Last day in Hanoi.....

                   So glad I decided to give myself the extra day before going up north tomorrow to Sapa near the Chinese border.
                Woke to stormy grey skies, tropically hot with humidity pushing 99% . Sure enough, the heavens opened and for the most part maintained an on & off downpour till mid afternoon. With trusty gamp in hand, sallied forth using the Lenin Park, just south of the French quarter, as my

walking objective, routing through  a maze of small streets. Of interest in this highly technical age and perhaps as the last human being to NOT own a cell phone with built in GPS, I used my trust magnetic compass to give me general bearings and with the help several kind folk to point me along the way, I arrived at said Lenin Park. Narrow streets, jammed with people, motor bikes and  and all kind of commerce spilling out to block pedestrians, it was the street photographers dream come true. So much frenetic human interaction, I probably banged off a couple of hundred 'in your face' shots and have to say that there were only a couple of grimaces--mostly from ladies of a 'certain age' .A loud laugh and big smile mostly work wonders and photo refusals were far out numbered by folks actually demanding I take there picture and even posed carefully for me---not quite sure about the satisfaction they achieve by their pic being on MY camera!
             

 90% of vehicles on Hanoi streets are scooters & mo-peds--push bikes having almost completely disappeared. These bike pilots certainly understand how to wear colourful and effective rain-wear to keep somewhat dry in a  late monsoon downfall of warm rain. and I spent a delight full hour at various road intersections capturing the rain soaked street chaos and rainbow of styles that is the race track of Hanoi streets. Street photography is a never ending theatre of opportunity---miss one great shot (and I miss more than my fair share) and another one pops up almost immediately. It forces the photographer to look, not just see, the street drama unfolding before his lens and to keep his finger on that shutter button!
               Vietnam is a hard line communist country and the Party's control is evident every where. Unsmiling police presence is everywhere, as are heavily guarded official government buildings denoted with bright red banners and hammer & sickle motifs. I am careful to avoid pointing my camera at any one military, police or official building. This afternoon, by the central lake, got chatting to a sweet 18 year old university student (any westerner here is quickly set upon by young students

wanting to practice their English). Right in front of us a rather loud argument broke out between a couple of young women and a poor defenseless policeman--All sounded very serious, until it was explained to me that the girls were upset because the policeman did not know the location of the nearest ladies toillettes!