I went back to Hanoi in the summer of 2004, two years after my first visit. It was wonderful to see it again. It's barely changed. A few more hotels in the old quarter, as hard as that is to believe, and a couple of new steel and glass towers. But, basically the same city. There are almost no touts now, which really makes a much more pleasant place to visit. They used to be quite relentless, to the point that you really couldn't even enjoy a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake. But, they are now gone. In five days there, I saw three postcard boys. They asked me once to buy from them. I said no thank you and they left me alone! Quite amazing.