A short trip to Cat Ba

Last weekend I headed off to Cat Ba island. It's just off the coast, in Ha Long Bay, about 70 miles from Hanoi, which makes it a reasonably easy journey from home. The main attraction for me is that it is well set up for outdoorsy things so I thought I'd go and find out more, with a view to popping in a few times over the next couple of years.

A few companies offer transport to the island. The best way to do it appeared to be with Hoang Long who offer a coach-minibus-boat-minbus combination to get you door to door so I went for that.

The main town on Cat Ba island is Cat Ba strangely enough. It's basically about 1km of hotels and cafes, each of which offer trips to the surrounding islands, which are the reason for its UNESCO World Heritage Site status. On my next trip I hope to get out on a kayaking and climbing trip around the islands and should have some decent photos.

I came across some fisherman loading ice ready for their next trip out.



I hired a mountain bike to see some of the island. I didn't reckon with the fact that I would be cycling through roadworks and a quarry though. When it was time to turn around I realised I had a flat. As luck would have it, I just happened to be having a drink at a cafe owned by the local bicycle repair man. He sprang into action and did a great job. I was pleased, not least because it was 5 miles back to my hotel.




















This primeval-looking beastie spends its days outside a restaurant waiting to be chosen for somebody's plate. I was told that eating it would make me stronger. I think it would make me sick.

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A few weeks ago I met up with John & Tricia, friends from my church in Manchester, who were travelling with friends in these parts and found time to take me out for dinner! Very nice it was too. It was lovely to see folk from back home.

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Living in the backstreets in Hanoi is always entertaining. You don't have to go far to be inside a
maze of small alleys. It's very dark at night but coming home in the evening doesn't feel threatening. Based on my experiences with the locals so far, if there are any muggers I think they'd want to shake my hand and practise their English.

During the day, they are a hive of activity...

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Face masks are worn by many on the roads. Given the amount of pollution, I can understand their concern but I'm not convinced they make any difference. Many women also wear hoods and even flaps over their hands to keep the sun off as being too brown is unfashionable.

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I recently went to a Christmas concert at the Goethe Institute which is the German cultural organisation in Hanoi. We sang a few carols in German. My linguistic talents are being stretched to the limit these days.

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Bike photo of the month. I have even seen panes of (toughened) glass and mattresses being carried.

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Well, I've survived my first term at the Britsh Council and look forward to the next one. The students tend to be keen and hard-working, which is wonderful. Pronunciation is a big issue though, so I'm learning more about that at the moment and will explain more in a future blog.

I'm about to catch a plane home now so I'll sign off and wish you all a very

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Chúc các anh Giáng Sinh và năm mới vui vẻ!

And, for all my Polish buddies ...

Wesołych Swiąt i Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!

A Vietnamese lesson

I am eternally indebted to Alexandre de Rhodes, a French Jesuit scholar, for he was responsible for introducing the script which is used in Vietnam today – one that looks a lot like English. This at least gives me a fighting chance. There are several differences of course – e.g. there are 12 vowels and 17 consonants.

‘a’ has two other variants – ă and â – required because of the different sounds made in Vietnamese.

The main difficulty though, is that there are 6 tones, each indicated by an accent: á à ả ã ạ a (the last tone is no accent). Of course, you can have ‘new’ letters with accents too: ắ ẵ ở ự.

So, I can say ‘ma’ with a high, rising tone (má) and it means ‘mother’. However, if I say the same word with a tone that ends abruptly (mạ), it means ‘rice seedling’ and if I say it with what I can only describe as a wobble in my voice (mã), it means ‘horse’. You can imagine how keen I am to get that right (especially if I try some Vietnamese at family gatherings).

My personal favourite word at the moment is Mỹ. Say ‘Me’ in a voice like a mouse with hiccups and you’ll be close. Congratulations – you just said ‘America’ in Vietnamese. Honest.

If you can crack the pronunciation you are well on the way to learning the language as the grammar is quite simple so I’m putting some time in on this (but it’s going to take a while …). I need this pronunciation in class as soon as possible. On Sunday mornings I have 18 teenage students and the same in the afternoon. To be frank, I’m struggling with all the names. I’ve got most of them but when you have two Châu’s and a Trieu in the class (which sound similar) it gets tricky. I’m sure I pronounce many names incorrectly but they’re very gracious and don’t point these errors out.

Some useful phrases for the next time you bump into a Vietnamese person down the high street:

Xin chào (sin chow) - hello

Tên ban là gì? (ten ban la zi) - What is your name?

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There is another big difference from any other country I’ve ever been to – there are no coins. The currency is the Dong and at present the exchange rate is about 32,500 Dong to the pound. You soon get used to dealing in big numbers – I changed sixty US dollars at the airport when I arrived and became an instant Dong millionaire. The smallest denomination is a 500 Dong note and it’s worth about 1.5p. 20,000 Dong is about a dollar and you can buy a Vietnamese meal (such as the one in the last blog) in a street café for about 50,000 Dong.

The picture on the notes is Ho Chi Minh – ‘Uncle Ho’ to many here. Vietnam’s most revered character (there’ll be more about him in future blogs).

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Back home we use streets to get from one place to another and that’s about it but here it’s where many people conduct their lives – eating, playing badminton and even having their afternoon snooze. Everywhere you go there are families cooking, people drinking tea or beer and selling all manner of things. Badminton courts are marked out on every pavement that is wide enough to accommodate one (and which isn’t covered in bikes) and you’ll find people playing there in the mornings and evenings.

