Summer is here. You can hear the cicada's music which repeats the same sound for hours. Along most of the streets in Hanoi these days, you can see the beautiful Flamboyant flowers everywhere. The mix of red flowers, old French buildings, the old quarter mix and the lakes make Hanoi pretty special at this time of the year. You also can see lots of people hanging around the lakes and on the streets in the evening trying to get some breeze. Young boys drive their motorbikes around to have a good look at girls. Ice cream and sugarcane juice are the best coolants in the summer.
These flowers are a sign of summer, time for students to have a break and people to travel to escape the heat of the city at the beach or in the mountains. I don't know what cicadas look like but they've been in my mind since I was a little boy trying to find one to put in my bed room and keep as a pet. There have been many songs written about summer which make reference to cicadas, Flamboyant flowers, students on school holidays and remind me of my childhood.
11 comments:
You have a wonderful way with words, Mr. Tu. Poetic! I enjoy your descriptions of the changes in the seasons in Hà Nội. I miss that in HCMC where it seems everything is the same except the rain.
-- Mel
Mr. Tu, what is the name of these flowers? Are they the hoa phuong I have heard about? Are they are the ones that are associated with students because they flower during exam time?
Those pictures really make miss Hanoi. It is so special there.
Ah, summer. I vaguely remember liking it lots - back when it was a refreshing change from every other season. That's Singapore for you. I may need a quick trip to Hanoi.
Wow! very beautiful picture. a picture of serenity.
«I don't know what cicadas look like»...Come on, Vietnamese God, search Google images like a real blogger and reduce your ignorance one picture at a time! ;-)
As to the flamboyant tree, in the South we call it «cây diêp».
Anh cua Ho Hoan Kiem dep qua, Em muon di Vietnam o mua he. Co noung, nung ma dep qua!
cicadas must be fairly widespread. i didn't know they were in vietnam too! i love listening to them.
The photo of red flower reminds me an american movie about VN. (Probably, the title was something like "three seasons") Anyway, in the last scene of the movie, a vietnamese woman who is wearing white Ao dai is runnning thorough an avenue of the red flowers by cyclo. It is amazingly beautiful!(I think the flower in your photo is same one in the movie...)
What a beautiful photo with the bridge in the background.
layered, thanks for your compliment Mel. I will be there really soon.
Hi Mark, yes, you are right, they are Hoa Phuong.
AShoshauna, thanks, are you going to Hanoi soon?
Venitha, pls go and don forget contact me.
khasan, I think that old man still around.
Buddhist with an attitude, I trully dont know. you are right about the flower's name.
vietmom, Hanoi's always hot in summer but beautiful.
Flora Fling, Anonymous, FRIDAY'S CHILD Thanks.
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