Women's weekend away

I went away with a group of other women to a retreat about 2 hours from Hanoi. It was a great time to get to know people a little better, breathe some clean, quiet air and be encouraged.

things people carry on motorcycles #3

Its not really safe to drink the tap water here, so people get large tanks of water delivered. Fortunately for us, our village is connected to a water company so a 5 gallon tank costs about $2!
Of course everything gets delivered by motorcycle...

the colour of white

There is an interesting cultural swap going on here in relation to skin colour. Vietnamese women like to cover up their skin to keep it pale, hence the long shirt and umbrella despite the heat. In Australia, we are all desperate to have the "healthy glow of a tan" - interesting how what is sought after in one place is rejected in the other.

Vietnamese houses

Vietnamese houses are traditionally tall and narrow. This is because the land taxes are based on street frontage not area. We nearly lived in one house just like this with 4 storeys, but only about 1 room for each floor - it would have made a good leg workout each day!

Maybe next time, for the time being we like our current place in the water village.

The ubiquitous kebab shop takes on Hanoi

Just when you thought you could escape...

they really are everywhere, but we haven't tried it out yet.

Learning Vietnamese

We had our second Vietnamese lesson today. While Greg is going well, having studied from a book before we left, Stef is still a beginner.

Did you know that the Vietnamese alphabet (and thank goodness there is one) has 29 letters.
Here it is.
You may noticed that there is no "F, J, W or Z" but there are 3 "A and O"s, 2 "D, E and U"s.
Once we learnt the alphabet, then it was onto tones. For those who haven't learnt a tonal language (and whatever you think of Australian english and vowels, it is not tonal!) - tones indicate the way to pronounce a word. It's almost like singing. Vietnamese has 6 tones which take some getting used to, but are essential to communication as the words drastically change their meaning with different tones!
Here are some phrases I have learnt:

things people carry on motorcycles #2

I think these are doors?!
This guy was just very colourful!

the local foodcourt

Just outside our village on the street is a food strip that opens each night from about 5.30pm onwards. We haven't yet tried the delicacy (roasted chicken feet) but did like their take on the fan-forced oven.

numbers everywhere, but where's the pattern?

"Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is -- oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!"
Alice, from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

We were trying to find a supermarket on one of our favourite streets by looking for number 96. This started off well, though we knew we were in for a walk when the street numbers were going down from 1012, 1010 etc. Fortunately we jumped quickly from 1008 to 554, but then the really interesting jumps started. The next numbers in sequence were 554, 424, 306, 405, then 117A (though why you needed the A is really beyond me?!) The numbering system works conventionally in most streets but this section was certainly a challenge. We did eventually find the shop on the other side of the road (the odd and even numbers seemed to swap along the way)

Around our new home

Our new home is in the west of Hanoi. As well as neighbours from many overseas countries, our village is also home to a few furry friends! Here are some photos of our place...


Our living room... and mobile office.
Our village has plenty of play equipment for the many children living in other nearby houses (Stef particularly enjoys the green slippery slide!)

Two monkeys live at the front of our village. Would anyone in Australia or Switzerland like to give them names? (email us or put a post on this blog!)

There are also two deer who live down near the children's play equipment. This one is called Bambi. She likes watching people playing tennis, just over the fence.

In our village, we also have three cats, one fish (called Bert), several small bats at night time and a croaking frog in the fountain.
(But definitely no partridges or pear trees).

Good friday

We had a breakfast with the other families in the village. This was our offering, baked by Greg (with Stef searching the supermarket for labels that looked like the right ingredients).

It was encouraging to participate in this cross-cultural celebration!

ps. they tasted quite good too!

things people carry on motorcycles #1

This is definitely going to be a series - it is amazing what you can transport on a motorcycle.
Here are some examples.
Home delivery anyone? This guy has palm trees taller than us on the back of his bike

I have also seen a family of 5, a mobile deep fryer cooking on the side of the road (although that was on the back of a bicycle) and any number of goods in large crates. More pictures to come!

the wheels on the bus go round and round

Catching the bus in Hanoi has meant cheap, successful transport. The system is quite good, and the fares are excellent.
The only thing is the bus stops are really just bus slow-downs, so be ready to jump on or off!

celebration dinner

we made it to the end of the first week here, and went out for dinner on friday night to celebrate.

here is a "pineapple-o-lantern" (yes, there is a tealight candle inside) with spring rolls attached

and the band who played on the night

traffic rules

There is no way to easily describe the traffic here, but let me give you a taste (in fact let's use all the senses...)

First, close your eyes, then think of every type of car horn you can imagine and play them in your head all at once - this will give you a sense of the average street. so you can hear the traffic before you see it.

Second, inhale deeply (then cough) - you will smell the diesel fuel, nearby cooking, garbage and a few other things depending on how close you are to a river. Fortunately, once off the main streets, there is less rubbish and less motorbikes so the fumes are not as bad.

Third, open your eyes and look at the traffic - you might find it's now best to close your eyes again before stepping out to cross the road. Crossing a small back street is no mean feat, avoiding scooters, dogs, other pedestrians and some hand-pulled carts, but once you get to a large intersection you enter a whole new realm of "taking your life into your hands". One must boldly step into the traffic, knowing that no one will slow down, but just honk at you and go around you (quite close at times so that you can feel the wind from their narrow miss).

To cross the road is quite an ordeal, but we managed about 8 major roads on the first day with no accidents caused. Although there are usually 3 lanes in each direction, the traffic moves in about 6 different lanes, and driving on the right is really only a courtesy shown by cars. Motorbikes can go anywhere, including the footpath, such as it is.

Driving in a taxi is hardly less stressful, though the metal that buffers you from the rest of the traffic, which is now even closer than when on foot brings some comfort. You could easily reach into someone else's window and pinch their icecream if you wanted!

first impressions...

we have arrived in Ha Noi - capital of Vietnam, city of 6.2 million people (thanks to a merger with a neighbouring district), metropolis of motorbikes and now home to us.


fortunately, the weather has been kind, and apart from the occassional downpour, is not too hot - in fact we are wearing jumpers (which is a shock from sydney summer).

here are some pictures of our near neighbours...

no, we are not living at the zoo, but in a place called the international water supply village - which used to be where the finnish workers lived while designing a clean water system for the city. we are currently looking for a more permanent place but this is a great place to land. the human neighbours are also very friendly, providing lots of local advice and food!