I cross the happy look of a Vietnamese child standing on the saddle of the family scooter, wedged between mum and dad. His eyes are full of the reflections of the lights of the signs, the headlights, the shop windows, the street lamps. I see his hair crest disappearing in the chaotic traffic of Hanoi’s old quarter.
I’m the passenger of a motorcycle taxi and I’m enjoying the incredible spectacle of people, neon lights, scooter, sounds and smells of cooked food on the street. Everything is intertwined to form an almost dreamlike landscape, the mind is overstimulated by this adrenalinic show.
The driver is busy dodging the rest of the population poured into the street, on foot or on two wheels. There are not many rules, everyone avoids everyone, it’s like being in something liquid.
You pass a couple of areas with indescribable density. We are completely surrounded by scooters, but nobody ventures to stop. Even the driver laughs at the indescribable feats that are done to avoid incidents, despite everything I feel safe to walk or drive a motorbike for the chaotic streets of Vietnam.
The traffic is getting less and it allows us to accelerate, we start to dart through the streets of the city in this September hot night.
The numerous cafes are still open and people are sitting on low stools to sip some tasty infusions. On a small stage a girl dressed in traditional clothes sings a Vietnamese song, her beautiful voice is blaring out from the amplifiers on the roadside.
To return to my temporary accommodation I have to pass the Long Bien bridge, a fascinating metal structure designed by Eiffel to cross the Red River of Hanoi.
On the sides of the suspended structure there are some young couples, arrived here by scooter. They sit on the walkway, waiting for a roasted panicle or a tea prepared by a lady who has a banquet here and who has also organized mats to accommodate the romantic customers.
They observe the nocturnal landscape illuminated by the lights of the city.
Hopeful and dreamy, they hold their hands.
The Long Bien bridge is an Hanoi picturesque bridge with iron structure on the Red River. It connect the Long Bien district to the center of the capital of Vietnam.
The bridge was designed by Gustave Eiffel in 1899.
It’s a nice place to take a walk and take some pictures.
