Sa Pa, and now back in Hanoi.

I got back to Hanoi Yesterday. Slept for nearly 12 hours last night, I
was tired, exhausted even.
I had the best time in Sa Pa. So so different. I'd seen photos, but
to actually be amongst it was such an experience. Still hard to accept
that it was real, part of me thinks it was a stage set for some exotic
film.
I'm suffering some bad sunburn to the back of my neck. Cool (H'mong
tour guides name, probably spelt kuhl? Must research) and "Me" ( the
other tour guides name( ie: not ME)) both had umbrellas, how I wish I
had had one. Though the tough Aussie in me would have been massively
embarrassed.
I'm back into routine. Sitting in Highlands Coffee, with a tall cafe latte.
It's a little weird now. When I step out of the hotel I feel like I've
been here forever, but can't wait to get back home. I'm missing my studio.
--
Sent from my iPod

Exhausted.

I have seen some incredible sights today.
A five hour trek around Sa Pa. 3 villages and countless rice fields
and little bamboo houses.
I finished it off with a half hour motorbike ride and some hair
raising near misses with buffalo, fallen rocks, trucks and other
motorbikes. Now I'm about to get changed and take a long bus ride down
to the train station and back to Hanoi overnight.
Charlie, I'm too exhausted to even bother seeing if there are any typos
in this post.

--
Sent from my iPod

A walk through a Black H'mong villiage.

I was taken on a tour through a Black H'mong village Yesterday, by a Black H'mong guide. He explained the five minority groups of Sa Pa and that the Black H'mong were of Chinese decent and had come to the region 200 years ago. Looking for resources, they are nomadic, though there housing seems to be becoming quite permanent.
My guide was wearing blue jeans T-shirt and brown leather slip on shoes. He seemed to be quite "Western" I find it quite interesting the dilemma of the world becoming homogenized, it would be nice to have such a distinct sense of identity to culture and place. If you come to Sa Pa, you must get a guide, I learnt so much and was taken through houses and shown indigo dying etc. He did talk a lot about how they married in their teen years, A LOT. 
Today I'm on another tour for about 4-6 hours (dependant on how fast I walk) I'll get to visit the homes of Black H'mong, Giay and maybe some Red Dao. Back to Hanoi on a sleeper train at the end of the day.
--
Sent from my iPod

You must visit Cat Cat.

I'm sitting on a balcony in Cat Cat. Looking at Vietnams highest
mountain. Ie: remote, and I can blog about it.
The world really is just that much smaller because of wifi. Not sure
how that makes me feel.
--
Sent from my iPod

Music.

"Shazam" says I am/was listening to "lightning" by Blank and Jones.
It's beatiful, must get a copy.
--
Sent from my iPod

I'm off to Sa Pa tonight.

Well it's 11am and I've just left the hotel. I'm off to Sa Pa tonight on a sleeper train.
It was pouring rain in Hanoi this mourning. Now it's just drizling,
but with water still running off the shop awnings just to catch you un
aware.
Yesterday was a glorious day. I went for a long walk. It was not ment
to be a long walk, but as usual, I got lost. I'd like to blame it on
city planning really.
I'm trying to work out what to do today. My heel is a bit sore from
walking, and given Sa Pa will probably involve a bit of walking I
think it unwise to walk too much today. I'm currently at Highlands
Coffee (really the only place to get a decent cup (went to Moca
Coffee the other day, swear the cafe latte was made from instant
coffee)* most of the people here are either reading a book or
working on laptops. I could easily stay here all day, good coffee,
soothing music and a nice level of background chit chat. How many
coffees can one consume in a day before heart attack. I won't get a
fresh coffee in Sa Pa, and won't be drinking instant with condensed
milk. So , can I pre consume today what I won't get over the next few
days? Other than that, myight have to look for a tourist atraction.
I've seen the ones I want to see though. All except the war related
ones (not really into glorifying war) and have not and do not want to
visit Uncle Ho's morselium? How do you spell morselium? (I'll admit I
can't spell that one, all others are the iPods predictive text or
small keypads fault (Charlie).
Getting near the end of my extra large cafe latte. What to do, perhaps
order a caramel coffee freeze. We could think of it as a desert.
This is making me feel homeless, and homeless in Vietnam is a scary proposition.
Ooh. Someone just got the best looking stirfry. Not exactly hungry, but!
--
Sent from my iPod

*Ended up enjoying/preferring my Morning coffee and breakfast at Moca Cafe. Decided the coffee was fresh ground, just different from what I'm used too. Have not had instant coffee for years, so how could I know what that tastes like.

