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Well, I began to think it wouldn't happen, but after months of delays here we are in Tuyen Quang, northern Vietnam, which will be our home away from home for the next 18 months. After several weeks of frantic packing we got away, relieved if somewhat exhausted. Remarkable. I'd come down with a heavy cold the week before we left Perth which didn't help the packing effort. (When you have to empty your house you realise just how much stuff you have!) Owen then caught it from me the week we were in Hanoi, so he wasn't feeling quite 100% when we arrived here. He's held up pretty well though.
The latest intake of volunteers arrived as a group after connecting up in Singapore airport - a varied and interesting bunch, with several repeat offenders. We then had a week's orientation in Hanoi, getting to know the others, attending the obligatory briefings, revisiting old haunts and eating lots of delicious food. It was cool and less humid than we've mostly experienced in Hanoi. Jacket and cardigan weather but pleasant for getting around. We knew it would be the cold time of year but found it hard to believe beforehand and I began to wonder if I'd brought enough warm clothes. We enjoyed some sightseeing and I was surprised at how much the locals were getting into Christmas - it was barely noticed in Quang Ngai. I remember in the past at home being driven from shopping centres because I couldn't bear to listen to another Bing Crosby carol - but there he was playing in coffee shops in Hanoi.
The group dispersed with those heading south going to HCMC to continue their orientation and several heading to Hue in the centre. The orientation programme for the northerners finished with a superb lunch with volunteers and reps from their host organisations in a restaurant called Old Hanoi (main claim to fame that Gordon Ramsey cooked there - or something). We were collected by two staff from the university who'd come down to Hanoi in a minivan, loaded up our stuff, waved goodbye to the others and were off. The drive was through attractive countryside and we arrived mid afternoon to a cold and overcast day. The town/city is a bit smaller than Quang Ngai, definitely less crowded - the streets seem half empty by comparison, and everyone largely obeys the traffic lights! Again we're in a town well off the tourist trail, and this time no train or airport either.
On arrival we were installed in a central hotel for a week while we looked for a house to rent. This meant we could go exploring for a few days.
Some of the food was different from QN and what was the same often had a different name. There is less in the way of restaurants and none of the huge coffee shops - at least not that we’ve found so far. We did, surprisingly, find two places selling reasonable pizzas (though with a trickle of mayonnaise on top) and hamburgers (though with those sweet buns) which is more western food than we found in QN! There is only one supermarket, with less western type stock and no fresh food except a small dairy and frozen seafood section. Everyone buys their fresh food at the market.
The university had done some scouting before we came and they found us a nice house within easy walking distance of the campus. It means we're about 6kms from the centre of town, but there's a market and small shops very close nearby so we seem to have most things we need. There's one reasonable coffee shop and a few street eateries, but restaurants, general coffee shops and the supermarket are a bus or taxi ride away. I'll have to get used to buying all our fresh food from the market. In the market there are vegetables galore straight from the farms each morning (got to stay away from the Chinese imports though - "look to see if the stems are fresh Mrs Avenel"), lots of pork, fish in buckets still flapping, BBQ ducks on spits, but when I wanted to buy chicken the other day, all I could find were live chickens in baskets - and I wasn't going there.
We're rather an anomaly here - we get lots of stares but people are very helpful, generally pleased to see us and many come up wanting to chat and ask us about ourselves. I could spend most of my time chatting to neighbours and people on the street, but I'm hoping to find something to help out with at the university - or I might end up helping people nearby practice their English.
- comments
glenys davies Great to hear of all your adventures.Enjoy and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I look forward to more blogs.Best wishesGlenys
Moira Glad to hear you've arrived safely and have a place to call home. You must feel as though you're back in familiar territory in some ways. What a view from the kitchen window! Not enough to keep you in the kitchen and experiment with some home cooked chickens though??
Moira Glad to hear you've arrived safely and have a place to call home.You must feel as though you're back in familiar territory in some ways. What a view from the kitchen window! Not enough to keep you in the kitchen and experiment with some home cooked chickens though??
zigndino Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!What an exciting way to start 2016. At least you've experienced life in Vietnam before.Great photos. Nice house. Breakfast looks okay too.Is Owen going to get a bike this time?We're thinking of you and missed you at our last Runners Breakfast.Cheers, Zig & Dino