Hue/Hoi An

Saa er jeg naaet til midten af Vietnam. Ankom fra Hue i gaar og rejser videre i morgen tidlig. Der er meget varmt og fugtigt her. En stor aendring fra Nordvietnam og mere vestlig og renere omend stadig fattigt. Hanoi var meget beskidt med megen affald alle vegne og virkede enormt fattig med mange tomme faldefaerdig bygninger.

Trafikken var og er det vaerste jeg nogensinde har vaeret ude for. Der er slet ikke nogen trafikregler. Alle fodgaengere, motorcykler, knallerter, biler og busser koerer fuldstaendig uhaemmet imellem hinanden. De overhaler baade indenom og udenom og dytter hele tiden for at goere opmaerksomme paa sig selv men ingen er aggressive. De har baere ingen respekt eller hensyn, og unskyld eksisterer ikke. Desuden tror jeg, at de kan flytte et helt indbo fra en hel lejlighed paa deres motorcykler/knallerter, som de laesser med hvad som helst lige fra traer og dyr til masser af kaempe kasser. Man noejes heller ikke med at vaere en person men sidder lige saa tit op til 3 personer eller flere paa en af disse motorcykler, som mere ligner en stor knallert. Selv babier transporteres uden hjaelm.

Vejret i Hanoi var desvaerre koldere end forventet - kun 10-15 grader, saa Halong Bay var en lidt kold men sjov tur. Vi sang Karoeke om aftenen om bord paa baaden efter maden og havde det maegtig sjovt, og vi overlevede alle natten, selv om vi var lidt betaenkelige efter ulykken et paar dage i forvejen, hvor 10-12 mennesker druknede.

Hue var en god oplevelse og vejret fint. Vi koerte hele dagen paa motorcyklen rundt i oplandet og spiste vegetarmad hos munkene i et tempel, hvor der ogsaa var foraeldrelose boern. Vi faar i det hele taget ikke meget koed, men bliver alligevel maette.

Imorgen tidlig kl. 6 flyver vi saa for anden gang videre til Nha Trang, saa op kl. 4, hvilket er temmelig haardt.

I got to the middle of Vietnam arriving from Hue yesterday and leaving again tomorrow morning. It is very hot here and the humidity is high. A big change from North Vietnam. This place seems influenced by vestern culture, more clean although still poor. Hanoi was very durty and had a lot of empty shabby buildings.

The trafic is the worst I ever experienced. There are no rules. Everyone pedestrians, motorbikes, mopeds, cars and busses are driving without holding back from nothing and no one. They overtake both from the left as well as from the rigth side. They are using the horn all the time to make aware of themselves but no one is aggresive. They show no respect and consideration and excuse me does not exist. Also I think that they are able to move an entire apartment/flat on one of those motorbikes, which they load with anything from a tree and animals as well as lots of huge boxes and there is not only one person on a moped but up till 3 people or more even without a helmet except for the driver. Even little babies are transported without a helmet.

The weather in Hanoi was colder than expected - only 10 till 15 degrees so Halong Bay was a cold but funny experience. We were singing Karaoke on boad the boat after a nice dinner and had a lots of laughs. We all lived through the night although everyone was a bit concerned after the accident a couple of days before when 10-12 drowned.

Hue was a great experience and the weather was nice. We were on motorbikes all day driving out in the country and eating vegetarian food at a tempel with munks and also having awfants living there. We do not eat much meat but get enough food.

Tomorrow morning 6 o'clock we are flying yet again this time to Nha Trang. So we have to get up at 4 o'clock in the morning, which is rather tough.

Hanoi

Ankommet til Hanoi efter mellemlanding i Moskva. Har aldrig set noget lignende. Det er som at vaere 40 aar tilbage i tiden. Hver anden bygning er naermest en ruin og der er en sindsyg trafik - meget vaerre end i Kina. Her koerer knallerterne (og dem er der mindst en million af) ind imellem bilerne. De dytter hele tiden - baade biler og knallerter - og paa knallerterne sidder de op til 3 mennesker somme tider med et lille barn. Det bliver svaert at kommunikere men jeg har lavet mig en lille parloer. Hotellet er meget overraskende sammenlignet med det omkring vaerende. Jeg har internet paa vaerelset og spa bad paa egen etage :-) Det er sgu da luksus i et fattigt land. Jeg tror dog ikke, at jeg kan overfoere billeder herfra. Der er kun en usb-port og den gaar til musen. Jeg har ogsaa opdaget, at der er spaering af visse sider bl.a. facebook, men det overrasker jo ikke.

Moedte de andre i gruppen, som jeg skal vaere sammen med. Vi bliver ialt 12 med guiden Lap (som Laptop som han selv sagde). Lap har boet i England i 3 aar og har gaaet paa Oxford, hvilket goer, at han forstaar den vestlige kultur. Gruppen bestaar desuden af 4 fra Australien, 3 fra USA, 2 fra England og saa 2 danskere Jesper og jeg. Vi havde alle tiders aften og synes at gaa godt i spaend.

