Last weekend was freakishly blue and sunny for Hanoi. Before Tet it is usually pretty cold, but last weekend it was 20 something and sunny so I made the most of it by getting out and about on Saturday afternoon. Somewhat worryingly, 20+ in the UK is an occasion to bust out flip flops and short sleeves, but I set off on Saturday in a fleece. I think Hanoi has broken me :o(

Soon after leaving my house I passed this sight:

which is something I've wanted to take a photo of for ages now but I never usually have my camera with me!

Every open (relative to Hanoi!) space has become a market for kumquat and peach blossom trees all over the city:

Soon I got into the middle of the Old Quarter and in between searching for birthday gifts I passed Seasonal Decoration Street and it is mental at this time of year. The shops along the street always sell stuff like wrapping paper and ribbons, and then add in extra stuff to suit the holiday of the month eg Christmas or Tet. Tet is by far the most popular holiday of them all and there are lots of things you are obligated to buy for assorted gods to get yourself some good luck for the upcoming year, all of which can be found on this street, and it also serves as a backdrop to festive photo shoots. For some reason they don't do the smart thing and close the road to vehicles, and people just pull up outside the shop they want to buy from on their motorbike so it was pretty chaotic.

After a trip to the deaf lady to buy some cards I headed to the post office to send said cards home. By the time I fought my way through to the counter and got the cards on their way back to the UK it was dark outside so I did what large numbers of locals do on a Saturday night and walked around the lake taking photos:

The atmosphere in the city right now is a bit like the UK just before Christmas. On Friday, my students were not interested in studying as it was the last day before the two week holiday, and at work today there was a staff lunch accompanied by Tet gift bags which got local staff all excited. There are no classes this week so it is just full time staff doing a selection of the more tedious jobs that don't get done during term time. At least this year we're working at the centre closest to my house making it more tolerable than last year, as we finish right when rush hour is starting up. At this time of year there is an extra level of chaos to rush hour as in addition to the general going-home-from-work traffic there are also heaps of motorbikes zooming around with trees or many many crates of beer on the back of them. Last year when we were working at the other centre it would take up to an hour to get home as the roads on that route were particularly hellish, but from the centre we're at this time it only takes about 20 mins which isn't much more than it would take at any other time of the year. Fingers crossed it stays like this for the rest of the week! I've just got to get through a few more days then it is time to relax in Malaysia. Yay!