An early morning run around Hoan Kiem Lake
The usual swarm of people riding motorbikes around Hanoi was replaced by a swarm of people exercising on the shores of Hoan Kiem Lake this morning. This is a daily Hanoi occurence, according to Lonely Planet, and it really is a sight to see. Indeed, this morning there were tourists milling about, taking pictures of the exercisers!
I left my hotel at 6:30 a.m, ran down the street leading to Hoan Kiem and saw hundreds of people walking, stretching and sometimes running in a counter-clockwise direction around the lake. It’s that counter-clockwise direction that surprised me the most at first. Until I ran out there, I hadn’t realized I expected to run clockwise. Those Communists, they have to do everything differently. Hehehe. Better to go with the flow than get run over.
Any exercise you can imagine people might do around a lake, people were doing it. Most people walked while chatting with friends or family. About a half dozen men ran (no female runners except me). Most people wore loose clothing but there were a few groups of young girls wearing tight tank tops and shorts. There were old people in pajamas pushing their wheelchairs. Several groups of about 25 women performed synchronized calisthenics to music, including the Muzak version of Que Sera. Barechested old men swung their arms to and fro while walking at a brisk pace. Lots of people stood around moving their hips in circles, like they were hula hooping without the hoop. There were about 10 women dancing while balancing plastic balls on small tennis rackets. Several couples waltzed to classical music blaring from a portable speaker. I saw one older man stretched out on a yoga mat and one woman walking backwards. There was even one enterprising lady sitting with a small scale, so you could check your progress after your morning constitution.
By 7 a.m. the fun was pretty much over. The exercising ranks had thinned to almost nothing and the motorcycle traffic had picked up considerably. I wish I were around for another morning of running and people watching around Hoan Kiem!
Digging out from Snowmageddon
Digging out from Snowmageddon in Lorton, Virginia. There’s more snow coming!
(Above: That's me photographing while snowshoeing through a snowstorm. Picture by