Vietnam is a country that has a lot of things that are quite specific to itself, things that give the Vietnamese a national identity, apart from many things such as scooter riding and wearing dust masks an essential ingredient to obtaining that Vietnamese look (other than the dust mask - mostly for females by the way) is wearing a traditional bamboo (pointy/conical?) hat.
For the street vendors I guess you would be wearing one of those things walking around all day carrying bamboo baskets full of produce over the shoulders in over 30 degrees and not only that but they must also persevere through the harsh and intense sunlight!!! Bamboo is the ideal material though for carrying such heavy loads in this way, it's very flexible and also smooth and comfortable to have over the shoulder.
Such is the habit of the Vietnamese people for transporting saleable items by way of bamboo pole and bamboo baskets that some say the country has the same form, a long strained and bent bamboo pole (refering to the length of the country) with a bamboo basket hanging off of either end (which would be the chunky parts of the country to the north and south). I have no reason to argue with them over this point, it certainly looks as though it could be the case. 
Sometimes when you see the amount of stuff they are carrying you could be forgiven if you thought they were moving house seemingly carrying everything but the kitchen sink!! Those vendors lucky enough to have a bicycle can quite easily turn it into a mobile home what with all the pots and pans hanging from every imagineable place and kitchen utensils, baskets, sweeping brushes and other household goods to name but a few.
Those on foot tend to sell a lot of vegetables and tropical fruits which they dutifully weigh out on the spot (wherever that may be) by the kilo and slice and dice them if the customer requires. 
Labels: Asia, Hanoi, Street Vendors, Travel Photography, Vietnam, Vietnamese