Barber Session (Hanoi)

Does this look like a reputable place to get a shave with a cut-throat razor?
Yeah, I thought so too.
What you see is the entirety of this barber shop, or "Hot Toc" in Vietnamese. This is fairly common - virtually all of them are like this - a cute roadside establishment with a single chirpy guy who does the deed.
So, now for the before photo:

I particularly like the little girl in the bottom right of this photo. Clearly she's quite intrigued by these two happy folks...

Et voila. Smooth as a baby's bottom, with both customer and the eradicator of facial follicles beaming like a couple of school kids on excursion...

note: I'm a little late in posting this one - this was almost 4 weeks ago whan I this occured, so I'm about due for another - I think Cambodia this time... I'll keep you posted.

Texture (3)

Yes, back for another fabulous installment from the world of Asian texture...

Moss outside the former prince of Laos' Tomb. Vieng Xai, Northern Laos.

Foliage outside the former prince of Laos' Tomb. Vieng Xai, Northern Laos.

Collection of chopsticks in a Beer Hoi alley. Hanoi, Vietnam.

Detail in a temple ornament at the Temple of Literature. Hanoi, Vietnam.

Roof detail, Hang Sung Sot cave. Halong Bay, Vietnam.

Roof detail, Hang Sung Sot cave. Halong Bay, Vietnam.

Rice paddies near Sapa, Vietnam.

Rice paddies near Sapa, Vietnam.

Temple wall detail in the Citadel. Hue, Vietnam

Sign Language

When riding along a highway in a foreign country, one has to take particular attention to the signs that are posted along the way to ensure appropriate riding behaviour, and to maximise the safety of both those on the motorbike, and the general population at large. (Note, this blog entry will make more sense if read after the one immediately below, that introduces the reader to the motorbiking experience on Highway 1A).

In some cases this has proven a little challenging, and I'll show you why.

Example 1
Pedestrian Crossing. Simple enough really, just an image two children on their way to school.

Example 2
Pedestrian Crossing. Apparently I need to look out for kids who have their heads attached. Good that they cleared that one up.

Example 3
Pedestrian Crossing. In this case I need to look out for particularly skinny kids.
Do they have to survey each town to decide which sign is the most appropriate? If so, I feel pretty bad for the village where the kids have detached heads.

Example 4
Pedestrian Crossing. Okay, something different. In this case I need to look out for running skinny Dad and daughter. Dad will have his breif case with him.

Example 5

Pedestrian Crossing. Okay, in this case I need to look out for the same father/daughter combination, but in this case Dad is going to work first. They really are getting quite specific aren't they? (oh and the people in this village don't have feet, so watch out, they might be moving slowly)

Example 6
Warning (?) Sign. It's a little difficult to determine the meaning of this one. At first I thought it meant "Oh Shit" or "Watch out, danger ahead" and therefore paid special attention to the road around me - seems like a pretty logical way to act, doesn't it?

Example 6 (from further back)
Warning (?) Sign. So if this sign is supposed to indicate a warning, can anyone explain why it was used in this instance? A perfectly straight road, no side streets, very little traffic and excellent visibility. You might suggest the small pile of rubble, but I can assure you that this is nothing. Every village (and at many places in between) you see things drying out on the road: Chilli, salt, rice cakes. And I don't mean beside the road, I mean on the road - so no, I don't think this little pile of rubble constitutes a hazard in the Vietnamese sense. So I have no conclusion as to what this sign is supposed to mean. All I pray for is that I don't see another sign down the road that simply states "?".

Example 7

No floating cars alowed?

