The horrendous traffic at the Hanoi Old Quarter is something that newly arrived travellers have to get used to. There are 2.5 millions motorbikes in Hanoi (pop: 5 million) and the bikes were parked along the pedestrian lanes in front of shops, in the shops as well as in the alleys.
The traffic can come from all directions. And the honking is the norm in order to 'warn' the others. Some riders just cant be bothered to sound the honk when necessary, but do that all the waywhile driving. Some even talked on their mobiles with helmet on, while driving.
The speed is so well planned that when the traffic comes in 4 directions (maybe more than 4) at the crossroads, no one needs to stop at all. (movie clip 2)
Areas near schools are less congested with motorbikes but bicycles, as students are not allowed to own motorbikes till 18 years of age.
The good thing is, despite of the traffic no accident occurred while we were there.
The videos explain everything.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Guiltless UN-necessity!
I have been travelling with my Delsey LARGE suitcase all this while. I have decided to buy a smaller suitcase for shorter trips and use the Delsey for long trips. I have been window shopping for a while now, trying to get the most suitable one.
I finally bought a Samsonite suitcase. (Sound like SMSO! hahhaha) Since it is a good brand and more expensive, I hope it will be more lasting for my many trips. Guess what, when I brought it home and compared to my Delsey, they are almost the same size. Aiyooooooooooooooooooo!
After careful scrutinisation, Samsonite is slightly smaller than Delsey. What a relief! or is it a thought to make me guiltless!
Delsey (L) and Samsonite (R)
The arrivals - What a journey!
The box of printed materials has finally arrived. I was worried of the limited luggage weight allowance by the airlines so I decided to send all these by post using surface mail from the UK. It was 4.7kg and cost me £25.13.
It contains the inflight magazines, cookbook, transport tickets, guide books etc that I have used during my trip in Turkey, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and the UK in December 2008.
I sent it at 10.28am on 22 December 2008 from Leeds, and arrived at the Mail Processing Centre in Brunei on 4 March 2009. I collected it from MPC at 3pm on 16 March 2009.
So, it has been 84 days 4 hours 32 minutes for the box to leave my hands in Leeds, and reached my hands in Brunei. What a journey!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
