Because of the hot weather, families also sit on little stools on the roadside, having dinner oblivious to the traffic whizzing past. The screaming children are happily playing hop-scotch nearby, while a group of young men squat on the ground, engrossed in a card game called tam cuc. The best way to get around Hanoi is to hire a cyclo, the Vietnamese trishaw. Another favourite is the bicycle. However, the bicycle population in Vietnam is dropping, because many Vietnamese now prefer the more upmarket motorcycle.
Some streets are dirtier than others.
One woman dumps a small pile of rubbish in the middle of the road. On this street and the next, huge yellow machines groan. They are resurfacing the roads, a show of Hanoi's efforts at economic reconstruction. Within six months, I see so much difference in the way the men and women dress. It reflects how Vietnam is opening up to the outside.