Hanoi, capital city of Vietnam, city of scooters and motorcycles. A decade or two ago it was bicycles. What of the next decade? The guide on the bus to Halong Bay told us that by 2030, according to the government's transport vision, the scooters and motorbikes would be gone. Replaced by what? Electric cars? Driverless buses? Shared bicycles?
Street sweeper, wearing mask against fumes. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
Many motorcyclists wear masks, a few pedestrians wear masks. (In Singapore people wearing masks mostly have colds and flu and the masks are to stop you sneezing over other people sitting beside you on the MRT train. Except in years when there is a haze during the land-clearing burning in Indonesia.) India has smog. So does Hong Kong. And China. Now I know Vietnam also has a haze.
The Vietnamese, like the Chinese, burn paper imitation money in little braziers in the street. It is hoped that the paper money will join the cremated ancestors to comfort them. Meanwhile, in Hanoi, I felt I was breathing in petrol fumes all the time. Eventually I developed a cold.
If you want to buy a mask in Hanoi, Vietnam's capital, you will see gauze masks for sale in the kerbside shops. For every problem, there is a solution, and a sale.
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Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.
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