Arrived to Hanoi after transit through Moskow. I have never seen anything like this. It is like being 40 years back in time. Every other building is a ruin and the trafic is crazy - worse than in China. There are a million mopeds and they are driving everywhere among the cars on the road, they also carry up till 3 passengers and sometimes even babies. It will be difficult to communicate but I have made myself a little dictionary. The hotel is a big surprise when you compare the surroundings. I have internet in my room and a spa bath on my own floor. That is bloody luxury in a poor country. I do not believe that I can transfer pictures from here. There is only on usb entry and it is occupied by the mouse. I have also discovered that some web pages are blocked among others facebook, but that is no big surprise.

Meet the other people in the group, which I shall travel together with. We are 12 altogether including the guide Lap (Laptop as he introduced himself). Lap has been living in England for 3 years studing at Oxford and therefore understands the vestern culture. The group consists of 4 people from Australia, 3 from America, 2 from England and 2 from Denmark Jesper and I. We had a great evening and seem to get along very well.

Vietnam

Så er der nedtælling til næste oplevelse i Østen. Hvis det er muligt, vil jeg forsøge at skrive på min blog undervejs, men det bliver nok ikke nemmere end i Kina, da også Vietnam er censureret. Jeg håber ikke at mine knæ vil blive et problem. Dette bliver lidt af en afprøvning af mine fysiske udfoldelsermuligheder efter mine operationer, som desværre har vist, at jeg har en kronisk gigtlidelse, der begrænser mig en del.

Countdown to the next experience in the far East. If it is possible, I'll write on my blog on the way, but it'll probably not be easy, as is the case with China Vietnam is restricted. This will be a test of my physical ability after my knee operations, which has revealed that I suffer from a cronic arthritic disorder, which will put a limit to my physical actions.

Hegn/Fence

Endelig forsvandt sneen, og man kan nu se det hegn, som blev lavet lige inden det næsten blev dækket af sne. Min nabo, som jeg troede at jeg ikke skulle have flere brøderier med, stod som et spyd i jorden, da det blev lavet og ville have arbejdet standset. Han kunne ikke lide det og mente, at min låge signalerede en indkørsel, og han kan ikke engang se det fra sit hus. Jeg gav ham senere en flaske vin og sagde, at vi måtte tale om det til foråret. Jeg synes, at det ser meget pænt ud - det vil nok blive endnu pænere, når sommeren kommer og alt blomstrer. Nu er det der ihvertfald, og jeg har fået lukket lidt af for evt. nem indtrægning. De sidste 3 billeder under hegn/fence er fra tidligere til sammenligning. Se i højre side under billeder eller My JAlbums.


Finally the snow has disappeared. Now you can see the fence that was made just before it almost was covered in snow. My neighbour, whom I thought I would not have any more troubles with, appeared like a flash and told the workers to stop working. He did not like my fence and found that the gate signaled a drive way and he cannot even see it from his house. I gave him a bottle of wine and told him that we could talk about it when spring came. I think it looks fine - it will probably look even better when summer comes and everything blooms. Now it is up and puts a stop to easy tresspassing. The last 3 pictures under billeder /hegn/fence are from before the new fence in order for you to compare. Look to your right beneath pictures or My JAlbum.

Juletid/Christmas time

Lige inden jul holdt nogle af de tidligere værnepligtige en julefrost. Denne involverede også en udklædning. Max havde aldrig glemt, at hans storebror engang jagtede ham forklædt som en gammel mand, så han blev den selvsamme gamle mand.

Just before Christmas some of the guys from the time in military service had a gettogether. This involved a disguise for each of them. Max had never forgotten his brother hunting him down dressed as an old man with a stick. So now he himself became that old man.

Sverige/Sweden

Jeg nåede også en tur til Malmø sammen med Birgit. Vi havde en lang dejlig dag i Sverige med bl.a. rundtur på vandet, hvor vi så Turning Torso m.m. og fik set en masse forretninger indvendigt. Vejret viste sig den dag lige netop var sin bedste side.

I also made a small trip to Malmø together with Birgit. We had a long nice day in Sweden with among other things a boattrip on the water seeing Turning Torso etc. and saw a lot of shops from the inside. The weather that day showed itself in the most favourable light.

AArs

Besøg i Himmerland var en kærkommen afveksling til ferien på Casa de la Plæne. Inge og Jørgen har jo fået en dejlig NY lejlighed i det mørke Jylland -utroligt at jeg ikke var klogere, da jeg købte et gammelt hus. Turen hjem gik forbi Peders Mindesvej i Silkeborg med en smut ind til morbror og tante. Det er jo ikke så tit, at man kommer på de kanter.

Visit in Himmerland was a pleasant change to the holidays on Casa de la Lawn. Inge and Jørgen has got a nice NEW flat on the dark side of Jutland -unbelievable that I was not smarter when I bought my old house. The way back I passed by Peders Mindesvej in Silkeborg paying a short visit with uncle Niels and aunt Annalise. It is not often that I visit these parts of Denmark.