Driving Highway 1A

There were many people who declared that Ros and I were crazy to take on 1,000 kms of Highway 1A on a motorbike. Highway 1A is the main road linking the north and south of Vietnam via virtually every other city of note in this country. People would shake their heads; they'd say "you be careful" and "very dangerous" - and these were just the Vietnamese! I can only think of what some other people back home might have thought (no comment required Mum).
But we were excited, and decided to take on the trek, starting in Hue, about half way between Hanoi and Ho Chi Mihn City (HCMC).
Let me desccribe the road to you. Firstly there is the sound: the wind wipping across your ears, the constant honking of horns as vehicles of all shapes and sizes remind you that they are actually the most important vehicle on the road, and that it is in fact you who should watch out...
And watch our for what? The road provides a smorgasboard of traffic to consider: a few cars, many motorbikes, occasional rickshaws and pedestrians, and a frequent smattering of both buses and trucks. Are you starting to get the image?
If you're having some difficulty getting this picture, then let me assist with one more visual signpost: Frogger.
Yes, that's what I decided driving on Highway 1A was like. It's not all together bad, really. There is the excitement of the arcade game challenge, coupled with the chance of getting a new high score and getting your name into the record books...
So if you want to share in this experience (or just like to play Frogger - George Costanza style) then I suggest you check out this freeware site: http://www.neave.com/games/frogger/
Oh, and the scenery is magical too!

Beer Hoi

Every visitor to Vietnam should find themselves ending the day (or starting) with a few glasses of "Beer Hoi" ("beer of the day"). Beer Hoi is a Pilsner that is brewed and drunk on the same day. The fact that you have to drink it on the same day only increases the fun in my book. So what's so good about Beer Hoi?

• It's cheap (around 15c to 30c AUD). Let put this into context shall we? It's CHEAPER THAN WATER PEOPLE!!!!
  
• It's delicious


• It's refreshing


• You generally get to drink it in small shop fronts or lane ways with a collection of interesting locals


• You're helping the local economy


• When they run out, they just tap another keg, and if you're lucky you'll see someone head off on the motorbike with anywhere from 1 - 7 kegs to grab some more. (Yes, we've actually seen a motorbike with 7 kegs on it)

Need I say more?

Midnight Bus Trip Down the Hume Highway

You'd never see a blog entry with a title like the one above, would you? "Hey everyone, just done this amazing 10 hour trip down this straight 3 lane highway from Sydney to Melbourne. Man it was unforgettable: Trucks, road, more trucks. The scenery was never ending..."

But you should see a blog entry with the title:
Midnight Bus trip to Vieng Xai
We found ourselves stranded in a two bit town where the highlight was the school kids playing some exuberant football; needing to get on a bus at midnight for the 6 hour trip to Vieng Xai -traversing across the mountainous north of Laos. After a quick two hours of sleep our host awoke us so we could rush onto the waiting bus; and so we headed into thick forest... By chance we had a full moon, that bathed us and the landscape in light softened by the heavy silver fog that consumed us. We wound around and up and down, spotting munching bovines and small thatched villages as we headed deeper into Tiger territory. Periodically we would find ourselves cresting mountainous peaks to see the valley below, partially obstructed by a lake of fog that would be our blanket half an hour hence.



So yes it was a beautiful journey, and well worthy of the blog entry. In fact I worked out much of what I would right above early into the trip, where the only distraction was an insipid stench of rotten fish - but it didn't really seem in keeping with the tone of the above description to include that detail there. But the truth is that as the trip continued, my enthusiasm wained. See, I'm not good with night travel as I can't sleep in anything other than a bed. And once we got to about 5 hours into the trip, I was extremely uncomfortable and wanted to get it over with. Quick. So you can imagine how miserable I was by the 10th hour (yes, the Lonely Planet and several information sources in Luang Prabang all underestimated the trip by a mere 4 hours). Perhaps if our water bottle hadn't emptied itself from a leak about 3 hours into the trip I may have been in a better mood? Who knows... suffice to say that I'm not signing up to any more night bus trips - even if it's possible to guarantee that it will be rotton fish free! Luckily we don't need to rush the remaining several thousand kms we have to go...

So how do I conclude this? It's a few days on now, so I can say that the trip was indeed beautiful, but also drained me of all life energy for 30+ hours, and therefore still qualifies as painful, and best avoided again. Perhaps if you find yourself in northern Laos - what would I recommend? The answer is up to you, but if you can sleep - do it! You'll love the moments when you are awake...