Above the sound of rain on terra cotta and tin roofs is the sound of roosters, motorcycles and voices. ‘Who has roosters in the middle of the city?’ asks Rod. We were still in Hanoi at that point.
The hotel next door was separated from ours by a very narrow alley way so when the guests sat on their balcony their voices were as clear as if they were on our balcony. They talk well past midnight but it is not their voices that keep me awake. I simply could not sleep. If I were home I would have got up warmed up some milk and added honey and nutmeg or I would have done some restorative yoga or read. In Vietnam I share a hotel room with Ally and Rod so there is nowhere to go. Still, I don’t miss the comforts of home as much as I thought.
On the day we tour Hanoi I bravely asked Thao, our Hanoi Free Guide, if she had a boyfriend. We had been walking back to the old quarter of Hanoi at dusk and there were many brides and their husbands to be having their wedding picture taken.
Thao was not offended by my question and informed me that she has recently broken up with her boyfriend. Thao is an economics/accounting student at the university. She and fellow student, Cuong, are taking the afternoon off from studying to take us on a tour of their Vietnam. They are willing to do this in order to practice their English.
Cuong requests we correct his vocabulary and pronunciation. His vocabulary is extensive and pronunciation the best we have heard. He says ’that’s meaningful’ a lot but I offer him alternative phrases. When we visited Ancient House we discuss Buddhism vs Christianity. Cuong tells me that when a Buddhist does something wrong he tries to do many good things to cancel the bad. He informs me that he understands that all Christians have to do is go to confession.
The last part of our journey Siem Reap, Cambodia seemed to fly by and now we are back in Canada.
Thank you for reading our blog. It has been fun for us to share our adventure. As with many things it has been the people of SE Asia that we will remember. Here are a few of our favourite images.
Rod and Di's SEA Adventure 