Many houses open onto the street and set themselves up selling drinks, fruit or cooked food. I buy some of my fruit from the lady around the corner. In fact, it’s often hard to get past without trying to sell me something but she’s very good to me and often gives me a ‘souvenir’ as she calls it – an extra something. Last time it was a pomegranate.

I live very near the Temple of Literature – the first ever university in Hanoi dating back to 1070 and dedicated to Confucius. It honours Vietnam’s finest scholars and the stones pictured contain the names of many of them.

Confucius is featured in many statues.

It’s a fascinating place – a quiet haven from the traffic. I was lucky enough to be there during a concert using traditional instruments. OK, I felt obliged to buy their CD but it was well worth it.

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For the first few weeks I either walked around town or caught buses, with the occasional taxi or xeom (bike taxi) when needed. Walking around town isn’t easy as most pavements are cluttered with parked bikes and people eating, drinking and conducting assorted businesses. You invariably end up walking in the road. The buses are quite good – fairly regular and air-conditioned. A few are modern but many are falling apart. However, you only pay the equivalent of 9p to go anywhere and can sit and watch everyone take their chances in the traffic. What really impressed me though, was the bus conductors, who tell people to give up their seats for the elderly!

I eventually decided that the quickest way around town is a bike so I am now the proud owner of an electric bike. OK, Evel Knievel it is not – this thing would struggle to jump 12 matchboxes – but it gets me about well enough, and in a city where there’s too much traffic to really go fast, I keep up with the flow. Now, if crossing the road here is exciting, you should try driving. They come at you from all directions and red lights are often just for show so you can reasonably expect to have a bike or car coming at you from the side and often, head on. Amazingly, there is no road rage – totally unexpected and erratic manoeuvres are all part of the game and everyone accepts that.

To be on the safe side I bought a helmet. I went for a bog-standard black one but you can buy a wide range of them in traditional Vietnamese designs ...

To be truly Vietnamese you have to balance a totally improbable load on the back so I had a go at transporting a new IKEA-type armchair home on mine. Thanks to the chap who tied it on, it worked!

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Bike photo of the month.

This biker looks like he’s moving house by bike ...

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It seems like there are a thousand things to say about Hanoi. And that’s before I start travelling around the country. I’ll write again soon but in the meantime I have far more important things on my mind like, where on earth do I buy trousers that fit me?

Settling in

This was a first for me – I had to change my plans a few weekends ago because of a typhoon. Well, I used to change my plans in Manchester because the weather of course. I’d bring in the washing because of a bit of drizzle for instance, but this was on a totally different scale. Apparently, Typhoon Nesat was rolling in from the Hong Kong direction and so a group of us cancelled our day trip to the Perfume Pagoda.

We went the following weekend instead and a jolly good trip it was too … a two hour drive, a boat up the river and then a cable car (which wouldn't look out of place in the Alps) to the top of the hill.

The pagoda turned out to be inside a cave so we walked down a series of steps. Inside there were some pretty impressive stalactites and stalagmites which worshippers believe will bring them good luck. There were also a range of shrines with a variety of offerings on them.

I made a friend (who just happened to be standing around in traditional dress) ...

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As it turned out, the typhoon headed south, missing Hanoi. To be on the safe side though, the staff were given the contingency plan to deal with the (fairly likely) scenario in which the street outside the school is flooded and nobody can get there. Basically, I'd get a call saying stay at home. I'd already know of course as it's fairly obvious when there's a typhoon - cats, bicycles and assorted other items are flying past your window.

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I feel I misled you about the food here. The photos I took in the local market are not what I’m living on. This is more typical…

… and very nice it is too.

Being a veteran of many trips to Chinese restaurants, I already had some idea of how to use chopsticks but I'm getting a fair bit more practice now. Noodles are easy enough but it doesn't pay to chase that last, elusive grain of rice around the bowl. either give up or do as the locals do - lift the bowl to your mouth and scoop.

Hanoi is a very cosmopolitan place though - it's full of expats and tourists, so it's easy enough to get any sort of food if you want it. There's even a chippy.

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The roads continue to amaze me. Anything that can fit on a bike is transported by them. This includes children, who often stand. It’s common to see three or four people on a bike and I’ve even seen five. There is a helmet law in place now but they don’t appear to make them for children.

Spot the direction of traffic ...






Bike photo of the month.

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I've settled into a flat near the centre of town. It's in some narrow backstreets in a Vietnamese area (some areas are largely expats) and I feel like I'm getting to know some of the locals - the grapefruit lady (who would sell me one every time I walked past if I let her) , the small grocers shop etc ...

I walk down these streets ...


Once home though I'm in a comfortable modern flat so it's the best of both worlds really. I share the place with a small gecko, but that's better than the cockroach which used to live here and thought it owned the place.

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This is where I work. A rather nice place, not least because it's air-conditioned. There are twelve classrooms but most of them are on the ground floor so we plan here and then catch the lift down to the lessons. It's unwise to forget something!















The view from the offices (on the 12th floor) is pretty good - over Hanoi & West Lake.

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It's time I started visiting some of the sights around town so I'll write about them in my next blog.

Take care.