Impressions of Hanoi

This was the first stop of our 3 week North Vietnam trip. The only thing planned was the flight in and out of Hanoi. The plan was to explore some of the northern highlands, hang with the H'Mongs and soak in some of the culture. We also planned to do a bit of the beach and island hopping in the Ha Long Bay - and so the girls were going to miss a week of school and it was about time the princesses got a bit of dirt under the fingernails. But oboy, did they get thrown in the deep end! Hanoi was a blast, a bit of a mix between Bombay, Bangkok and Jakarta, but not like anything else. Great coffee, baguettes and Thit Cho (dog meat) - and no, we didn't have any!
Here are Mara and Tia at the start - the intense city hadn't yet hit them!

And here they are on our first walkabout.

We stayed in the Old Quarter - the oldest and liveliest part of the city. Electrifying! We start with a fistful of cigarettes!


I often wondered what those stenciled numbers were on the wall. I saw that everywhere. I'm working on a story woven around that.


These were plaques made for the cemetery headstones. Little stories of the lives people had lived. Cameo visuals! If you look closely, you'll see one on the Indian Bollywood actress, Aishwarya Rai - an advertising to promote the skill of the enamel and stoneware craftsman.

Early morning fan dance at the Hoan Kiem Lake.

And this bridge - almost like a movie set prop - to the island on the Hoan Kiem Lake.

This woman was selling some clear pink liquid in the bottle. It's all she had - that one bottle. I wonder what it was?

One of the millions of masked riders. It's as though everyone is on their way to a hold-up!

The girls at Bay Mau Lake.


Swan boats on the Bay Mau Lake.

Tia & Mo ride a swan!

Those are cocktail umbrellas they're holding!


Classic Fascist Deco at the Ho Chi Minh Museum.


Uncle Ho. Ho Chi Minh 1890 - 1969




At our favorite little café in Hanoi - The Hue Café on Hang Giay, Old Quarter. Café extraordinaire!

Mo is buying some sweet doughy bread thingies.

Mara & Tia with the owner of Hue Café!


Baguettes on the corner of Hang Chiew & Ngyuen Thien Thuat, Old Quarter.

Bonsai gardens on a bike.

Happy Birthday to me..

It's that time of the year. I try and do the ambivalent thing to make it a regular everyday, but Mo and the girls make it very special... I'm so spoilt, but I'm not complaining! Here's Tia contemplating the cake she helped Mo bake. It was oozing chocolate and yummy. (Great sugar frosting Mo - ha ha! - inside joke), - and here's also one of all of us celebrating back home late night when we returned.

Halls Gap, The Grampians

It was a cold and wet 3 days, but we had a terrific time. A 5 hour drive North-West from Melbourne, the Grampians high country is where some of the classic vineyards are located. We had some real long hikes (hard slog) in the cold and wet - again, we went with some friends, stayed at a great cottage, big fireplace roaring full-on, wallabies hopping around in the woods behind, scones and cream in the quaint town of Halls Gap, shameless amounts of Pinot Noir... A grand time for all.

Botanical

So we went the girls and some friends to the Royal Botanical Gardens to see the changing autumn colors - it's always a special place. Some parts are a bit oh so Victorian and well groomed, (and especially since our tastes leans more towards the tropical jungle and less order), but it still is an incredible space with some trees and plants we're not so familiar with...







And then we ran into Costa Gregirou, hanging out, playing that little Greek mandolin-like instrument - just having fun and happy as a clam - and dispensing Philosophy 101....

Autumn's here...

And the temperature's dropping, the day's are getting shorter (actually, as Mara reminds me, the day length is the same, it's just the hours of daylight..) I know, I know, and anyway the leaves are just coming off the trees everywhere. It is pretty though.