Sunday, April 11, 2010

Serenity Now

Hanoi is a busy city. There's tons of traffic. Incessant honking. Vendors screaming out the sale of their goods and a billion other noises that could give one a brain numbing migraine. However, the beauty of this city is that there are so many places that are quiet and serene. One of the things I love about my apartment is that the only noise during the day is from birds chirping and my neighbors praying.

Recently I started tutoring a girl that lives on the far side of West Lake. The girl's house is right near the lake which -- on this side of the lake -- is one of the quieter places in all of Hanoi. I've been showing up at the girl's house twenty or thirty minutes early every time so I can go to the lake and read a book and soak in the silence. Here's a video of one of my favorite spots in Hanoi: