09/05/2012 by Russell.

Anthropology and all that

I am not sure if this counts, but one of Tam’s friends, spent 50million Vietnam Dong (roughly $2,500) to buy food, and secondhand clothing, and presumably paid for a vehicle to transport these items out to the poor villages some, 120km (75 miles) west of us here.

I, Tam and 4 other friends were crammed into a 4 x 4 Toyota to make the 4 hour trip into the hills. We left around 7.30am to return back to Chu Lai at 10.30pm.

Why can she afford this? $2,500 dollars is a large sum of money to many people in Vietnam, it nearly buys a new motorbike, it certainly will buy 10 decent washing machines,, 5 electric bicycles, or 2 iPads. Of which Tam’s friend has the iphone 4, she has 2 cars, she has a 10,000 diamond ring, so I guess around these parts she is well off. One of the bourgeoisie here.

Poor people, who are they? These people as I discovered live up in the hills and for some I think Vietnamese is not their first language. They grow rice, work the land, but they do not have tourism to survive on, unlike the tribespeople in Thailand, who get tourists thrown at them to see their wooden houses, and buy their trinkets.

Here they live in wooden houses, on stilts, no toilet, a stand pipe for water, no soap powder to wash their clothes in. Children with no clothes were apparent, and yet their smiles and warmth was just like the black Africans of Xhosa people I met 2 years ago.

Like their African counterparts living on the land around Mtatha and on the Wild coast, they probably share a similar life. Eat what they grow and kill what they can eat.

But here, they still have their mobile phones, satellite tv, and moto’s…so maybe some are better off than others. The food was handed out very patiently and to nominated people, old ladies with rags for clothes, parents with kids who had no clothes, and yet here were people as beautiful you could wish for. One woman, 23 years old was stunning, with a 2 year old child, and all she ate was rice and salt. I gave her my hat, my only money, clean water, anything I could put my hands on.

Why is it, after what I have seen in Africa, India, Thailand, and here in Vietnam, I feel so guilty, I feel humbled by their warmth, I feel a sense of living a very lucky life, all these people have is the next meal to look forward to. Me? I can look forward to many things, reading, tv, music, Olympics, teaching, life itself ( but we still don’t know the meaning of that)

So when you see Bob Geldoff, when you see Sir Terry Wogan, or Sport Aid, I can vouch that poor people do exist, and despite the economic hardships many are experiencing in Europe and the western world, you/we are lucky.

You can shower in privacy, you don’t live in a house with holes in the walls wide enough for a snake to sneak through, you don’t have to worry about refuse collection, you can see a doctor, these don’t even have a chemist.

So if you give to help the children of the world then consider all the children of the world.

What was in the plastic bags? A litre of fish sauce, 10 packets of noodles (add water), 4 cartons of milk and 5kg of rice, clothes ranged from baby to adult, a myriad of shapes and sizes. Hand outs for the needy.

Upon reflection, we are lucky, born on the right side of the tracks, these people and many like them can only dream, do dreams come true?

And people moan about John Terry, moan about Jeremy Clarkson, moan about Berlusconi, criticise the banks, wage war for a political end, all pointless really when you see life from their perspective, there is no politcal voice for these people, indeed Vietnam is occupied by the mute majority.

Posted in tribespeople, Vietnam | Print | No Comments »

23/01/2012 by Russell.

Year of the Dragon – Tet

Finishing school early and on the road from Hai Phong to Chu Lai some 1,000km away by car was like doing the Top Gear (BBC tv) road trip in reverse. So Tom, Tam and myself set forth with the car all packed.

Leaving around 12.45pm, we left under cool grey clouds for Vinh, our target for an over night stop, about 300km away, a long drive.This took until 10pm at night with one pit stop for a sandwich. Clever Russell, handed duties to break the bread for a sandwich, went and nearly cut his thumb off with the sharp knife. Well tomato ketchup was as fresh as it ever would be for sandwiches.

Blood pouring out the locals administered first aid. First, tobacco was applied to the wound, still not sure why, but must have a chemical to stem the flow, sellotape to hold the tobacco in place until a plaster and liniment and iodine could be administered.

