Finally, I am sitting down to reminisce about my travels in Vietnam. I had no intention of ever visiting the region because there are so many places that I want to travel in the world before that, but I had a great excuse to go there for my masters program last October. The trip went way faster than I thought – only an 11 hour flight to Seoul, Korea and then 4 more hours to Hanoi. Spent the first week in Hanoi wandering around the various markets, visiting museums and taking in the culture. I also had the opportunity to visit a factory where they make credit cards, talk to business leaders, and attend lectures by economists from the Communist Party of Vietnam. Overall a very fascinating country and I would highly recommend to anyone considering going.
Hanoi is loud, busy, wet, smelly, colorful, hot and much more. Here are some of the images I captured along the way. Stay tuned for week 2 in Vietnam.
stoltz project 
“…loud, busy, wet, smelly, colorful, hot”…and spectacular! Or so it would seem. Gorgeous pix — thank you for sharing them. 🙂
definitely spectacular!
beautifullllllll.
This looks like such a great adventure!!
Nice photos! Thanks for posting.
Mark
http://minimalistlifestyle.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/hit-bottom-now-you-have-nothing-to-lose/
It looks just like the Philippines. :>
take away the trees and add some more smog… then… it will look like manila… lol
I agree…Hanoi seems to be more beautiful than Manila…Manila is too full of skyscrapers.
love the pics
Nice photos. I have fond memories of Hanoi from when I visited in 2001. Your pictures brought me back there. Thanks.
Glad I could help!
Love the last photo of the colourful roofs. Enjoy your stay in Hanoi!
— Jenny
its so bright and colorful !!!
Gorgeous photos!
hello, there…
i like the second, the fourth and the last pics. and the description – “Hanoi is loud, busy, wet, smelly, colorful, hot and much more.” 🙂
btw, your cam can take in so much details. if i took the pics, i know i won’t be able to capture as many people in the frame like you did in the fourth pic.^^ great shots. 🙂
Thanks!
Beautiful photographs.
The second photo and the last one are incredibly beautiful!
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
this is nice serial i like it
Nice colourful skyline and description. Great photos, thanks.
Hanoi, what a place!
I was there last year and had a blast, such a wonderful city and you’ve taken some amazing photos, makes me want to be back there!
Beautiful photos, I really enjoyed them, and what an extraordinary mix of image as the observer scrolls from one to another – extremely enjoyable, many thanks
Great photos! I lived in Vietnam for a year, and spent half of it living in Hanoi. Poweful images of a city I adore!
Kathy
Living there for a year must have been an adventure!
I’ve lived in Hanoi since I was 3 years old and Thank you for these wonderful pictures of my country! 😀
Great photos – thanks for sharing and congrats on being freshly pressed!
Great photos- time for me to expand MY horizons and get over there. Thanks!
You should… it is a fantastic place!
Beautiful pics
Incredible shots!
Vietnam is pretty awesome! Love the photos too!
Lovely photos, thanks for sharing them!
Thanks for sharing your photos. The colors are wonderful. Connie
http://7thandvine.wordpress.com/
Such beautiful photos!
Love the pictures-amazing!
i used to love going into saigon every couple of months back in the day. a wonderful exotic place. nice photos.
Thanks! i wish I could have mad fit down to Saigon… maybe next time.
You are so lucky. I’ve always wanted to go to Vietnam. I shall follow your stay with interest.
Cheers
Awesome pictures!! 😀
Yep, very colorful! Nice photos.
lovely photos… such vivid colors! congrats on being FP.
Really intrigued. Can’t wait to visit one day.
great photos!
Beautiful array of photos, supurb
Wow, I had no idea that is what Hanoi looked like. So colourful! And it’s crazy what they can do on those scooters :S
The scooters wer perhaps the most amazing part of the city. It was crazy how traffic worked so well despite the chaos.
Oh I know, they got it down pat over there. Well, I’ve seen it in Thailand. It seems like they drive so recklessly, but they make it work.
Great photos
City looks so lively give the contrast of third & forth images!
fck jeah!
I think it was the late 1990s or early in the first decade of this century that I kept reading about Vietnam as a travel destination. I also saw two Vietnamese movies at a film festival around that time. Certainly your photographs show a clean and attractive city, with a reminder of the Vietnam War too, I’m guessing. I heard the food is good too.
