Adapting to Hanoi’s Summer

Summer is well and truly here. You can hear the cicadas in the trees. Along most of the streets in Hanoi these days, you can see the beautiful Flamboyant flowers. The hand fans are waving and the storm clouds are threatening. The temperature is on the rise forcing Hanoians to the lakesides and the streets in the evenings trying to get some breeze. Young boys drive their motorbikes around to have a good look at girls. Ice cream and sugarcane juice outlets are doing a roaring trade.

It’s all about staying cool in the brutal Hanoi summer. While the red and purple flowers make Hanoi look beautiful and signal the beginning of the school holidays, it is also a sign that it’s time to adapt. There will be no more cool days until October. One of the most noticeable ways that Hanoians adapt is in the wardrobe department and that doesn’t mean they wear less clothes. They wear more! Avoiding the searing sunshine is a priority, especially for the local women. A range of uniquely designed shirts which tie around the head have been all the rage these past few summers. Long gloves and the newly invented helmet rings complete the look.

Driving habits change, too. Motorcyclists do not stop at the traffic lights but instead 25 or 50 metres back from them – under the shade of a tree. It seems that half a minute stopped still in the open sun is too much to bear. At other times, motorbikers compete to pull up in the shade of a truck or bus. Motorbike parking attendants, in some locations, cover the seats of the bikes to protect them from the sun and their owners from a nasty burn.

Finding a breeze on a hot still night requires inside knowledge or an observant eye. Between Truc Bach and West Lake is an all too obvious one, with hundreds of couples getting in their good night kiss in the subtle wind. The breeze from the Red River can be experienced by hanging in the stop zones on Long Bien bridge. The bases of tall buildings like the Sofitel Plaza and by the waterworks on the dyke road are two other favourites.

A tumbler or two of bia hoi (draught beer) or mia da (sugar cane juice with ice) will give an instantaneous chill.

If all else fails, seek air-conditioned comfort!

Lotus Flower

Summer is the lotus season in Hanoi, the best and the most beautiful flower. Lotus mainly grow in Hanoi, in the West Lake area. The early morning is the perfect time to go there to take photographs and buy lotuses.

There are lots of people trading lotuses around Hanoi. Unfortunately, once the flowers are cut, they don't last long unless they are in an air-conditioned environment. Fortunately, they are dirt cheap right now.

Hanoi Summer

Summer in Hanoi is coming bringing with it a variety of fantastic colour in the form of flowers. The temperature is also on the rise especially in the noon time on the motorbike with a heavy helmet on. Damn hot!

Wandering around Hoan Kiem lake on these days reveals the beauty of the city. The mixture of red, purple, white and green colors in the landscape makes the lake like a beautiful painting. That's why people love Hanoi so much.

Hanoians are sitting around Truc Bach lake, too, drinking and eating til late at night during summer. Finding a cool breeze is a priority and the lakeside is a good bet. Sometimes though, the street police men come and most street businesses disappear, leaving customers standing with their plates or glasses. Once the police are gone, everything returns to normal. It's a funny scene!

Hanoi Winter

Most people imagine Hanoi as a hot climate city, but I'm telling you that recently the weather is really damn cold. 10 degrees in Vietnam sounds like nothing compared to minus 10 or even minus 30 degrees in other countries but it's really different if you ever make it to Hanoi. The humidity makes the colder seem really cold. It gets in your bones.

There have been quite a few old people and livestock who have died in Hanoi. Also lots of people have been sick throughout the north of Vietnam. In Sapa, the weather was minus 5 degrees, freezing and there was snow but people continued to go up to see snow for the first time ever in their lives. I wish I could see snow too as I never ever seen it before. It must be beautiful!

In one magazine, there was a report about one baby who died on the back of a motorbike in Hanoi because his parents forgot to cover his face and they only recognized when they were stopped by the police for not wearing a helmet. I couldn't believe my eyes reading that news. How could they let their children travel on the motorbike in such horrible weather conditions? I wondered. Also, almost ten babies die because of lung disease but the main reason was the cold. Even schools were closed on those days as it was too cold for children. The weather gets warmer but worse in the next two weeks with rain, high humidity and damp.

Now we must wait for the weather to improve and the sun to come out and the time when we can get rid of all the winter clothes. The other day, I had to wear three shirts, three pairs of pants, gloves, a thick jacket, scarf and winter hat but I am sure many people out there were wearing more than me. Another thing I want to mention is all that all of the clothes shops and electrical shops put their prices up unbelievably high at these times. There should be a law against businesses which take advantage of the weather situation.

Countryside Weddings

I have attended many of my friends' weddings in the countryside and I realized that, in the north, the wedding meals always start from 10am and some times, in some families, at 9am depending on where they live. It's quite funny because most people in the west would consider that to be breakfast time. When attending these weddings, we have to leave Hanoi very early in the morning to be there on time. At these weddings, it's common to stay there for one hour, eat all the food, drink all the rice wine, get pissed then piss off. Sounds not pleasant but it really is pleasant and fun and I love it.

The atmosphere of these weddings is really great, warm and special. The neighbors come and help the family out by cooking, decorating the home, talking to people and some of them sing and dance as well. It's so cool. Most of these couples are quite young, from 18 to 25 years old and they sometimes look a bit funny in wedding dresses. Also, it's quite normal for the brides to be a bit pregnant so the weddings have to be rushed so that they still look okay in their wedding dresses.

The food at countryside weddings is always different to other weddings in the city because they use so much MSG, salt and sugar. In different areas, they serve their own special dishes such as cat, dog, rat and buffalo meat but they don't tell you at the beginning. They wait until the end of the party. I have eaten these meats before and they are really tasty but I wouldn't try if I had known. A warning note is: if you have a weak stomach, do not go into the kitchen because you may be surprised at their cooking methods. Most of the food that they cook is near the floor and it's not like a normal kitchen. Some people take a pill before they go to countryside weddings as their stomachs are not so strong.

If you have a chance to go this kind of wedding, go for it and enjoy the great atmosphere, try to be a local and try all the food and you can experience real northern Vietnamese culture.