Rain, rain go away

Yes, I know these pictures don’t do justice to the traffic, and they’re taken from the back seat of the car, but it will give you some small sense.

Woke up several times in the night to incredible torrential downpours, thunder, lightening. Continued on the hour commute to the People’s Police Academy. Lots of roads flooded, which of course complicated the usual traffic chaos. At some points, there was almost 2 feet of water on the roads. Bicyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians totally soaked. Buses going through lakes throwing a massive wake that floods sidewalks and shops. Some shops already under water. At times, with the wind, the rain was coming down sideways. Awesome.

This is Anh and I at the People’s Police Academy, with Ho Chi Minh pointing the way in back of us.

Worst rain in 24 years to hit HàNội. The drive back today was long, and full of sights of flooded roads. Water two feet deep in places. We pulled into my little lane (Nam Ngu Street) to find that it’s a lake, six to twelve inches of water the entire length, flooding into shops and homes. And it’s still raining.

Last time it rained like this, Noah built himself an ark.

If this is Saturday, this must be...

It’s Saturday morning, and I’m in Hanoi now for a week and a half.

This is the alley/street from my little balcony on Nam Ngu Street, Hoan Kiem District.

Just to show me what I’m missing at home, my father sent me this great shot of the fall colours, taken a day or two ago outside Deroche, BC. Makes me jealous to see what I’m missing!

I’m in a small family run inn made up of furnished bachelor suites. I’ve stayed here many times before and like the large open space, and that I can make tea when I want, not to mention a desk by the window. There’s high speed Internet, a great local restaurant down the end of the alley, and across from that a French pastry shop where I go for morning coffee and breakfast.

At the end of the alley, across the street, is a new café/bar with a huge sign "Made in Canada", complete with large Canadian flag! I'll have to try it, but with no expectations of anything remotely Canadian.

The ex-pat grocery store is two blocks away, in the ground floor of a new office tower that occupies much of the site that was formerly the notorious “Hanoi Hilton” prison (now a museum, on a site reduced two thirds in size from its original).

Those of you who are political junkies or history buffs might remember the Hanoi Hilton (started in 1886 by the French colonizers of Indochina as “Maison Central” and “Hỏa Lò” prison by the Vietnamese ) as the place where Senator John McCain spent his years as a POW after being shot down over Hanoi.

Historical trivia - - The name of the prison originated from the street name phố Hỏa Lò, due to the concentration of stores selling wood stoves and coal-fire stoves along the street from pre-colonial times.

HCMC

The highlight of my trip to Ho Chi Minh City – membership in the Saigon Single Malt Club, and an evening last night with a bunch of ex-pats and an incredible well stocked, self-serve bar full of superb single malt scotches. Good dinner, and a club ball cap to boot.

Oh, and I did work….

Amazing tropical downpour, thunder and lightening this morning. Traffic chaos as a result. Last year, 500,000 new motorbikes were put on the road here in HCMC. That’s over a thousand new vehicles added to the roads each and every day! No wonder it’s nuts here.

From the last trip

Anh has given me the pictures he took on our last trip together (August) to Lao Cai and Sapa. I'd forgotten about this picture with the Hmong baby. NOT a happy child! Still, it was a great, fascinating day for us.

VietNam....again

Arrived in HCMC after being up for 36 hours to be met by 33 C heat. The one thing I forgot to pack? A black belt. What do you think the odds of me finding one that fits here? Not great I’m betting. Perhaps they could staple two together? A tailored belt perhaps?

7th trip now to Viet Nam. Traffic is still the same – awe inspiring. Sidewalks are two lane roads for motorbikes. You can drive a motor bike and text on your cell, while weaving through oncoming traffic and pedestrians. Nobody in traffic yields. Chaos that sort of works in a way that’s unfamiliar in the West.

This picture is from my first trip to VietNam in late 2005, and shows what you find in every meeting room or classroom – national and party symbols, patriotic slogan in red, and a bust of Ho Chi Minh. I’m the tall one beside the police general. Oh, and a banner (blue) identifying the event.

Too tired to go out in the evening so far, so I sit in my room surfing the web trying to stay awake to 9:00 PM before crashing for the night. Came across a great local Blog by a Vietnamese/American living here in HCMC. Check http://www.saigonblues.com/

Mandalay & Yangon, Myanmar

This is my third trip here, and Myanmar is just as exotic, different and fascinating as the first trip. It’s also damn hot and humid! We’re at the tail end of the Monsoon season and the rains have yet to let up.

I’m here in Myanmar (actually, Mandalay in the north for two weeks before returning to Yangon for a few days of meetings – formerly known as Rangoon) as a guest of the police (through UNICEF), and that brings some interesting benefits. On Sunday morning, as we were finishing breakfast, our senior partners breezed in, in civilian clothes, followed by two uniformed flunkeys, one shooting pictures. Created a bit of a buzz in the restaurant. Next morning (Monday), same thing, but this time the bosses were in uniform. Now the hotel thinks I’m a connected big shot. Two front desk staff rush out from behind the counter, fawning, to personally greet me and hand over my room key when I return to the hotel each afternoon.

On the Sunday morning our police partners, who then took us to the former English hill station of Pyin Oo Lwin (which is at the beginning of the Shan Plateau) for an Indian curry lunch, then to the botanical gardens (see pictures) outside town. The Brits started the gardens in the 1930's and used POW's during WWII to help work on it. The Japanese took over for a few years during the war, then of course the English returned. Amazing gardens. Very extensive, and a small zoo area.

Back down the mountain and off to a silk store to do some shopping. Another uniformed escort was waiting for us in the suburbs to guide us to the store, then stand guard outside. From there, off to visit one of the more famous sites on the outskirts of Mandalay – U Bein Bridge, in the original seat of the royal family. (see pictures) At 1.2 km, it’s the longest teak footbridge in the world, and spans a local lake. As it’s the rainy/monsoon season, the lake and nearby Irrawady River have flooded, so all the more need for a bridge. Built in 1849, the bridge has over 1,000 individual teak posts, and is famous with photographers taking pictures of the large numbers of monks and locals who cross it each day (pagodas and monastery’s at each end). Quite lovely. All with an entourage of uniformed police so I won’t feel lonely.

The class picture is one of two grad ceremonies I had to give a speech at. Late on a Friday, no AC, and 90% of the entire event is not in English. I also got to hand out graduation certificates.

If you go to this blog, you’ll see some great pictures of the bridge and of Mandalay, where I am now. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay/blog-119946.html Some great, professional pictures, of Myanmar are online at http://www.terragalleria.com/asia/myanmar/myanmar.html Well worth looking at. I found the URL before I left home.