23 October 2009

One week in!

So much to say and no picture to illustrate it yet! (Now i do!)

At moments I have the feeling I have been here for longer and at others I have the "I'm new I dont understand the culture" slap!

While writing this the neighbors are playing the drums. There are drum's clubs around the city, actually each neighborhood has it own. The house life is animated, if is not the drums, it can be mass or mosque (the 4.30 am call). On the field of cultural differences, we have the crocodiles as pets (the back neighbor has 2!), the orgy of fruits and veggies i've been eating (so good after 2 years of none!), the people on the streets, walking, cycling, pushing the bicycle, motorbike, women (everybody actually) carrying things on their head, also sitting on the back of the bicycle with the things on their heads, sometimes i do wonder how the manage to see! There is so many people, really it's amazing!

Funny enough a colleague was telling me it was quite hard to walk on the streets, not because is dangerous but because of the entertainment it causes to the whole population. You become the "Muzungo" (the white person or the one that comes from far) but i replied i didn't feel it was that bad, that yes people tend to stare a bit but i didn't feel hassle. Big mistake! I decided to go on my own, walking of course, down town, man! it was interesting! I had everything, the guy following me, the children, the car stopping to ask me if they could become my friend, etc... I'm ashamed to say i did take a taxi back! A little at the time! And i'm waiting from my driving license to come in!!!

Culturally speaking there's little to do in Bujumbura, one cinema, one cultural centre (the french one) and many many bars restaurants and people's houses... Coming from Mongolia it wont be a big change there! Also there is many many hikes and explorations to do around the country, and being so little it will be quite easy to cover quite a bit. In the horizon, i have a scuba diving in the lake coming up, and a lot of travel for work, so it's all good!

All for all and after only a week here I have to say I have a very good feeling about this place! We'll see! more to come! and I will try to illustrate with some nice pics. the issue you see is that i've been told people dont like to be photographed, so i have to be careful as it can become a big issue... once i'm more into understanding people's mind i'll do a little reportage!

Well i'll leave here for now, so you dont get to bored of reading!

part of the garden, this is the guards sheed

The back terrace, playing backgammon became sort of part of the routine of the house<

Last but not least our lovely neighbour's pet!

Burundi

Here is where the changes occurs!
The new adventure has started and the tales will now be based in:
Burundi
I will be living here for 6 months and will try post as often as possible, as well as to upload photos.

Trip to Vietnam

One of the big features of this summer was the trip to Vietnam. Holidays but also the celebration of the transition to the edge of reason: the big 3-0!

The trip was incredibly short, trying to do the whole country in 15 days was way too ambitious, specially if you break your back and moving, sitting and laying is painful!

We started off in Hanoi, which I called the “sauna” city. Never been so hot in my whole life!



Uncle Ho's mausoleum

Temple a pilier unique

Library






Night train to Sappa

Then Sappa, with the breath taking rice fields. A 2 day trekking in the mountains with other very nice tourists.

Rice fields everywhere... stunning!




sure you don't want to buy anything?

trier le riz, ou emporte par le vent...

rice wine anyone?

the fog arrived in seconds...


the whole group



on the way back... it took about 10 min to take this photo, not easy if you speak Mongolian to a Vietnamese lady!

Halong Bay. Stunning! Incredible when jumping from the “rd floor of the boat to the sea, which def increases the adrenaline levels...
Our boat



It is as stunning as it looks!


Canoeing in the Bay...


Jumping from the boat, a lot of hesitation to start with, after pure fun!


you buy from me?


By night was even nicer!

Hue, the emperor's city, with temples, tombs, the imperial city and major place Vietnam's recent history.

Hanoi-Hue by sleeping bus... last time ever! it literally broke my back and couldn't walk sit, walk stand or sleep properly till the end of the trip!



Entering the cite imperiale!


who's watching who?




the famous flag known to the world...





if you are a tourist you have to do it properly!

Tuc Duc's and Minh Mang tombs







Hoi An. The tourist city, the tailor city. Where the French structure is almost intact, where the river is part of the life and the market is an exhilarating place.



the city flooded only a day or two after we felt!


the market

the home of N'Guyen's family

on the road




Japanese bridge


the beach... under the rain but the beach still!


Saigon
. Capital and big city, however a very quick look at the major places before taking the plane back to Paris.


sucre de canne

the townhouse


the "cathedral"

by night

the age of reason... before and after 30


15 days later...

Key features of the trip:
the heat, traffic and transportation, the noise, the street food. And the last thing, a passenger passing away in the airplane while on our way back to Paris. And is the question everybody ask, they put him in the toilet until we landed (10 hours later!)