The weather is starting to get to me, but it's not the welcome late afternoon rains that are doing me in; it's the almost unbearable heat and humidity.
The old cliche "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" was never more true than it is here in Hanoi. An ordinary late morning walk of 30 minutes or so has my shirt soaked through to the skin and my brain crying out for some air-conditioned relief.
But AC is expensive here, and although I have an ACd hotel room, the hotel's management keeps the thermostat locked in at about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a welcome respite from the muggy streets of the old city neighborhood, but in my room in the daytime I can't wear much more than a pha khao ma, the Thai version of the men's sarong. This is a popular garment for men of all ages, in many countries of the region, for when they're simply hanging out at home.
Unlike in Bangkok, the Vietnamese capital city doesn't have nearly as many centrally-cooled shopping malls, fast food restaurants, and other oases of tropically-located, electrically-powered cool zones.
So it's best to get out early--seven or eight in the morning at the latest until 11.00 or 12.00 noon--then take a long siesta after lunch before going back out again at 5.00 p.m. as things begins to cool down a little, hopefully with some rain to help things along.
These past few days, however, we haven't seen much rain either--even though the skies have remained cloudy for much of the day.
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