Monday 6/2/2008

Actually taking a bit slower day today than the two days since our arrival. Jet lag is about cured.

Pretty much whatever you imagine about Hanoi is both right and wrong. This is a city on the make. Making itself over with amazing energy. It will double its population (to 6 million) on August 1 when many surrounding towns will be suddenly be incorporated into the city.

We've had a busy schedule so far. On Saturday we were met by our hosts of the Hanoi Ceramic Mural and did some planning and sightseeing and sipping coffee at a lakeside, French influenced cafe. Yesterday we spent the day touring more of Hanoi, visiting a ceramic village (imagine 2000 artists and artisans in one place about 15 miles out of the center of Hanoi, but still in the city). An amazing array of work, both traditional and non-traditional. IKEA and many other big box stores have stuff made here. Our entrepreneurial host in the village showed us his factory, including work being done on a mosaic with CPAG's logo in it. The logo is being done in a intriguing new technique for mosaic making that I will write up shortly. It is done entirely on WET clay.

There are virtually no street signs or traffic signals here. The traffic (scooters, cars, trucks, bikes, and pedestrians) move constantly in conditions that we would find nerve wracking, but that actually keep a great deal of traffic moving smoothly. Horns are used, but not in anger or frustration. Rather little taps that sound like "I see you, I want to be sure you see me". Roundabouts are the most anxiety producing for me (though I'm not driving) as all manner of traffic intersects going every which direction. Sunday night, 6 PM, construction sites going with cranes, smaller scale projects running everywhere, 3 million Hanoi residents with 6 million scooters may be a joke here, but I’m not sure its a joke.


Jon