It has been a while since my last blog. This is mainly to do with my two month working holiday, wedding extravaganza. It was great to see everyone again but what does become very apparent is that two months is still a very short space of time to catch up with everyone.
I guess the underlying highlight about the trip back home, the
reason why everyone was so happy and why everyones teeth looked so
white, was the weather. An official drought was in action, a far cry
from the total washout the summer before provided. Farmers aside, it is
truly remarkable, the pure joy that the sun brings out in people. Not
just the added extra vitamin count but the share number of days where
one can plan a picnic or outdoor gathering where you don't have to
invite a pair of animals and that annoying weather doomsayer with the
ark. It was evident that I had acclimatized to the South East Asian heat
because I found myself putting on a sweat shirt when the kiwis looked
like they were about to collapse in a sweaty mess. In NZ you can stand
on the edge of a shadow in a pair of speedos, plastered in sun cream,
sweating profusely. Take a sideways step into the shade and you
practically need a puffer jacket to survive. The air has a freshness
about it. You can almost taste the purity when you step out of the
airport. 
So I returned to Da Nang at the end of rainy season that never
eventuated. It was about 30C, a nice time of year to be in Da Nang. I
missed this place and I felt like it had missed me too. Jules had decided to ignore the power bill while we were away. She deduced that there was no way the Vietnamese authorities would turn off the electricity to a house with very important western people living there. We found out this theory was wrong at 7am. Thirty four hours later and a short stint at a hotel we got our aircon back.
We have a new neighbour, he's a rooster called Ramsey. Basically
he's a big cock. He is a cock that has no concept of time or space so he
chooses to crow at all times to cover all bases. I have a hate hate
relationship with Ramsey and made a hint to the landlord that Ramsey was
possibly an undesirable character in our neighbourhood. My landlord
told me that their three roosters were also a little noisy too!. So now
Ramsey and the neighbours that he flats with are getting acquainted to
bands such as the Cancer Bats, Faith No More and The Pixies on a daily
basis at a volume that may make Ramsey think about his positioning on
our back doorsteps. I have also discreetly made enquiries into
purchasing some rohypnol laced bird seed in case more persuasive methods
need to be introduced.Da Nang opened a couple new bridges last week. One is a beautiful suspension bridge which looks amazing at night with all its neon glowing wires. The other bridge breathes fire! I kid you not. It is the longest Dragon Bridge in the world with a head that breathes fire. I am not sure how often it will perform this or if it was just an opening day stunt but it sure got the Vietnamese out on opening day. Da Nang is actually looking pretty damn cosmopolitan these days with several high rises sprouting up and the four very different illuminated bridges crossing to the beach.
This weekend Jules and I got on our motorbike and head into the
hills. Our plan was to make our way up the Ho Chi Minh trail to Hue but
got as far as a small town called Prao and was told that the 160 km ride
across the mountains was a suicide mission without a spare tyre. This
was highlighted when we turned around and made our way back over the
mountains to Da Nang, only to get a flat tyre. Luckily we were only a
few hundred metres away from a group of houses. Just when the sweat was
starting to drip from my earlobes and the sun was at its highest, we
found this amazing family that spoke no Vietnamese let alone English.
They fixed our wheel while entertaining Julia and the whole time with
the biggest smile on their faces. If I did not already think that the
Vietnamese were the friendliest people in the world, this weekend
highlighted it. We had a swim with some local kids in their self made
swimming hole. We had kids running and waving at us down the streets. We
stopped to eat freshly picked pineapple and cruised around the dusty
heat soaked roads through beautiful mountain passes. It is amazing how
little you need to enjoy life here.So as Ramsey reminds me that it is 4: 48pm I will ease into my Sunday evening with a wine and thoughts of this coming week. We have old friends arriving back in Da Nang and new friends we want to get better acquainted with. Life is filling fast with new adventures.
