Chicken feet and Chanel handbags

A city of contrasts 

To call Hanoi just the capital of Vietnam is a gross understatement. Hanoi is almost an expression of a painter’s imagination, created with exquisite hues and myriad colors. It is a perfect synchrony of diversity, elements thrown in from art, culture, poetry, history and stunning natural beauty. 

Cities, they say tell their own tales. Hanoi is not just another city with a tale, it is the cultural powerhouse of Vietnam. Its contrasting tones of power, culture, history, beauty and people blend together to form an array of shades & emotions. It offers multiple vantage points from where the outsider can venerate its magnificence and expanse. Hanoi may seem lazy on the outside yet is captivating and elegant in the inside. Once in Hanoi it is easy to understand why visitors fall in love with its indulgent way of life. 

A Confluence - High Street fashion and A Palette For Street Food    

It is a city where street food is consumed in high fashion clothes. Delicacies are served from muddy sticks to be relished by those dressed in designer collections. Your favorite beverage is poured into plastic mugs that look eternally muddy forcing you to go back into time as you find yourself sipping from an almost primitive past.

Hanoi is modern yet traditional. The city has the ability to wrangle your senses and compel you to participate in life the hanoian way. Its dichotomy is both fascinating and scary at the same time. The city displays the inclination to distribute wealth unevenly, yet to bring the deprived and the blessed under one giant shade. Hanoi is passive-aggressive, deliberately laid back in its intent, almost suggesting that it is not eager participate in development. The once flat districts, neatly spread and divided into quaint quarters are now threatening to spike and alter the misty blue sky of the city. There is no doubt that Hanoi is on the verge of a development boom, the city is still struggling and trying to cope with the pace of change, but its people retain the spirit. Hanoi is special, for its ability to exude a sense of refined class. Its language and mannerism are its skin, making it easy to identify the hanoian (who wears this skin with aplomb) from the rest of Vietnamese population.   

The Hanoian spirit is fresh and sparkling and that seems to rub on its people. The hanoian way of life seeps through its traditional symbols like the old coffee shops, the street food, the art shops and the cultural centres but it is largely through its people that it connects with the outsider the most. 

Ah hanoi ...