Hotel in Vinh for $7, sleep to the rumble of a disco somewhere in the night, up at 6.20 and off before 7am to Chu Lai. A long drive, a short pit top after 2 hours for a coffee and breakfast, a new dressing and a fuel stop.

Somewhere on this trip I have lost my glasses, I think it was at the mid morning fuel stop, my reading glasses have disappeared. I think it was at the petrol station where I took my hoodie off ready to drive.

I drove for about 5 hours non-stop, eating a ham sandwich as we went along. It is all steady, only supposed to do 80 kph, but squeezed some 100kph stretches into the drive as they slept.

A stop near a town to Doc Mieu, the first thing we noticed was the temperature, a comfortable 28 degrees, a place where I got a new pair of glasses. No opticians here, just a market stall, which after determining I was +2, lenses were ground down to fit a pair of D&G frames, all for 350,000 VND, $17 (£12), they fit and I can read, not as good as my prescription glasses, but hey I am able to read!

Oh and a pair of sunglasses for $6 or $7.

The AH1 is the main road from North to South, and at Hue it turned into Central Drive, Wingerworth, for about 20km. The road pitched and rolled the car from left to right on the road, it had more pockmarks than a kid with acne.

Finally, we were on the last stages of the journey, into Da Nang to pick up children, sister-in-law, and to Tam Ky for food and to leave Tom with Tam of Tam ky.

Da Nang had changed in the last 3 months since I ws there, a new shopping mall, market and looking like a city on the up.

Arriving in Tam Ky, was the first time Tom met the woman of his dreams (?). She grabbed him as if it was a trolley dash at the supermarket.

We ate and made the final 20km home to Chu Lai, around 10pm. An estimated journey time of around 20 hours on the road, door to door.

Days ticked by until new years eve on Sunday. In the meantime we visited relatives and the graves for worship in Tam Ky. At the graves we pray and burn clothes and money so their spirits too can have new clothes for new year. But it was unfortunate vagabonds roam the site, offering their services to clean the headstones of the dead. If you don’t offer a tip to the 15 or so kids who follow you, then the likelihood is the grave will be damaged. Even young men were here. Shame for this is something the Vietnamese revere, they respect their dead ancestors here, and new year is part of remembering the dead ancestors.

To cap all this off, couldn’t get to see City/Tottenham or United/Arsenal live on tv. Had th wrong channels, BBC Radio five live cut off as the game kicked off because of broadcasting rights, couldn’t get an internet feed..so was reduced to web text. Good result for the Reds, 2-1, bring on Liverpool on Saturday.

Chuc Mung Nam Moi (happy new year) the year of the Dragon

Posted in tet, Tam, Vietnam, me, Tom | Print | 1 Comment »

13/01/2012 by Russell.

Just to let you all know, the roads are quite simply dangerous.

My house mate and work colleague was coming home by motorbike and had to see a very unfortunate event.

At the corner with the two lane highway (we all use), as always every evening 26 wheeler lorries are heading to the port for their next container pick-up, and on this occasion, the lorry picked up another passsenger it didn’t really want.  A motorbike driver was instantly crushed to death.  Now deaths here are not uncommon on the roads, over 10,000 die each year in Vietnam (UK around 3,000 deaths)

Deaths like this are avoidable, first of all motorbike riders and car drivers DO NOT LOOK when entering a main road or any road, therefore crashes are going to happen, hence this is probably what happened here.  I would also emphasize the truck was probably doing under 30 kph (20 mph) due to traffic and the road conditions.

Secondly, my friend had to drive past the corpse, he could see everything, the body was not even covered by the police. Awful.

This could all be avoided by stronger road safety and greater road discipline, for example a give way sign ot two.  Kids are the same the on their bicycles, riding 3 or 4 abreast on main roads, no-one looks over their shoulders before performing any manouevre.  Bring the British police, any European police force out here for a tv documentary, it would make interesting viewing.  They would not know where to start.

You need wits, concentration and an attitude to not let anyone use your road space.  Particularly the kids on bicycles and some motorbike riders just ignore red lights…just go and ride on without thinking for safety or traffic flow… or that their might be someone coming round a corner.  It is only a matter of time before the grim reaper strikes and its too late.

My work collegue saw a girl some years ago wobble off her bike whilst waiting at traffic lights with 2 other girls…yup as she fell she was decapitated by a lorry

source:http://images.wikia.com/villains/images/f/f0/Reaper.jpg

Posted in Alan, hai Phong, Vietnam | Print | No Comments »

05/01/2012 by Russell.

Christmas and Into 2012 with a quiet night…

Christmas came and went very quickly, luckily Christmas fell over the weekend, otherwise it would have work everyday at the schools here.

Fortunately, we three wise comrades (Tom, Tam, and me) set off for Ninh Binh very early Christmas eve, we set of for the 7.30am bus. Arriving at 7.23am, only to discover the erstwhile bus driver had decided to head off before 7.30am…I shouted, I hissed and booed at the woman behind the counter, she looked back with a shrug as if to say its our fault, no apology for the driver leaving early, well we are in pantomime season. We even took my huge Christmas cake with us on the journey in a box, presented to me by my students at Tran Phu, it was beautifully decorated.

Undeterred, Tam enquired where another bus could be caught, and so we had a 10 minute trek to another street, only this time it was to be 2 buses for out 100km journey.

At least we were heading out of Hai Phong for a short break. 3 hours later we were off the bus, being tapped up by a moto driver for a hotel from $3 a night. Off we followed the salesman on his moto for a quarter of a mile walking at a brisk pace. No snow, no icicles, no Widow Twanky, just another lookalike city in Vietnam.

Our hotel down a side street was full of Europeans, how did they find this place, the new Queen Hotel? After a quick break, we decided to head off with a hired driver to sea the wonders of Ninh Binh.

First stop a historic King Le(surname) Emperors Palace site, full of school children on day trips and tourists in the cool but clear blue skies, it had a chill in the air, which made me think of Christmasses past. I of course was the centre of attention with my floppy Father Christmas hat and had to pose for photographs with the locals.

Lunch was not befitting Scrooge, very expensive, so much so Scrooge would have choked on the soup alone, costing $12 and the goat meat costing a similar amount, boy did Christmas arrive all in one day for the restaurant owner.

Following a hearty lunch we took to the peace and quiet of the waters, a boat rowed by a woman (they do all the manual work here) she rowed away with her feet like a proper Santa’s helper. The tour took in 9 caves, on the clearest water amongst limestone outcrops (like Ha Long Bay). Very tranquil and felt the peace and quiet of Christmas and the Christian spirit of Jesus on the 2 hour trip. Peaceful in December, perhaps rather more busy in Summer, but you have to make the effort to get to Ninh Binh, it is not many people’s itineries who visit Vietnam, but it soon will be.

After this trip, rather cream crackered, but more waters to float on and hills to climb, ancient temples to see, but the clock was ticking. We took another baot trip, before we retired back to the hotel for a short nap and sharing a Christmas drink with the hotel’s proprierters…what was missing was mince pies, sherry, Slade, Band Aid, but there was soccer on tv…you can’t escape the Premiership reruns out here.

Christmas eve was further enjoyed with a short walk to the Catholic church nearby. It was very busy with a huge screen showing some Catholic dignatory on the screen, beautiful lights, a tree and everyone semed to want to see, the whole town of Ninh Binh on moto’s had turned up..but did they know it was more than Father Christmas? It was a religious festival? who is Jesus? We had an little BBQ at our table for warmth and cooked pork and beef for dinner.

Christmas Day and we were off to Cuc Phuong National Park, some 60km away. An early Breakfast, and a driver for another $25.

Upon arrival we took a hike to the 1,000 year old tree, Tam in flip flops, me and Tom in regular footwear and we were accompanied by German George on our visit.

In the afternoon after a visit to the Monkey sanctuary, funded by many leading Zoo’s we headed back to Ninh Binh and our 3 hour journey.

