A postcard from Hanoi

The midday sun beats down over Hanoi, a rare full appearance from its customary hiding place behind a thick pillow of urban smog. Sitting at its highest point, it bathes the lake below in a light that crowns the muddy water with a gentle shimmer.

Lying down in central Hanoi's Thống Nhất Park beneath an eclectic group of trees, leaves that hang languorously like snakes and coconut trees that reach towards a sky that has today honoured us with a shade of azure blue. Fishermen cast hopefully into the shallows of the lake, young lovers kiss tentatively beneath the shade. Pedalos drift across the water, undisturbed by the stillness of this warm March day.

This isn't the quintessential Hanoi scene, but the distant sound of traffic is an aural reminder of your place here in Vietnam's quirky, wonderful capital. A city of 7 million people, a thousand years of history, a university dating back to 1010, and the fastest growing GDP of any metropolis in the world. Known as 'a city of lakes', Hanoi's sometimes chaotic layout is juxtaposed by the presence of numerous parks, open spaces and swathes of verdant, ancient trees.

It's a city that oozes nonchalance, from its wide boulevards to its labyrinthine streets and claustrophobic alleyways. A feast for the senses, a place where a beer can cost less than 50 cents, but the cars parked outside can cost a lifetime more. Beautiful in its contradictions, sometimes reluctant to relinquish its secrets, but so rewarding when it does.

Sitting on the side of a busy street, motorbikes whizzing past, is a chance to escape the chaos, if only for a moment. The constant flow of glasses and plates of food, set to the soundtrack of friends catching up, backpackers trading travel stories and the cracking of sunflower seeds.

Hanoi is not just a city. It is truly a sensory experience. Stop by, pull up a stool. Enjoy.