old Europe cities. The infrastructure is poor with much to be done but you don’t have to look far below the surface to see what could be.
Finally I was also struck by the commerce occurring on the sidewalk, such as this barber. Not so deep down, these Communists are true Capitalists.
What surprised me most about Hanoi was the French architectural influence. If you ever saw news footage taken in and around the city during the bombing, which occurred later in the war, what you saw was generally in black and white and appeared very bleak. Certainly nothing pretty, just simple utilitarian functional.
No doubt it was bleak given the pounding the city was subjected to but visiting years later it was clear that Hanoi once was and could be again, quite beautiful just as are Paris, Washington, Venice and many of the old Europe cities. The infrastructure is poor with much to be done but you don’t have to look far below the surface to see what could be.
Finally I was also struck by the commerce occurring on the sidewalk, such as this barber. Not so deep down, these Communists are true Capitalists.