Boxing day – normal working day, teaching, but, the week ahd a little surprise in store. I had been giving private lessons to Viinh (22yrs Old) who was leaving for the UK to do a Masters course at Birmingham University. His parents treated Tam and I to a slap up meal (well that’s what you used read in the Sparky comic, cica 1970’s)

we had 4 Lobster (expensive), Hai Sam (soup – translated to sea cucumber) ($400 a kilogram), wine a bottle of 12 year old Chivas regal whisky…in other words the works, all very delicious…so I did get a Christmas dinner of sorts.

The new year….passed off with Tom, his woman of the hour, her friend and Vinh and his wife (our landlord), we scoffed some crab and soup -Karaoke, and a roof top cafe for midnight….no Big Ben, no balloons, streamers, or party music, just techno pop, and when the moment arrived, the DJ played ‘Happy New Year’ a tchno version of Abba’s song…a few quick steps on the dance floor and off to bed.

New Years Day? Well you go to a wedding of course….off we three trotted to a wedding, drank some beer, karaoke and ate some more food.

And so what does 2011 leave behind?

Some recent sad losses?, Harry Morgan (aka Sherman Potter in M*A*S*H), Gary Speed (why?), Colonel Gadaffi, Osama Bin Laden, Kim jung Il, Jane Russell, Joe Frazier, Neil Young (MCFC scorer of FA cup winning goal 1969), Michael Jackson, Clarence Clemons (E street Band), Russian Ice Hockey team in September plane crash…and finally John, the husband of my great work colleague Freda Richardson also passed away..so many.

What will 2012 bring?

Hopefully the greatest sporting event - the Olympics - will be a triumph for London and Great Britain, pity I will not be a part of it, I really wanted to say I went to the stadium to watch at least one event, but its all too much, good luck to the ticket holders for an event to treasure.

A Man City league triumph? A Real Madrid Champions League win? Usain Bolt centre stage? An economic recovery or collapse of the Euro?

China government to buy into Apple? Terry Wogan to host Strictly come Dancing? Who knows and that is the beauty of the future..

A final Happy new year to Emily, Gregory, Phillip, Kirsten, ex-work colleagues Rob Fletcher, Geoff Nicholson, John Malamatenios, Anne Waring, not forgetting Basil and Pete and David Opperman…and Enid Skelhorn, inseperable part of my life many years ago..

Posted in Vietnam, clarence clemons, enid, Peter, Barry, Greg, Emily, Tom, Phillip | Print | No Comments »

22/09/2011 by Russell.

What a difference a day makes

All my fault of course for not letting Tam use our money to pay a bribe to the Police. It  is customary to pay a bribe when stopped by the Police here.  We have been stopeed 5 times now.  Ridiculous, all because the number plate is from a  region- no speeding , pulled in because we didn’t indicate between changing lanes etc., crazy.  It’s all beer money for the cops.

As a consequence they took her licence, and now she has to travel 110 Km to another city to get it back and a $30 (600,000 VND) fine to get it back.  Stupid really.  So I was in the doghouse for the sake of a 10 dollar bribe.

We have found a  4 bed house, with limited furniture for $250 a month, we have to pay 8 months in advance! That is 40m VND.

Kida and teaching can be variable - but what can you do with over 50 in a class?

Oh and my two colleagues had their moto’s stolen from the front of the hotel.  Both were on rental, worth almost nothin, but the owners want 3 times as much in money to the value of thes moto’s.  $750, we bought replacements for much less than 250 dollars.

So its my birthday on Sunday…wonder what the day will bring….

Posted in hai Phong, Tam, Vietnam | Print | 1 Comment »

18/09/2011 by Russell.

Well been here a coupla weeks and many things to report.

Am staying in a hotel with some living accomodation for 450 USD a month, expensive.  I am working with Alan from Dublin and an American Tom.

We all seem to get on fine and we are looking for somewhere to live, Tam is a godsend with the language etc.  We found one place for 850 USD a month - a huge place, enough floor space to have a snooker table on each of the 3 floors, plus a bedroom each.  Instead it looks like we are settling on a 4 bed des res for only 350 USD a month. Split between 3 is quite nice.  It is a new house not too far from a supermarket, cinema and 10 pin bowling (modern society for VN)

We teach at 2 schools - 1 in the morning with a 7am start, yes 7am in class, which is like a comprehensive school.  Classrooms are like empty concrete shells.  There is a few rooms with Projectors, but its all chalk really.

