Dinner in the City

     In Hanoi it's good to wait for the light to change because then most of the cars and maybe one or two of the motorcycles will stop.  You have to pick a path and keep moving on it because the motorcycles calculate their trajectory based on where you should be and will drive a foot ahead of you and a foot behind without slowing down.  Often it's best to wait until a group of people cross and cross with them.
     The first street I crossed was a little side street that relatively wasn't that busy.  It felt crazy.  Everbody had their headlights on and were honking their horns constantly, every few steps a new motorcycle would be immediately ahead of and behind me, people shouted, people talked, smoke and pollution and meat and soup and chilis scented and fogged the air.  Even when I was in the few feet before the sidewalk there were dangers to avoid--slowly cooling but still red-hot cooking stones and a scooter going the wrong way on the one-way street. Once off the street I dodged stoves, chairs, potted flowers, mannequins, cats, people, and lines of parked motorbikes.  Some of the food sellers have nooks off the street that the can put tables in but most find a good corner or stretch of block.  Pick two reasonably compatible chopsticks, add some mint and chili, and lean out of the way of passing pedestrians!