So, Friday was the day I went on my last trek around the city that I wrote about and then in the evening it was Alison and Calder's farewell drinks thing at Derry's. Lots of people came and it was fun, and best of all it only took me a minute to walk home after the police closed the party down at midnight!
The next day I met Alison and Calder at Hanoi tower for lunch and a haircut, and then the following day was their last day in the country. I went to collect some bits and pieces from them and then later in the day they bought round things they hadn't had time to get rid of for me to post on to them after Tet madness has passed. In the evening we went to Derry's for dinner and Lyle joined us. After dinner we walked down to the Sofitel for an expensive drink
then went back to Derry's for something more affordable.
On Monday i went round to Alison and Calder's place at 5.30 in the morning to help them get the last of their stuff down the 5 flights of stairs and say goodbye to them :o( After a few more hours sleep in the morning I then ventured into the Old Quarter to return Alison's bike (another thing she had no time for due to the mental traffic) and walked home through the crazy. I decided to head out again on Tuesday when I was in a slightly better mood and see what was going on. Went back up towards the flower market as it's close to the places I go to shop for food and it was rather busy with people buying all the things they need for Tet and then cluttering up the road while waiting for a taxi (there weren't many passing) or bus to take them home. There were also cars randomly parked at the side of the street causing traffic to move even slower than usual. I'm glad I was walking and not trying to get my bike through all that mayhem!
From there I walked down to the Old Quarter to see what was happening there. I went to Hang Ma which is where all the Tet shops are and walked down to see all the things that were for sale. For some reason there had been no decision to close off the street to traffic so there were cars and bikes trying to squeeze along between all the stuff that was for sale at the edge of the road and all the people walking along the street. That kinda ruined the atmosphere a bit!
The street ended by Dong Xuan market where there was the usual mayhem X 10
From there it was a pretty short walk back to my place, and on the way I passed this night light stall by the side of the street. I though that was pretty neat!
Yesterday was New Year's Eve (if you operate on the lunar calendar) so i spent the day at home to avoid to streets, but in the evening I decided to head out and see what was happening by the lake at midnight. The streets were quite busy getting there and it was pretty rammed by the lake, but I found a spot to stand at and watch the midnight fireworks. They weren't exactly up to the standard of those in places like Sydney and London but as their last attempts at fireworks for the Thang Long celebrations ended in deadly disaster at My Dinh stadium I guess the ones last night were a success!
Headed home after that and on the way back saw people setting things up on the street and burning their offerings for assorted Gods and ancestors.
Today was supposed to be quieter than usual as most people are either staying home or visiting family and friends so I went to the Old Quarter to go get lunch at my favourite cafe. The streets were quieter, I think partly because not much was open so there was no stuff spilling out onto the street. People were out visiting so they were all rather smartly dressed but were getting from place to place in a rather orderly way so it wasn't too bad to get around. After lunch I went to Long Bien bridge and walked part way across to the island in the middle of the river. There are some stairs down so I headed down and walked along the path there for a bit. It's a pretty poor place, and it's mainly farming on the island. It was nice and quiet thought, and I even saw butterflies!!
I also witnessed this guy - he spent ages balanced on his head!
I updated the album with more pictures from the past few days
This evening was supposed to be spent packing ready for my trip to Laos but so far I've not actually achieved anything much! Not going to the airport til 3 tomorrow though so I guess I have time then to pack.
I also realised I didn't describe the moving process in my last post - it's very different to any other time I've moved!. I enlisted Tuan's help as I don't think I could have pulled it off by myself. He came to my place and we got all my stuff piled up in the lounge, then he set to trying to arrange a truck to move it. Unfortunately they were either fully booked or reluctant to come out so close to the truck curfew (they're not allowed in certain parts of the city in rush hour). We didn't want to wait til 8 for one to be free so chose instead to get a big taxi. Tuan called then we waited and waited and waited and waited, then finally after about an hour a taxi came to the end of the lane. Tuan went to try and convince the driver to come part way down the lane but he didn't want to as it was busy so he told the driver to wait while we moved my stuff down the lane to the road. He came back with a cyclo driver and we piled all my stuff on to the seat then the guy pulled it down to the main road. Got there to find the taxi had buggered off so we called another one and waited and waited some more. We also tried a few other taxi companies but nothing was available as it was rush hour and all the ones driving past were full so in the end Tuan negotiated for the cyclo driver to take my stuff all the way to my new place. All my stuff was rearranged on the cyclo and tied down to make it more secure then the guy set of cycling to Truc Bach. Tuan drove my bike behind him and I sat on the back with various bags hanging from my hands and we slowly made our way there. Once outside my new place I was instructed to wait outside and watch my stuff while Tuan and the cyclo boy carted all my stuff up 2 flights of stairs to my apartment. It was certainly different! That weekend I also used Tuan to help me get some furniture for my place. There are lots of expensive ex-pat furniture places around town, but close to the gym in furniture street which has heaps of stuff available and is much cheaper. Only catch is unlike the ex-pat furniture shops there is not much English and no fixed prices so Tuan came to negotiate and arrange delivery - a bookshelf and a dressing table arrived soon after at my place strapped to the back of a motorbike. It required a bit more effort than it would back home to move but it all worked out well in the end.