The afternoon school is for gifted children, they have to do an entrance exam to get in  - like a grammar school, in all but name.  The children here are notieably brighter and more dedicated.

Homework is not really completed.  I teach from a boook and from my skills to make people smile and get them enthused by the topic.  The key thing is they can all speak good english. (Generally)

Also, the writing at the gifted school puts WHC undergrads to shame.  The words they use and in context is excellent.  They know Harry Potter but not 9/11- anything beyond Vietnam’s boundaries is not news.  Tam reads more about crime and killings here in VN.  Only yesterday, Police found 2 dismembered bodies in the city lake (akin to our Serpentine) in HA Noi - Hoan Kiem Lake is really historic and central to everyone’s morning exercise in Hanoi.

So I teach 16 and 17 yr olds, some are fine and others - like undergrads at WHC unmotivated and doing last nights maths homework  in class.

The key is to get them to talk, but I hav 45 -56 pupils in a class, and I have a 45 minute lesson with them at the morning school.  Very tough indeed to get kids to talk and practice their English.

My TV has arrived, its in Hanoi somewhere,  all for 240 quid, I just hope it works.  As for other possessions, not delivered like DHL in UK promised.  I hope they will be delivered next week.  I packed some glasses for a beer or two, but my email translation when quizzed by the authorities here about contents said ’spectacles for drinking’ all lost in translation, so customs in Saigon have held on to my package.

SO just been on a pointless journey to HAnoi to get Tam’s moto and my tv, achieved nothing except some cross words which I have no idea about, I only asked what the cops said because Tam returned to the car in tears after the Police stopped us (This is the 4 th time and we have not contravened any traffic law) - so far we have paid $25 in bribes.

I no longer know if I am with Tam or not -she has gone to bed and refuses to talk…ho hum…classes start at 2 tomorrow

POSTSCRIPT

Tam still not talking to me, only 2 hrs before she completes 24 of not talking. I am in such shit street, a tv in Hanoi, possessions in Chu Lai, a trunk being delivered by DHL…what’ll I do? all smooth until yesterday, now I am looking for a conversation with her for a sensible parting of the ways…if that’s what it is to be

Posted in hai Phong, Ha Noi, Tam, Vietnam | Print | No Comments »

26/08/2011 by Russell.

Here I am sat cogitating and watching the rain outside.  I should really be throwing things away, but I guess I will leave til the final hours, I have tidied up so much lately that I am so conscious of how much baggage we all have.  No mater how much you throw, donate or ask for people to look after things, there is always more!

I have no bed,  or freezer or Washing maching, so the sofa a telly and Internet is my last set of possessions. Thye will be disappearing soon.

For a final fling, I am off to visit my dearest friend Barry in Cheshire, it is he I have had many adventures since we were teenagers, we have drank/drunk together, concerts, from Led Zep at Knebworth to small gigs seeing Steve Hacket (who?).  We had snooker to play, subbuteo and many card games together.  we would go to have a game of footy in the ‘top field’ and play 3 card brag whilst walking.  we have played golf, although Barry has stuck with it and is now a fine player, I just ran out of time and money to keep it up.  Barry and I shared many things, probably everything bar girlfriends!

Barry is my main man, a brother I never had, he is my harshest critic, and knowing I have his backing for this adventure I am about to set forth, means a lot.  He knows me like no other on this planet, even though we see each other so infrequently, he is still a rock in my life. When I die, he will be there, if I was in hospital, he would visit me, he is that sort of friend I am lucky to have.

Above all he knows my foibles for women, he knows my passion for football, he knows my love of sport and he knows of my triumphs and disappointments.  He knows of my emotions and can read me like a dictionary, uncanny.

If you think I had a turn of phrase, a moment to make you smile, then Barry can do it in triplicate.   So it is a farewell, albiet brief, because he is off camping on Sunday, so time is of the essence.

