Woke up at 6am. Day 2 in Hanoi was sunny with a temperature of 15 degrees.
Motorbike horns were honking from early in the morning. The alleys were narrow so cars couldn't get in, but motorbikes were driving around freely.
I didn't have much muscle pain, but I felt a bit like I had a mild case of heatstroke. I was drinking a lot of water.
Today was my day off, so I went for a walk around town, planning and preparing for the next day.
Left the hotel around 8am and went for a walk.
Had breakfast at a back alley stall used by locals.
Noodles with pork and coriander(Photo above).
The noodles themselves were instant noodles, but they were light and refreshing. About 300 yen per bowl.
Afterwards, had a rest at a cafe.
It's true that stores or restaurants used by locals are cheaper. Those which are targeted at tourists are stylish and beautiful, but the price is higher.
Vietnamese coffee for 120 yen per cup was too sweet. It's sweet like coffee flavored with lots of condensed milk.
When I pay with cash, the shopkeeper will show me Vietnamese banknotes and tell me, "This is all you need."
Or they may show me the amount on a calculator screen or a piece of paper written the price.
There are no coins in circulation, so they only take banknotes.
Most items are over 10,000 VND, so on the menu they are expressed as 20K (1000 K is 20,000) or 50K.
Someone chats with the shopkeeper while on motorbike.
Someone shops while on motorbike. This caused traffic jams.
The motorbike engines are loud, so people naturally speak louder.
The traffic jams gets worse, and horns start honking everywhere.
Thus, the constant traffic jams and noise create chaos in the markets of Hanoi (lol).
There is no need to carry so much water or food, as there is so much in the city.
When it comes to snacks to eat while running, they need to be light, high in calories, and won't spoil, so nuts and dried fruits are ideal.
I bought dried bananas, apricots, power bars, peanut nougat, etc.
Next week the temperature is expected to rise to over 30 degrees.
In the afternoon I also did some shopping and walked around town a bit.
I wasn't looking to see anything in particular (so-called "sightseeing"), I just wanted to "observe" the town.
In Vietnam, towns are supported by independent shops. It was the same in Japan during the Showa era.
But before we knew it, large corporations were weeding out the independent shops and becoming huge.
The number of merchants (people who sell things) decreased and the number of company employees (people who create systems to sell things) increased.
What was called "commerce" in the Showa era has now been replaced by the name "business."
*Today's distance: 0km Total Distance from Noibai Internat'l Airport: 27.5km
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