My trip definitely changed my perception of the country. Definitely was a lot different than I thought it would be.
I am so glad to know that your trip did a great job on changing your thoughts about Ha Noi.
And thank you for the great pics! (:
Amazing moments you’ve captured there x. I’m from Vietnam and I’m glad that you had a great trip.
Great photos. It’s giving me ideas for my trip there later this year. Thank you.
beautiful pictures your pictures just chaged my view about vietnam.I had no idead Hanoi was so beautiful. Upload some pore pictures if you can
You captured the vibrant part of the city and its people…now, that is cool!
A plenty colorful city. I enjoyed each picture, please share more with us!!!
Stay tuned… I’ll put up some more from the rest of my trip!
I’m planning to go to Vietnam soon. Thanks for the pics! It makes me excited to go to Vietnam 🙂
Have fun! It’s an amazing place!
I was there this time last year. I found it’s jungle of streets particularly attractive and lights around the lake at night, like pretty pearls. Check it out at http://vietnamtrails.wordpress.com
Also http://da4was5ve.wordpress.com
…like you can just step off into them.
The craziest thing I ever tried to do in Hanoi was cross the street in this massive roundabout. Almost got taken out a few times – LOL!
Ha! Yeah that may have happened to me a few times as well!
You’re so lucky you get to observe Vietnam whilst doing your Masters. Vietnam is great. There’s so many different things to see and if you pay attention to the farming at all. It varies quite a bit from region to region. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay and I look forward to reading up on your recollections.
amazing place. I think it’s amazing what they can pile onto a bike
These photos are exciting. Very interesting Vietnam!
The pictures is great!!! keep up the picts!!
lookatm3.wordpress.com
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Great day!!
Looks like you had fun! Gorgeous photos!
Great pictures! I hope to visit one day with my kids. They are half Vietnamese and I want them to experience the the country of their ancestors. Thanks for sharing!
love the beautiful colors of the pictures..
These pic are so nice. I’m a Vietnamese girl but live in the Western so I haven’t had a chance to visit Hanoi >< Thanks for your pic, I can see more things about our capital, how it looks like in daily life, its color…
Because Vietnam is a developing country so there are still problems but I hope you have a good time in our country. And if and when you return to Vn again, why don't you visit our country in Lunar new year ? It's really a new experience to you 😀
It's a little bit shy but May I add your blog in my wordpress ? I love traveling, taking picture and wanna be friends with people who have these interests ,too
No problem…
I would definitely like to go back for new year – sounds like a fantastic time!
thanks so much ^_^ Hope you will find more exciting with your new trips
sweeety houses))
Great pics!! Reminds me of my visit there. Went to Hanoi in Nov 2010 then Saigon and mid Viet Nam in Feb 2011. A must travel country!! 😉
It is certainly a memorable country and well worth visiting. I’m plodding through a photo blog of our trip in 2010 at the moment.and it is a great way to relive the holiday. I like your selection of photos.
Hi there. Nice shots. I’m living in Hanoi now. Glad you enjoyed yourself.
As busy, wet, hot and seriously over-crowded with people and motorbikes as Hanoi is, I love that place! I miss the Old Quarter and the cafes and of course, the food. Did you try Bun Cha (you must have had!) while you were there? Delicious! Thanks for sharing such great photos 🙂
Nice photos! I recently traveled to the Philippines and wrote about an island I visited. You can check out the pictures using the link below if you’re interested.
Jimmy
http://slightlyreworded.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/what-there-are-still-stars/
Very cool!
Фото яркие.
Love your photos… Hanoi is pretty much my favourite city in the world, the beautiful colourful buildings are definitely a part of that.
Reblogged this on andrewjmck and commented:
A wonderful city.
Great images!
Hope you were able to visit other cities in VN as well, it’s a BEAUTIFUL country!!!!
Fabulous photos – I was there over Christmas and New Year – Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh – your pictures have just brought back some wonderful memories, thank you.
great photos. 🙂
Beautiful Pictures! Not sure I’d want to come home 🙂
Posting a picture of down US aircraft is a slap in the face to Veterans, of which I am one. We haven’t come very far since the days of Jane Fonda…
Unfortunate you feel that way – I am a veteran as well.
Amazing photos, looks like a beautiful place.
I love Vietnam, such an experience. Your photographs are lovely, really make me want to go back!