I have hired a car to get up there with Greg and see Barry, Ify, Ady and Jo, not seen since I returned from my travels, and they have now got a dog! looks like a ‘Marley and Me’ family situ.

So whats gone has gone, what’s to come is unknown, I travel to Vietnam, i work in Haiphong initially, was originally going to be Hanoi, but that’s another story.  I will be met at Da Nang, with Tam and we will drive 12 hours or so to Hanoi for my induction on 3rd and then start teaching on 5th in haiphong - 72miles east.  Haiphong is Vietnam’s 3rd largest city.

Emily;

Well she got into her first choice University - Brighton, to do a 4 yr BEd teacher training course for PE.  She was rewarded for her 2 year graft on her A levels with B B C, and now is setting sail towards adulthood very quickly.  She will be in Eastbourne.  God Bless her and good luck, when will we meet again? I do not have a timetable in mind.

Gregory

He too has received his GCSE results this wek, and is off to College for a computing medi type of course.  He attained 11 GCSE’s, with an A in English Lit, and ICT, grade B’s in Geog History and English Language, but a Grade C in Maths and double science and RE. I am so delighted for him, he also put in many hours shifts for 5 years twice a week to get up to scratch for maths, just reward and we thought he may get a grade b if fortunate.

Russell

Off to teach, with his MSc, Cert Ed, diploma in Marketing, HND, A level and 6 O levels some 6,000 miles away, in Vietnam.  Will I miss this country - I think now I have been back a while, then yes, it is after all my country, the one which like it or not has done so much for the world, I just hope it can rise from this desperate recession to be as ecomically strong, but I have my doubts.  Europe, like us is suffering, the growth in the far east is moving upwards and onwards. Thus, I have no worries about my destination, my only concerns are Emily and Greg, they are the only reason I kept going for 5 years of misery- children are the lifeblood of the world.  I saw it in South Africa, Cambodia, Vietnam, places with poor households, but what bonds these people and communities is their children, their families…I am told I have a family here, my view is that I want family life everyday, not a saturday and a sunday, and that is why I think I can now move forward, I see the values of family life, children and I want a slice of the action.  Emily is now off to University, I would see her all too infrequently, Greg can come to live with me for 3 months out in VN, rather than 24hrs here and there.  Hope that makes some sense.

Til the next time…I will be in Vietnam

Posted in Tam, Ha Noi, Vietnam, cambodia, Barry, South Africa, Greg | Print | No Comments »

12/08/2011 by Russell.

Off to Ha Noi to start another little tour of South East Asia.

Principally, Hanoi beckoned to find somewhere to live, before my contract commences in September to teach English to children and local businessmen.

I am due to be in Ha noi, for what will prove to be quite challenging, to teach my own language, to people of varying degrees of competence, and I suspect apathy towards learning, the same the world over.

Generally I will be teaching for 20 hours a week, split 10 hrs school children and 10 hours for businesses.

Ha Noi, is the capital, but not as modern and vibrant in the same way as Bangkok or Hong Kong, Saigon is very much like Ha Noi.  It seems much smaller in size and the road network is nothing compared to the wide boulevards of Bangkok.

I signed my contract with Shelton and have to get back to HA Noi for the 3^rd September. Typically it will be a new syllabus, so have full lesson prep to negotiate for the first time in many years.  Hope I remember David Opperman’s advice for lesson plans!

Needless to say, no accommodation was successfully accomplished, but there is a place in an area 30 mins from where I will teach. Tam wants to be much nearer to the school and business.

However, Thursday arrived and we left for Bangkok for some R&R, hotel by the river where I had once dined for breakfast-  Whose address had been duly noted for future reference.  Failed to meet up with Natasha Khilji – we were in and out to get to the Viet Embassy

Managed to go to MBK and find some bits for Emily’s Blackberry and over the road admire the extravagances of the Siam Paragon shopping mall.  This all fitting in with acquiring yet another Viet visa.

Friday – and it was a full day – to the Royal Palace and grounds, very cultural with colours and manicured gardens.  I had been before with Barbora, where is instantly reminds me of Shakespeare “all the glisters is not gold”. Funny how something learnt in childhood still applies from something written many hundreds of years ago from the Merchant of Venice.  Thanks to John Hollman my English tutor, sadly I let him down on my O level literature, but what he did instill in me was the desire to read, perhaps not a failing after all.

