Viet Nam!

We"re here in Ha Noi, settled into our little hotel-apartment (2 bedrooms, 2 baths - ! - a kitchenette, dining and small living room). It's 0500 in the morning (your time 1800) and she's dancing wildly in front of the TV, listening to music videos. She slept well, from about 1600 yesterday to 0200. Not bad at all, considering her days and nights are to be completely reversed. We're well on our way. And since I fell asleep at 2100, we're just fine. Anyway, more than enough of that!

How do I describe the bit I've seen of Viet Nam so far? Oh! It'll be hard to convey the feel of it in mere words. It's not the kind of place which leaves one indifferent. I'm sure I was slack jawed all the way from the airport, an hour away, to here. Ok, well not too slack, as Rick and my fellow passengers heard my constant running commentary oohing and ahhing. The first thing was the damp heat (sorry fellow Northerners - I hear you're getting snow, and for a bit I was so warm I actually envied you!). Palm trees, cememt buildings, some vibrantly and very stylishly painted, others right beside them decaying from humidity or neglect, or in various stages of construction, the latter, and some of the corrugated metal shanties a bit reminiscent of Jamaica or Cuba, but the architecture much different with tall very very skinny 3-4 story buildings. All 3 styles in same neighbourhoods, walls touching, build on gentle slopes and shallow valleys. All this interspersed with lush fields in which numerous water buffalo and people are working the land (well, at least the people were, while the buffaloes looked to be on break). Picture this, right in the capital city. AND, I finally finally saw tons of people with the traditional asian pointed hats I think are so totally cool' and that I wouldn't mind wearing myself! Never saw a one in China. Turns out I was looking at the wrong place! Here, they shaded many hardworking souls as they toiled arduously in their fields.

Palms and other tropical plants are the rule, and even the densely populated downtown has a lot of trees, and some absolutely gorgeous green spaces, in which throngs of people play hackeysack, some kind of soccer, badminton, something that looks like tai chi and so on.

People people people everywhere. I don't remember Beijing or Chongqing being quite as full of life. And motorcyles. Ubiquitous. More than even all the reading and photos I'd perused could ever convey. It's literally like a rapidly rushing stream, or blood coursing through various tributaries, especially when seen from our 22nd floor abode. The roads snake in 's' fashion throughout the city, with countless intersections at which traffic lights seem like a mere suggestion rather than a command. All braided through with rapidly swerving amalgamations of these minute motorcycles which seem at first glace to move as, one, but on closer inspection, are more like electrons around the atoms which are cars, zooming perilously between and in front of them and each other. One can't help but acknowledge the skill and sang froid it takes to do what these often masked intrepids likely can do mindlessly from experience.

Today, our mission is to take photos so I can share a bit of this incredible piece of the world with you. And, most importantly, we prepare to go meet our little treasure tomorrow! Cheers!