After nearly 3 years in VN, I must be getting used to the child like inquisitiveness , and the noisy crowded Commune type living conditions, ( I always say, that what a VN person loses in size, they sure make up for with noise making ability ), at first it was very hard for an introverted person whose childhood revolved around a small farming community in Otago, but after the first year, the neighbours finally realised, most days and most nights, I was happy with my own company, ( and my loyal dog ). I think getting my dog, ( called Mate ), was the best thing I did here, it took, ( takes ), the attention away from me, they are amazed when he climbs up on the m/bike by himself, ( fancy that , a dog that can do more than bark, eat and shit ), he practically always travels with me, when I do my 34 km return, weekly shopping trip, if he is not with me, I am constantly asked, where your dog?, he is a real spectacle sitting outside a shop om the bike, he used to ride at the front, you know where, the place that is apparently reserved for luggage, and small helmet-less children, but one Xenophobia type Commune official, ( still a bit of that around here, or maybe he was just envious, or had a long memory? ), had a quick look in his ' little Red Book ' one day, while I was waiting for the wife outside their office, and found some law that says all animals must go on the back of a bike, he actually did me a huge favour, now the cage I had to make for the dog, ( later ), comes in very handy for carrying stuff, especially 3 m lengths of steel.
After seeing many trailers being towed behind motorbikes around here, I decided to make one myself, but it must have been too flash,( all steel , no wood ), after a few weeks of use, and many glaring looks from the cops, I was informed that trailers are apparently banned here, ( must be the only place in VN, 6 or 7 kms away is a signpost with speed limits on it, and beside the drawing of a tractor, is the drawing of a m/bike towing a trailer, and 30 KPH ), and if I keep using it, they won't renew my Visa application next time, it was then that they also told us that although the dog was on the back, he had to be in a cage , and I think the wife added, that I had to wear a face mask too, I suppose , In Rome do as the Romans do???? ( for one day only ), maybe I was scaring too many of them??
I've only ever stayed in the big VN cities a matter of days, so I'm not sure if all VNs are the same, but living rural, is like going back 100 years, but everyone now has motorbikes and cellphones, ( although the older ones here still use their pushbikes most of the time, for work and casual use ),very little English is spoken here, I prefer not to use the little VN that I do know, ( very difficult language to learn, I'm sure it was invented with the idea of making it it nearly impossible for foreigners to learn, for me to pronounce some of the words , I feel like I acting like an immature idiot , or taking the piss out of it ), if you speak a few words , they assume you are fluent in their language, I have a friend who has been learning VN for about 12 yrs, and he still has great difficulty understanding many of them while communicating with them.
This only feels like it's covered a month or so here, everyday on the road is an adventure, luckily my reflexes are still pretty good, ( having ridden large bikes for a while helps too, along with the ability , ( from driving city buses ), to read rider/driver body language and being able to usually predict what they will do next, never believe indicators , or even hand signals, I've seen them turn the opposite direction many times.
Another day tomorrow, can't wait to see what adventure will unfold, I'm off to the big city again.
