HANOI IN THREE WORDS

I LOVE to write, as most of you know! I write in my journal, for the blog, for school, and in my free time. But as anyone does, I do have some weaknesses, one of them being my vocabulary. My mom (and my editor!) challenges me all the time to use better vocabulary, stronger vocabulary, 7th grade vocabulary! So when she asked me to write a blog post to describe Hanoi using three exceptional adjectives, I said “Yes!”

My first word to describe Hanoi is frenzied. I chose this word because of how much is going on at once. In this city nothing is ever not happening! Everywhere you look, something is happening. There is so much action and movement and energy, whether it’s motorcycles cutting you off, people yelling at you to move, bright lights flashing in doorways and on the streets. It is never peaceful here! 

Cacophonous is a new word that I recently learned. There are always noises to be heard: the screeching of tires stopping for pedestrians, vendors yelling at you to not stand in front of the products that they're selling, motorcycle engines roaring down the street, and constant beeping. Yeah, it’s pretty crazy – and loud – over here. 

The city being so frenzied plus the cacophony plus the lack of personal space is SO overwhelming. Hanoi was just too much for my brain to process and handle. I didn’t know how to handle it. Every time I stepped outside, it seemed I got a headache! The lack of personal space was crazy. You couldn't get anywhere without being shoved. And the lines! Oh, the lines. I wouldn't even really call it a line. It’s more like a mob of people trying to get to the front first!

Hanoi was unlike anything that I’ve ever experienced! I'm not sure if I’d come again, but it was definitely I’m glad I had the opportunity to experience Hanoi firsthand. I hope you now have a better understanding of what Hanoi is like, and if you ever come to visit…prepare yourself for this frenzied, cacophonous, overwhelming city!