Vietnam

Hello, Bonjour, Xin Chao and all that..don't rely on too many more pleasantries, cos that's all you're getting.

BB's has been left behind, left back in the smog ridden cityscape that is Hong Kong. Here in the fresh open air of "frontierland" resides the Press Club in all it's glory! It's kind of a strange name seeing as how it's not strictly speaking a club, and except for the few that rightly descend to capture us on film for glossy airline magazines, there aren't any "paparazzi" to speak of either!

What it IS though, is a hotel without bedrooms...very French (bad start I know) in design, maybe because that unbeknownst to most the French were here before the "War" in the 60's and 70's. Quite a long time before actually, which is relatively surprising considering no-one ever thought the French ever amounted to anything much!

Anyhow, it's here, I'm here..and a warm greeting, a nice cup of green (mouldy?) tea and rice cake awaits anyone who dares to cross the Mekong (isn't that a 4x4?) Delta. We, are in Hanoi, which is in the North (up) of Viet Nam. The capital, and where the government (there's a government?) resides and bribes. Down south (not up) is Ho Chi Minh City, better known to most as Sai Gon, which apparently has no translation into english..but then why should it? Do YOU know what London means? Or Washington for that matter? Me either...

Still, there are better things to be doing than discussing origins of City names. The food here is (unsurprisingly) exquisite, the weather is hot, the people are nice, there's no smog, although over charging for westerners is rife...try 4 bucks US for a mars bar! The traffic is maniacal, the buses are shit, but there's little or no joyriding (something to be learned Mr Blair??) The link below will take you to a gallery of pics that I have collected, these will grow as I see more of the trees and things around me. Truth is I only seen the inside of a few discos and bars, and the bottom of quite a few beer glasses. I'm starting to realise that they look the same the world over!

So, enjoy a little bit of 'Nam in your living room...maybe you'll be able to make one of those conical hats when you're done, or maybe not....