Okie dokie - I am about to go to Hoi An for 2 weeks, this ancient trading town by the sea - seriously pysched to get out of Hanoi for abit...

 give my lungs a break from the fumes of the city.

 So this is my last blog before Hoi An -

I apologise in advance that it doesn't have a nice aesthetic flowing connection thing going on...(i.e all of these photos are completely unrelated)

As I mentioned before, its the 1000 year thingymajig so everyone is getting their flags out and making the city look, if possible, even more red and yellow.

 

These guys haven't caught on as much, 

but no matter because they have such a brilliant front door! Good job no.73!

just, you know,

selling noodle soup to passers by, chilling out smoking on the street with your ma

(or if you like, girlfriend/wife...im making no assumptions!)

Right - I see these everywhere so I felt it was time to share.

 Its a spirit offering; donate a pack of cigs or dried noodles and you'll have good fortune for the rest of the year sort of thing. You see those Cosy Marie biscuits? they are the craze here. but not as big as Choco-Pie's; they are NOW (apparently...)

for some strange strange reason, to buy a pack of Mcvities digestives here could cost you 4 quid (if you managed to find them in the first place),
but a pack of Choco-Pie's are like, 7000vietnamese dong - erm, that's about 25p!

Look a little bit like Wagon-wheels, taste abit like chocolate flavoured air.

Okay, so it's the 1000 year anniversary of the establishment of Hanoi.

Red everywhere...lanterns, flags, banners, balloons.

Even more traffic, even more hectic, but, even more exciting. 

And, even more uniformed men patrolling the streets, looking very err, official and in control blowing whistles and waving batons and stuff -

 ...but perhaps they don't all feel the need to look so austere!

The Vietnamese were out in force this weekend which meant again, I managed to capture lots of wonderful 'family on motorbike' shots.

I know you've seen them before, but in no way does this get old. 

okay, so I get it, the Vietnamese never have time to stop - but surely it's not a good idea for the driver to be on the phone, as well as the passengers?

 The pure excitement of this event is everywhere you look and in the face of everyone you see...

'I am really really pleased that Hanoi has been around for 1000 years!'

 ...personally, I love it.

Saturday we visited the Ethonology Museum...

(I'm sorry but, LOL)

Ear piercings have never really seemed threatening to me before, but I feel these BEAST sized plugs scream 'yeah, dare to mess with me?'. I definately wouldn't mess with her.
Or, erm, him?
Oh, and sorry to mention it, but how pleased is that lady to be topless?...

(...and likewise with this dude!)

Please love this. A ruler to measure...can you guess?

 

 

Our little expedition turned out to be this wonderful (if moderately hilarious) juxtaposition of vietnamese artifacts alongside...

loved up brides and bridegrooms having their photos taken!

Weird, I know.

Rented dresses and untrained photographers galore, but still, quite lovely to witness -

 how fabulous is this contrast please? 
old and new Vietnam, side by side.

Brushes, buttercups and bairns on a bike.

Family outings (saves money on petrol I guess!), riding side-saddle, stacking the bicycles high with flowers or fruit. 

Most bikes I see make me want to whip out my camera...here is but afew - 

enjoy!