Very interesting
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Jealous! You got some great pictures.
We found it so hard to capture the real essence of Vietnam on camera – there was always so much going on!
Nearly finished writing up my travels around the country finally – I took my trip a few years back! Would love to go again.
Love your photos! Thank you for sharing and glad you had a great time there! Have a great weekend!
Nice. Touch
Great pictures! Can’t wait for the next post!
i live in Hanoi.
i love Hanoi!!!
in Tet holiday, hanoi is quite, clear and cool!!
Very interesting!!
Nice, I’ve been wanting to go to vietnam ever since I saw Apocalypse Now!
Just out of interest, why were there so many places that you wanted to see before S.E.Asia? Out of personal taste I think it looks like one of the most captivating places on Earth! Well, that’s in comparison to the sometimes dismal reality of living in England
I actually had Africa, the Himalayas and New Zealand/Australia on my list before this part of Asia. After going there, I would have liked to explore the area for much longer.
nice pictures, i have to say : )
Group sports classes out in the open seem to be the norm in Asia; as I remember reading about the Chinese and their (I’m blanking on the word) classes in public areas. Personally, I woudln’t want anybody watching me get all hot and sweaty, but apropos for them for doing things together!
Your photos are amazing! It may not be all glamour but I want to visit Hanoi someday. 🙂
Thanks for sharing. Could you please include a description of the picture? (for instance, the 3rd picture looks like a military art piece?) Congrats on being FP.
The description should show up if you hold your mouse over it and pause for a second. New to this theme and I am still working on how to display things.
The third picture is from the War Museum in Hanoi – it was in the central courtyard and was a monument to the Vietnam War (known as the American War over there)
Let try to visit Sai Gon next time !
I really wanted to make it down there… next time!
Reblogged this on Vui trên bàn phím and commented:
Hanoi shot by tourist
I especially like the roof picture for its colors and the Ho Chi Minh garden picture for the angle you used. Gorgeous! Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
I’m going to Hanoi and Halong Bay in a month- I am very excited!
Thanks Jezz
Vietnam’s been ticking up my list of countries to visit. You’re only giving that much more incentive to go.
love the picture,
Hey nice pictures! Also your article has been featured!
Awesome Vietnam post! Thank you for sharing!
…following your blog…
Such a colorful and beautiful city, I always thought it would be the opposite.
Cheers and congrats on being freshly pressed
-Ron
The vibrance is quite compelling. Your choice of images was excellent, a perfect slice. Thank you for pulling me into your visit quickly, compellingly and beautifully.
Great shots. It would be nice if they were labeled so I didn’t have to hover over each pic to find out details.
Great photos =)
I love the color of the roofs on the older buildings. It is a shame that they make way for bland taller apartment buildings. Look forward to seeing more pictures and hearing about the people and food.
I have a friend who just went to Cambodia and will be volunteering there for 6 months. I’d love to visit him and thought about going to Vietnam during that trip. Your pictures have be questioning why I just thought about it, will definitely be visiting if I can make it out there. Beautiful.
Hey nice photo’s, if you don’t mind me asking what lens were you using when you took these shots?
I only had room to bring one lens, so i brought my EF-S 17-55 f/2.8. I love that lens on my 7D!
The first picture is amazing, the fact that he can balance something so big and still ride a bike wow! also love the rooftops picture, thank you for sharing 🙂
spectacular images these…… would love to visit there in the near future… many thanks for posting!!!
Every city has a story to tell and these photos capture the essence of Vietnam. Thanks for sharing the sights and sound of Hanoi.
I really like your post! Je voudrais bien aller a Hanoi dans l’avenir ! Merci
Last picture…. your last picture……how a city could be so beautifully colorful……… i love it
very entertaining article! more or less, it looks like our country too.. 😀
http://travellersdiningdepot.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/welcoming-the-year-of-the-water-dragon/
Love the last photo, all the different coloured roofs.
Very charming!!!
lovin’ the very colorful rooftops
Your so lucky to go to Hanoi, I’m from outside hanoi and I’m adopted. Sometime I would like to visit vietnam ❤
Thanks for this post. Suddenly reminded me to post my images during my visit last year. The guilt of having taken too many photos and then too lazy to choose which ones to upload. The place is indeed too colorful for words (took similar colored roof images, but yours were better). Glad I survived crossing streets without being side-swept. Have a nice day. 🙂
loud city
Wow amazing photography how is the food in vietnam?
