A Bit Hanoi-ing

Noisy

It may be pleasantly cooler, but Hanoi is remarkably noisier. You’d have thought that bustling Bangkok would prepare you for any city, but Hanoi is deafening. The locals appear to believe that constant use of the horn is the epitome of careful driving, and with a motorcycle density of 10 per metre of road, one soon develops a strong desire to leave. Which is a pity, because Hanoi’s Old Quarter is an attractive place; it’s architecture and cafés being some of the few worthwhile legacies of the wholly dubious French colonial project.