TET Preparations

It seems in the lead up to TET this year the Hanoi government has decided that all the foot paths need some refurbishment. Now anyone who has ever tried to walk on a foot path here knows that foot paths could be renamed motorcycle parking, so as a foreigner here I was surprised they would bother, and then even more surprised that they aren't doing it in sections but doing it everywhere. Simon and I had to take a bus ride some 40 mins out of town this week for work and it is happening EVERYWHERE. We asked the Vietnamese people with us what it was all about and there are restrictions in place on doing any road work at the moment because the traffic into cities at TET times builds up and it would be toooooooo chaotic. Again this is an oxymoron as the traffic is chaotic all the time. Admittedly it does get worse though at TET time.

Lane 209 Doi Can is getting a refurb at the moment too. For the past 6 weeks we have had to battle the daily sewerage run as they reinstall or upgrade our drains. Today was the first day in the last 10 that I could get my motorbike out and the kids were going stir crazy, so they enjoyed the wind in their hair. We had a good ride and saw lots of really interesting things leading into TET. I didn't notice it until Claire pointed out the orange trees. At TET most houses have the equivalent of a Christmas tree, but it is either a blossom or a cumquat tree and all along Lac Long Quan were hundreds of potted trees for sale. And all along Lac Long Quan were hundreds of motorbikes delivering these trees to peoples homes. So with Tom shouting bus, bike or car from the backpack, and Claire sitting upfront shouting flower and orange tree we had a lovely morning ride.

Happy New Year

Wecome 2009! We are really eager and looking forward to our busy year ahead. We celebrated the New Year with Graham and Dorklag In Koh Samui. We were in Samui for Neil and Kelly's wedding on the 3rd and there was a good crew from around the globe to see in the New Year.