Working Out in Vietnam

In my last post I mentioned the lake in Hanoi's city center - Hoan Kiem.

Aside from being the city's saving grace for clueless Western navigators such as myself (the old quarter's streets are so confusing that I just use the lake as my landmark), the lake is also a popular place for excercise.

This type of exercise is different from what I'm used to. It seems like (mostly elderly female) Hanoians like to head to the lake at sunset and swing their arms around in various directions, sort of like Tai Chi.

From K - Hanoi I

From K - Hanoi I

Also at the lake, Dana and I were approached by a group of young Vietnamese wanting to practice their English. We asked them if most people do this kind of excercise and they laughed and said "only old people". Must be sort of like aquajogging in the US.

From K - Hanoi I

Another thing that I've noticed everywhere in SE Asia is people's tendency to squat. It could be that Americans are too fat to squat, but I've never seen people sitting comfortably like this at home.

From K - Hanoi I