"Charming old town" Hanoi by Yezber

Hanoi is so much more "authentic" than the much richer and bigger Saigon in the South. Don't wait too long going there - they're starting to get motorcycles now and in a few years they'll start buing cars and the charm will be lost forever...

Building in Hanoi

Besides all the temples and the old streets in the center of Hanoi you should try to take a look at the architecture in general. Two reasons:
1) It'll all be gone when they start using cars big time.
2) They build some very narrow houses now and then - so even newer concrete buildings can look interesting.

• Pros:Charming, old fashioned, good shopping
• Cons:A few hustlers will do anything to cheat you for a dollar
• In a nutshell:It's charming because they are poor - but they deserve to become richer - and then it's all gone...