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Leaving Hanoi. 15/2/2020

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Leaving Hanoi this time nearly broke my heart. I really love the place that much! It is noisy, filthy in some places, overcrowded and hugely over polluted. It is total chaos in an environment of calm and patience. If you weren't patient here then there would be no hope. The chaos would consume ameobiotically all your sanity. I love it, all the noise all the chaos the richness of people watching opportunities, it is a complete menu. My last days were made up of final trips to Bat Chang and afternoons whiled away at the Home 38 Cafe. Evening would see me ensconced at the Balcony Bar happily smoking joints and enjoying the nightime parades from hotel/hostel to food place and bar. I will be waiting for Lan and Ewan to finish thier work so we can eat together. Lan has been taking me to eaterys between West Lake/Tay Ho and the Old Quarter. In the vicinity of the Chu Pak lake. One night it was Duck, the next would be Banh Cuon and some stuff. The second to last night was seafoood and th...
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The Temple of the Hung Kings and the ancient pottery village of Bat Trang.

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There was a very lucky consequence of this years Tet, Thanh's village was close to the temples of the Hung Kings. The Hung Kings are a mystery, wrapped in an enigma with a heavy sauce of mysticism and mythology. First it is not exactly clear how many there were, some say there were 18 of them but then they cover some 2,000 years at least so there is room for growth. There are no written scources or references until the 1200CE. The stories coming down through time by word of mouth have all kinds of legends and mythologies. What I know is that the Viet peoples came out of the mountains onto the Red River valley and flatlands sometime around 3,000 BCE. They brought dry rice farming and bronze and copper forging. By 2,500 BCE they were wet rice farming and had become very good at bronze forging and working the metal. They made these incredible bronze drums that were covered in amazing figures and patterns. This period is known as the Dong Son period and lasted from 2,500BCE to 1,000 ...
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Tet 2020

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Tet is probably the most important celebration in Vietnam. It has been going on for longer than the revolution. For a period of at least a week everything is  closed as everyone goes home to thier family and the family village. One of the features of Vietnamese culture is the significance of the village from where a person comes. It is the foundation of thier culture and thier identity. Like in Australia with the first Australians the importance of land and thier belonging to it, it is the same with respect to the Village. This can present problems for the unwary tourist or traveller. It is very hard to find a  Bus, train or plane that is not full. Prices are always much higher sometimes as much as twice the price! All the shops are closed as are the restraunts and some hotels because everyone has gone home. The main streets of Hanoi are empty, you could swing the preverbial cat with impunity. Then on actual Tet day the world lights up and there are  massive parties every...
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