Today I stand in solidarity with my brothers and sisters marching today in Lismore to stand against the abomination of CSG in the Northern Rivers.It seems the mining company Metgasco don't understand the word NO!! Well it will just cost them more money to get the point. So far we have cost the arseholes somewhere in the vicinity of 81 million. How much more will it cost them before they realise they are flogging a dead and buried horse. I mean it is so dead that even the flies don't bother any more. we will continue fighting till all leases are revoked and it is agreed there will be no CSG in the Northern Rivers or elsewhere in NSW.
So today I pick up the bike. Yesterday I had planned to go to the B52 Museum but my motorbike taxi driver was not about (I like to patronise only one bloke, I find you get better service that way and the price goes down if he thinks you are loyal). So I walked over to the big market at the end of the old quarter. It took some searching but I finally found a stall selling ponchos, raincoats for wearing on motorbikes. After some polite bargaining I came away with a suitable model for less than $5:00.
The wonder back to my hotel was an exercise in wonderment. There are so many little streets alleyways and tiny lanes. There is an abundance of life in every one. For a people watching person this is the most intense place, there is something happening at every glance. And it happens at a frenetic pace. Life in Hanoi is lived on the street. People only go inside to crap and sleep (and sometimes not even then!). Walking through all this leaves a cornucopia of images and smells. One has to be careful not to loose concentration on the main game or you will be skittled by a motorbike as they thread thier way through the mass of humanity. It is truely a hoot!
I stopped off in a beauty parlour type place and got my toenails clipped. A very decadent experience. First your feet are bathed in a bowl of warm water with a lime sliced and diced into the water. Then a lovely young girl gently grabs your foot and with the use of some very dangerous looking implements goes to town on your nails. My poor girl had quite a deal of trouble with my nails. It would appear that they have been hardened more than usual. It took her some time to get through my big toes. Kevlar has nothing on my toes comrades. If you could replicate them you would have the best protective armour ever!
Back at my hotel I resolve not to eat at the New Day for dinner. Rather I would wonder and try something different. I eventually found a large outdoor stall completely packed with Vietnamese. So I joined them. I had beef, with chips and vegetables slathered in gravy. Complimented by a Tiger Beer it was very tasty. It all cost 95,000 dong (less than 5 bucks). On my way home I stopped off at the concert of traditional music and dance. This time I had my camera.
I ended the night in an expat Aussie bar with the most prodigious collection of single malt whiskies. They even have Dalwhinnie! I spent a very pleasant hour chatting to an Engineering consultant from Sydney. A very happy man who is going to Hong Kong today. Then it was to bed and to dream of a CSG free world.
The photo and film I am attaching starts with a luchtime meal (Bun Cha) and hopefully follows the rest of the day chronologically. Cop youse later chaps.
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