Saturday was an all day affair at the Chatuchuk market – 8,000 stalls from small things to crocodiles and that’s not the handbags.  Tam ‘not like’ - I do not understand when there is so much choice, but it was more expensive than Vietnam

However for lunch they did try to serve uncooked crab – wow – get it on the bbq and quick please.  

It was very hot, very sweaty, especially trying on clothes.  Was in dire need of a massage after that exhertion….

Sunday to the zoo and Wat Pho, and bed for an early rise at 3.30am.

Bounced into Hanoi and then a flight to Da Nang within the hour, why can’t we do that in England?  Yet I guess we have more prestige to lose if we suffer a failure in security.

Dentist in Da Nang? Well we tried to get a crown done for a few hundred dollars, and to be honest, would have done it, but was completely knacked from being up at 3 am and wanted a different crown to the one offered at the third dentist we visited.

Stayed overnight before a quick visit to BA Na

Ba Na is a hill top resort, connected by the longest cable car ‘in the  world’ (say it like Jeremy Carkson).  It is in the Guiness Book of Records.  Imagine going from Fort William to the top of Ben Nevis by cable car and you get the idea, in terms of height and distance, the journey takes about 30 minutes - and you are not at the top then!

What do you see? a fantastic view looking East towards DA NAng and the sea. You are able to visit Fantasy Land, a bit like a better mans Matlock Bath but not quiite the Pleasure Beach of Blackpool.  All the rides are indoors because of the weather? and it will be completed in 2013.  There is a 3D experience and a vertical drop of 20m obligatory dodgems and more besides.  The hotels are expensive - but the view and the cooler weather made for a delightful change.

…then back to Chu Lai…

Posted in Ba Na, Ha Noi, Tam, Vietnam, thailand, bangkok | Print | 1 Comment »

22/07/2011 by Russell.

Yes, this is it, new found freedom of contract (Just like Nasri) is good, only because I have something to look forward to with a fresh start in Vietnam.

Timing is good, so I can finally attempt to pull all the strings together, it is still a mammoth task, I mean how do you leave a country? the only thing I can think about is the tax office in Salford.

I have so much to do, house clearance, chucking things I though I would never do,  and the saddest thing is I don’t really need that much apart from me telly!

A local firm quoted £2,400 to ship to Da Nang in Vietnam, the cost is for 1 item, 3 items or 40 items, the going rate is the same. As Tam would say “very money” .

I have only family photo’s to take, a bicycle and some files.  I will try to DHL it all for £250.  I will take 2 suitcases with me next week, and return and take two more cases and a tv.

So how do I feel?

After all those years at College looking after HE, my life was on the treadmill, as we all seem to do out of necessity.  Kids grow up, Emily to University, Greg to College. These are two very special people in my life, whom I love dearly, they are in many respects in my core, unshakeable, and unmovable from my heart.  Understandable, but this step, as Neil Armstrong took all those years ago, does seem a giant leap into the unknown.  However, it is a small step, the world is smaller by the good fortune of air travel, I never look at miles anymore only travel time.  I have a network in place in Vietnam.  And who’s to say I wouldn’t be left behind in England when Emily and Greg get their lives on track by moving to warmer climes elsewhere, leaving me to stew in England?

Many people have said ‘don’t do it’, and others have said - ‘go for it’ life is not a rehearsal, I cannot live with regrets, I have had many in life, so I take this opportunity with both hands and I know it will all be fine, my worry is not seeing Emily and Greg.  Emily at Uni will be away from home for 4 years, so there will be less opprtunity to see her term time, and as Greg gets going with his course and footy - our weekends will get less and less as he goes out with his mates.

I on the other hand, have internet, I have skype, I have a telephone, you’ll be surprised at how many ways people can stay in touch.  Besides, a holiday in Indochina is much better than Benidorm - that I can promise you.

So Tuesday I jet off on part 1 of my transfer to Vietnam….

