mola ram- suda ram

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Yesterday as i was 'heading down the highway, looking for adventure and whatever comes my way', i pulled up in traffic next to a couple of soldiers on the back of a motorbike...nothing unusual there, except that it was raining quite heavily and whilst they fidgeted, texted and revved whilst waiting for the lights to change i noticed that sticking out from under the passengers poncho was a the barrel of his AK-47...whilst the AK is a familiar sight in Vietnam, none more so than in Hanoi where you see soldiers (usually not that vigilant looking) outside a lot of places, i was glad to get ahead inthe traffic and away from them...the potholes in the roads are easily deep enough to jolt a squaddie sitting on the back of a honda..gingerly cradling his assault rifle..i dont want to be around when that inevitable accident happens....

My new life in Hanoi is okay so far...to be honest i'm finding it harder going than when i moved to Saigon...the place is more spread out, the choice of places to go far less, the locals aren't that friendly so far, and at times i've been a bit bored. I live in a nice old villa, and the people i live with are cool, but there isn't the same friendly vibe in the house that there was with Nick and Paddy in Saigon. I've met a few people and i like the folks i work with, but they pretty much keep themselves to themselves so there is no ready made social circle to join...looks like i'll have to make one myself...

There is a kid who lives next door to us who has downs syndrome (although he is very weedy, compared to the stocky john skinner types back home), anyway, the day after i moved in he decided to start kicking my bike as i rode my through the gate, this escalated into him kicking me the next day, and a few days later he tried to attack me with a 2x4, complete with nail that he had found on the building site just up the alley...i know he has downs syndrome but if he comes at me with a lump of wood again i'm going to twat him back...


Other than that, not a great deal going on here, just trying to meet a few folks, and adjust to a new city...I'm now teaching some adult classes which is good, and i've volunteered to teach some local nurses who work for a local charity called 'operation smile'. where they restore kids faces or something...i'll know more in a week or two..

i've also had my flights changed by the airline and will now be back in blighty a day earlier in december...in the meantime, keep it real folks...

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Photos

Bruna
my shorts, Iris's cat...

around Hoa Lu
worth the climb...