Some are fun, dedicated to travels, landscapes and exotic baths. Cat Ba Island was one of them.
more powerful than my words are my pictures. They're blurry, out of focus and uninteresting... taken with my nokia since I decided digital cameras were too much for me, too many options, too many dilemmas.
But let me tell you, this weekend was amazing. Almost alone on the beach, we slept there in front the Sea of China, dreaming of pirates and hidden loots.
Saturday. 3pm. One decision: we're going deep in the forest. Two went and two came back.
here is what we saw. It was green, full of leaves and green stuff. Mosquito ate us. In their history books, this day will remain as the Mosquito Dien Bien Phu. They had us baaaaaaaad for these greenish pictures of primal forest.
If some weekends are about travels, air and silence, some are about Hanoi, motorbikes and pickpockets.
So was this weekend.
And so you know, I had my first pickpocket experience. And luckily for me and rather too bad for her, I had almost nothing in my purse: about 300 000 dongs which is about 20$... And the worse is that I know who it is and I know where she stole me. Anyways, by the time I realize my money was gone, it was too late and well, I found my purse in my shopping basket and all my papers and cards were there. I guess a diplomatic passport in her hands would have been a huge embarrassment. I'm not even mad. My lesson N°1, be more careful. All my friends have been stolen, why not me ?
I also learned how to drive a motorbike in the new Hanoi, a Hanoi of blue, green and yellow 30 stories-buildings, a Hanoi in perpetual construction where the new well-offs have settled for now, waiting for a new area to come up trendy or get broke in an economic crisis whose shadow sits there around the corner... In a word, I learned to drive a motorbike in a Hanoi building now the ghettos of tomorrow. This part of the city is amazing and every single one of you who comes see me, will have to visit this undervalued part of the city.
That's all for today. I wear an amazing pink skirt from Hong Kong found in an amazing shop where everything is amazingly cheap.
...
Que vouliez-vous?
des motocyclettes en pagailles, des accidents de voitures, des vélos encastrés dans des bus, des preuves de l'anarchie routière et des bruits de klaxons incessants ?
A la place, je vous propose des lacs, des rivières et des rizières.
Hoan Kiem Lake au centre
Le lac au coeur du Parc Lénine
... et des photos de ma première sortie de Hanoi, à Hoa Lu, plus connu sous le nom de la Baie d'Ha Long terrestre, magnifique mais méchamment touristique.
A temple somewhere
Un buffle à touristes
Un chapeau à touriste
Et si vous vous demandez alors, Hanoi, c'est comment?
Voici une vidéo, pas terrible, prise du haut du temple de la littérature, haut lieu zen à condition que les klaxons fassent aussi partie de cette philosophie.
To be continued.
