The honda dream

We arrived back in Hanoi last night after a 3 day "junk" boat tour of Ha long Bay(video). Despite skies of steel grey and a few rain showers the landscape was beautiful. Initially we found ourselves in the midst of 100 other boats following the same tour route and being herded from one natural wonder to the other. But, once removed from the mass of other boats the water became a gentle calm with only the force of our anchored boat against the water to disrupt the stillness. Around us lay rocky outcrops, a steady stream of rounded peaks, floating homes of fishermen, and an occasional patch of beach to shore up. After several days of lovely green quiet we were ready to face the city again.

Driving back towards the city, all thoughts of the relative tranquility we experienced floating through the islands, almost 2000 in total, of the protected bay slipped away in the schizophrenia of Hanoi's busy streets. The relative "quiet" of Tet has ended and the city is frantic with activity once again. Ian described it aptly in our last blog but I feel compelled to chime in on the visceral experience of the city and the ultimate supremacy of the Honda Dream.

As we have traveled throughout SE Asia, I have been highly impressed by varied and extensive use of the moped, namely, watching entire families meander past on their family moped. Vietnam has taken it to a whole new level. The streets of Hanoi intersecting in every direction, are filled with a wall of mopeds, dodging and weaving out of every imaginable corner. Store goods spill out onto the sidewalks and mopeds drivers use them liberally as their parking space making it nearly impossible in places to walk anywhere but to take your chances in the street. Like a real life action game of Atari Frogger we are forced to wade through the mass of bikes. In true communist fashion, all things have been built with an intended purpose which includes the moped horn. Drivers use the horn with great affection realizing its full communication potential and therefore the streets ring out with an endless cacophony of beeping. Additionally, the Vietnamese not falling short in the realm of Asian industriousness, recognize every potential financial opportunity, and with this have chosen to use their mopeds as taxi's. Every few feet we are offered the opportunity to jump on back of the Dream and join the throngs for a small fee. These moped drivers have risen to new heights in displaying the Honda dream's potential for great feats of scale and balance. They have managed to out-do all other countries in demonstrating the volumes possible with items in stunning, artful, and often comical balance on the back of their moped. In it's simplicity, the load is a mere four women on board donned in stiletto heels, channel knockoff sunglasses, skinny jeans, and fabulous handbags. But the true impressiveness lies in an entire flower market of buckets strapped on back, five 50 pd cardboard boxes bungee'd for the ride, or the day's vegetable crop strapped and ready to go to the market piled five feet overheard. My personal favorite has been 3 large wire cages positioned on all three sides of the seat containing live piglets, approximately 50 in all. Like a surfer gracefully managing a wave double overhead these small bodied people race their laden mopeds through the daily insanity with what appears to be relative ease and Buddhist calm.

Indeed, our daily life has not ceased to amaze me!!!