About the last two posts.

I just realized I did not say what the flags and fireworks were for.
Today marks the 35th anniversary of the end of the American (Vietnam) war.
Why did I not just edit and add that to the post? I'm sending posts
from my iPod while I'm overseas. For some reason unbeknownst to me. I
can't edit a sent post. I can only delete it.
I will be fixing a lot of posts esp. typos when I get back to Aus.,
thanks to predictive text and my poor/slack copy editor skills.

--
Sent from my iPod

Fireworks.

I was just starting to think about heading off to bed, when I heard
the most enormous bang! It was repeated then I realized it was
fireworks. The whole place felt like it was blowing up! Cheers from
the streets below my hotel room even more horns than normal and
flashes as bright as daylight.
I had to get down there to see what was going on. Everyone in the
street had stopped to look up and witness the fireworks. So I too got
out into the street and looked up. I walked on down to the main Road
that runs along Hoan Kiem Lake. Wow! So many people and all looking up
cheering.
When the fireworks stopped though, I realized my mistake. The
motorbikes all started their engines, but with total gridlock they
could not move, and neither could I. I almost died from the exhaust
fumes, my throat still feels horrid and my eyes feel like they've
been in a sand storm.
It was a fantastic experience though.
--
http://andrewwiddis.com

Flags everywhere.

--
http://andrewwiddis.com

Red River mosaic wall.

Some photos of the mosaic wall along the Red River in Hanoi, Vietnam.
It is many kilometers long and has a wide variety of style and colour.
A wonderful backdrop to the drama taking place in a busy Hanoi..
--
http://andrewwiddis.com

Bat Trang, Hanoi, Vietnam.

Yesterday I went to Bat Trang; A pottery Village 6KM South East of Hanoi.
The adventure really starts once you've crossed the Red river. The
road is a narrow strip of concrete, really only one lane wide.
Often seeing trucks coming from the opposite direction and thinking
there's no way we are going to get past. A few times we almost didn't,
pressed up hard against the dirt embankment, but somehow it all sorts itself out.
On arrival in Bat Trang, I initially avoided walking into any shops or
display centres. I went for a walk around the village for about an hour, finding some amazing
sites.
Ultimately I ended up at a huge ceramic market and overwhelmed for
choice, I walked away with a couple of little white porcelain bowls,
made in Bat Trang.

Lights camera.

Time exposures taken at dusk in Hanoi. Lights and the smoke of motobikes.
I'm starting to loose my fear of crossing the road here in Vietnam.
Though it can still be daunting walking out in front of dozens of
motobikes at any one time. The trucks still scare the heck out of me.
--
http://andrewwiddis.com

Bronze Sculpture of a potter.

I went to the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum In Hanoi today.
Towards the end, on the 3rd floor of the old French colonial mansion,
I found this lovely minimalist bronze sculpture.

"Ceramic fabrication" H: 40cm.

--
http://andrewwiddis.com

Phonelines.

A street in HCMC (Saigon) phone lines waist high


This was not an uncommon sight. Broken lines dangling by the dozen sometimes.

Makes me think off those people I heard about back in the '90's complaining to Telecom Australia (now Telstra) that their phone line kept dropping out, and Telecom saying everything seemed fine. I figure loosing your phone line is a common occurrence in Vietnam. I guess they just string another; must be some reason why the looms are so thick.


--
http://andrewwiddis.com

Bowl 15th-16th century?

This is a bowl I bought in Saigon (HCMC) this week.
Unfortunately the staff in the shop did not speak any English, and
I only know a couple Vietnamese words,  So I'm only left to my observations to work out it's date and origins.
It was in a special cabinet with a variety of ceramic and metal
artifacts.
All the characteristics seem right. A bare foot ring on the inside
base. Some little blisters in the glaze. Remains of two rims on the
outside, some inside. And the base of another inside. All nicely
slumped to one side.
Yes you could probably fake all this but I think I've been doing
ceramics long enough to read it. Besides the skills of throwing
something like this and slumping it just so would be considerable, and better rewarded making un slumped 15th-16th century reproductions.
But, If your from Vietnam and could do this, please contact me, I'm here
for two more weeks looking for a good thrower.
--
http://andrewwiddis.com

A picture for Sophie milne.

