Walking in the rain is quite a niche activity that only seems to please a few people (in fact, I may be the only one) but being near my favourite climbing location, whatever the weather, made for a great holiday.
We stayed in a really cosy cottage with rather low ceiling beams.
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Now, I'm not just your average expat - oh no, I'm a resident of Vietnam and now have a (temporary) Residency Permit to prove it. I had a nervous few moments at Heathrow airport however as the check-in guy hadn't seen one before. He looked at it for some time then passed it to his colleague, who looked at it for some time. They then both took it to a 3rd colleague, who looked at it for some time. My check-in guy eventually came back and said, 'OK' and I could breathe again.
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An ever-present feature of life on the streets are the xeoms. Literally 'hug bikes', these are motorbike taxis that are everywhere in Hanoi and, I suspect, other parts of Vietnam. They're a very handy way to get around town if you want them, and rather annoying if you don't. They find you before you find them. In town, you will constantly hear 'motobye?' (this is literally how it sounds) - their way of touting for business. If you want a lift you 1. Check they have a spare helmet (which might not fit); 2. Agree a price (vital) or pay way too much at your destination; 3. Get on and hold on tight - either the driver or, as I prefer, the back of the bike.
The only time you can't find one is outside work at 10pm, which is when I sometimes finish. This was one deciding factor that led to me buying a bike.
I don't know for sure, but I reckon that if you put all the xeom drivers end-to-end they would reach the moon. Well, some of them certainly try to reach speeds capable of getting you there. It's wise to hang on tight.
I can now proudly say 'I'm walking' to xeom drivers who want to give a lift. I usually point at my feet though - just to make sure they understand.
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The bread roll fiasco.
I bought a bread roll a few weeks ago. This may sound like an ordinary occurence but what followed was not. I bought it from a street vendor who was passing my front door; she charged me 5000 dong (about 15p) and I was happy with that. Well, a passing old lady was not. She saw what had happened and went ballistic - at the street vendor, not me thankfully. I stood there, bread roll in hand and jaw open while these two old ladies tore into each other (believe me, it was scary). Eventually, my champion grabbed 2000 dong from the vendor and thrust them into my hands. I'd been overcharged and she was in incensed. It turned out that she is related to my landlady and was looking after me.
She saved me 6p.
The bread roll was nice.
It happened here ...
You'll note the metal shutters in the picture - along with bored security guards, they are everywhere in Hanoi. Surely no-one would dare shoplift as they'd have a load of security guards, desperate for action, all over them before they could escape on their getaway xeom.
I try to chat to our security guards at work at times. However, being able to say, 'My name is Graham. I'm from England. What's your name?' does not make me a particularly good conversationalist. If they go off the script and say something that I'm not expecting, I'm stumped. I look forward to the day when I can hold a simple conversation worth having (don't hold your breath).
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It's almost Tet - the Vietnamese new year - and so we had a British Council New Year Party. They have a strange custom at these parties - if you don't move fast enough, they dress you up as a tree...
I didn't win the 'tree lookalike' competition - Steve on my right got that, but was thought to be the most amusing. Can't think why...
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Bike photo of the month.
These Tet trees are everywhere at the moment; the equivalent of Christmas trees I think.
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As it's Tet I have another holiday and I'm off to Laos. I'll have a few things to write about in my next blog I'm sure.
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