Great!
Reblogged this on 10th Village.
Hanoi is at the tippity top of my list, so jealous & love the photos! Curious to know what kind of masters program you’re in…
MBA program…
Brilliant shots!
The busy streets brings back memories of other countries I visited. Great capture in motion!
Your shots are awesome and your description had me a tad curious. Smelly? lol I’m afraid to ask.
val
http://valentinedefrancis.wordpress.com
Beauty photots… ♥
Great photos
I’ve been to Vietnam too a few months ago, fell in love with it so much!
Please check my photos at menotspeakenglish.wordpress.com
and my passion ( my art paintings and collages) at loniduekart.wordpress.com
Thanks
😉
Reblogged this on http://www.blogjelex.tk.
I wonder how that guy moves through traffic on such a loaded motorcycle.Great skill………..:):)
Beautiful! I wud like to go here sometime..
Oh ya.. Nice photos Btw..
Amazing shots, Hanoi is on my list of must visit places for 2012, cheers!
How did you find the government?
Vietnam is interesting country for me, because I’ve read an article about the vietnam children living on the street and it really makes me sad. Since then, I read more about vietnam people and how they live their lives.
A beautiful collection of pictures.
My beloved Ha Noi :”>
Thank you for those beautiful pictures!
very nice photographs.
TechSmartLife
Hanoi… looks so lovely with a lot of vivid colors and curious people
nice shots
show us a part of the interesting Vietnam
beautiful, clear, colorful and captivating. I am immediately drawn in with your story and beautiful photos. Can’t wait to hear more!
Vivid, beautiful!
Nice photos! I especially liked the last one. Vibrance! I’m curious: How was the food? 🙂
Oh my gosh, those roofs. I love them.
Vietnam is a country that is rising in economic status. As wages have pushed higher in China, Vietnam is attracting much interest as a future manufacturing center. Population is young and hard working.
The orient at its best. The mysticism and dimensions of the Orient shine through from these photographs. Thanks for sharing.
if you like “loud,smelly,wet, busy,hot”, do visit india. it is louder, smellier, more colorful than you can imagine, spicier and hotter!
i wish i can go there :]
Reblogged this on margaretkho.
Thanks for sharing some great images. We were just in Hanoi last month, and enjoyed reliving some memories. Our impressions from our visit are on our blog here: http://turtlestravel.wordpress.com/2011/12/22/city-of-the-soaring-dragon/ if you’d like to compare notes!
Thanks your so so much your photo, that is big give you are give me for Chinese & Vietnamese New year ! look like i see my family in the picture. Miss my beautiful country and very very miss my lovely family. 😦
Happy new year 2012 everyone , Wishing you and your family be Happy, Healthy and Successful !
Thanks for those pics. Looks like a really lively city.
Some great shots …sounds like my thinking also: “never wanted to go, can’t wait to go back”. Spectacular country full of great people, beautiful landscapes, spectacular food and full of history”.
Great work,
John
You make the city smells fresh for us. Bravo !
The colourful roofs are lovely – it is sometimes hard getting colour out when Hanoi is so grey in winter! The Army museum is particularly striking on sunny days reflecting off all the wreckage… more pics of that site and others here:
http://juraphotos.wordpress.com/2011/10/
I’ve never imagined Hanoi to be so vibrant! This will now be part of my bucket list! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful photos! 🙂
Beautiful photos! I visited Hanoi about three years ago and it’s an amazing city of contrasts. Thanks for bringing back some good memories!
brings back memories, stayed there for 4 years, despite the humidity the city is lovely especially around hoan kiem lake
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Love this post! Love my country and hope you are going to plan a trip to Ho Chi Minh city someday, I can be your freelance tourguide for sure, hehe
Dope stuff.
Great photos! Hanoi has always been on my “to-visit” list.
Wow.. next stop for me is Vietnam.. ty
The photos look gorgeous! 🙂
Hi. your pics are great. But as a vietnamese, I think you should go to Hochiminh city if you want to travel to vietnam again.
Hochiminh city is more beautiful and cleaner. We also have more delicious food.
The weather in Hochiminh city is also better and more comfortable than in hanoi.
I hope that you love my country.
The third photo is so striking…