Power lines galore. Sophie Milne heaven I think.

Vietnam, HCMC (Saigon) District 1.

Sent from HCMC via bad hotel wifi from my iPod.

Vietnam trip.

Monday, 10th of may 2010.
Im on the train from bendigo to sunbury, then onto Tulla.
I think I left the kettle on but I know I turned the mains power off.
Why do I still worry that the kettle is going to melt and burn the
house down?

Vietnam, I'm on my way
Up up and away!

Apparently I'm just east of Mildura. That was quick. Pilot just said
we will fly over Birdsville and Tenant creek. Hope he says something
when we are, else I'll never know.

Darwin in about 4 hours. Here I come.

Oh, after going through check in and halfway to the security (xray) a
check-in person caught up to me and asked if I had two passport photos
for my visa. I don't. He phoned someone to double check if I need them,
apparently the requirements for business visas change regularly.
There's nothing to say I need them. Could be interesting when I get to
hcmc (Saigon). Hope they don't want any photos
for the visa. I have a passport pic on my mem stick, if I find a place
to print it at Darwin I will.
Lots of cloud below me now. Should try and get a quick nap. Only had
five hours last night. I hate to drible in public though.
Clouds breaking now. There's a beautiful creek below, is very bendy.
Winding back on itself all over the place. Not unlike the first pic on
my imageslider.blogspot blog. Must find some more images to upload to
that blog.

It's pretty dry country out the window now. Scattered trees and green
circles from sprinkler irrigation.

2:43pm.
Melbourne to Darwin flight.
Everyones drinking bundaberg rum and/or Jim beam.

2:59pm.
Just took some photos looking north east. Just south of Alice springs.
I think looking toward lake eyre?
Not sure if you know that last month Queensland had a once in a
hundred years drop of rain, and it's slowly moving south. Also, here
in central Australia it's below sea level. It's usually bone dry
though.

6:29pm Darwin time.
Darwin airport.
It's so hot here!

At the gate waiting for boarding.
No change for a cold drink. So can't wait for in-flight service. Just
announced that hcmc flight is now boarding. Cold drink here I come.
Must also say the security check in was very friendly in Darwin.
Melbourne never is. I seem to get the same cranky guy every time.
Got to go to boardind now.

6:42pm. Darwin time.
Well I'm seated (window) on the plane. Hungry now. Not so thirsty,
infact it's chilly. Aircon on full bore. The aircon is pouring out
like dry ice, quite beatifull, the full length of the cabin has a mist
coming from above the windows between the cabin wall and the back of
the cabin baggage section.
Come on people, sit down, let's go.
Have to switch off for takeoff now. Yay. Cabin crew please prepare the
plane for departure.

7:14pm. Darwin rime.
Just taken off from Darwin.
A mad rush for seats as soon as the bell sounded. It was not the
announcement to take seat belts off though.
I booked a window seat down the back. I usually try to sit in front of
the wings so I don't get that exhaust vapour, but I may reconsider
that for future flights.
I was one of three in the last four rows and have my row to myself.
When the bell sounded someone quickly unbuckled and it was
On for young and old. Actually the old did not stand a chance.
Positions were taken and armrests put down; feet up and reclining
snooze positions taken.
It's pitch black outside. I should get a Baileys instead of that coke.

Im at hcmc walking along the long entry from disembarking the plane.
It's brand spanking new. Last time I was here it was so old. (1960/70)
style.
To be continued...

Sent from my iPod

Windows.

It's been a long time coming but this Easter holiday, I decided to fix the windows. The original cement had been patched over by a previous owner and water had got in underneath. The concrete had a hollow sound. Someone had also put a silicon between the wood and the cement, and the wood is starting to rot. Two of the window ledges the cement had actually started breaking away.

Unfortunately my hard work ended in disaster. Just as I finished the final coat of cement, IT RAINED. I think it was actually a cloud burst. It came down in buckets, and you can see the result in the last photos. The cement is pitted. And in some spots it has actually peeled back onto itself, and then set. So I will now have to get the angle grinder out and re apply that last coat. We need the rain, but a little consideration in it's timing would be great.

Altered vessel.

Here's a little vessel with a Tenmoku glaze and flashing on the foot from *bi carb soda.

It's altered as soon as it's thrown by running my right hand index finger up the inside.

* Don't use bicarb soda in an electric kiln. It's volatile and damages the elements.