..

Posted in Tam, Vietnam, me, Emily, Greg | Print | No Comments »

30/05/2011 by Russell.

“I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere and you know it’s really hard to hold your breath.

I swear I lost everything I ever loved or feared, I was the cosmic kid in full costume dress

Well, my feet they finally took root in the earth but I got me a nice little place in the stars

And I swear I found the key to the universe in the engine of an old parked car

I hid in the mother breast of the crowd but when they said “Pull down” I pulled up
Ooh-ooh growin’ up. Ooh-ooh growin’ up”

Bruce Springsteen

Emily and Gregory

Life - kids and all that - both are sitting their school exams, A levels and GCSE’s respectively, takes me back to the long summer of ‘76.   Life was ahead of me and my best friend Barry, all we wanted was girls and sport, simple days.  We managed the sport quite easily, we played football, tennis, golf, and probably subutteo, mixed with snooker.  The girls were around us, so halcyon days, as they say.

Now it is the turn of Emily and Gregory to go through their school rite of passage, completing exams and looking ahead to what life has in store for them.

As for me ‘Growin’ up’ - it took me 12,000 miles of travelling to work out what I wanted in life to finally grow up.  I sincerely hope that it doesn’t take as long for these two to work it out.  Maybe I am retarded, or have always wanted the elixir of youth.  My father once said candidly, he never wanted to grow up as such, and yet he was always a sensble and responsible father, a father whom I couldn’t ask of any more as an inspiration and guiding hand for my development.  I on the other hand have let my children down, a guilt which I have at last come to terms with and apart from the obvious regret of leaving them behind when I fled the family nest and all the heartache it created, I have at last seemed to reconcile with my demons to some extent and have a purpose.

That is something to which I would never wish on anyone else.

However, I now have a purpose to living again, a true focus, one which imbues me with confidence and optimism.  I will secure my future with Tam in vietnam.

What about Emily and Gregory? how can I do this to them?  frankly, I cannot wait for the odd weekend visits in the future  from Emily and Gregory, they are ‘Growin Up’ and have less demands on their old man.  A parental guide? stability, well over the past 5 years I haven’t exactly been the best parent to guide them.  I would have loved to be there more often for Emily, she may have felt ignored, and I too similarly felt the same.  We are cast from the same mould.  She is a lovely girl (well she is my daughter), She has lovely friends and has had a great school life, and now this Autumn will embark on a teaching degree to be a sports teacher.  How can she? when she didn’t even know the mother of all games was taking place at Wembley between Barca and United?  She will be a good teacher, she is very athletic, and she will succeed.  She can take to most sports in an instant, and I believe she can dance well too.

Gregory - has switched - for whatever reason -to at last see football as the ‘beautiful game’ - maybe living without me and talking to new found friends he realises football does offer him an alternative interest than the X-box.  He suddenly knows about players and teams, and is reading about footy!  Am in shock, I thought it would never happen, after all this time the penny has dropped on what a great game it is.  He still practices his skills, and is a very technical footballer, I just wish he could see that himself, once he does, there will be no stopping him.  All his team-mates see him as the one with the extra skill, the one with a creative thought and has the ability to execute all manner of skills with the ball.  Greg just ‘Believe’ .

So as Greg opicks up the baton for footy, I appear to be the one who runs out on them again by leaving and planning to go to Vietnam.  The bottom line is, ‘life is an opportunity‘ so I am going to grab mine in Chu Lai with Tam.  I cannot wait for life to pass me by any longer, the last 5 years have whizzed by, and I stood still.  No more, my travels ensured I understood that my time is to live again, and that I will do with Tam.  Warts and all.

My family extends to 2 - Greg and Emily.  That cannot change, but what can change is the way we live life, and to that end, who’s to say Emily won’t end up living in the US, or Australia, or Gregory somewhere. Already Phillip (not seen for 2 years) is in Johannesburg.  Why should I wait in England? Life is for living, happiness is out there and I found mine in Vietnam, no more misery, have suffered enough

Posted in Vietnam, Tam, Barry, Emily, Greg, Phillip | Print | No Comments »