that overblown castle-like building is the gateway to China
Last weekend we went adventuring to Lang Son, right on the Chinese border, to visit Dung's brother-in-law. It was really, really cold. To be honest, I felt quite culture-shocked by the whole thing, which I've not really had since I moved to Vietnam. At the time I blamed the feeling on my inability to communicate - I understood only a tiny bit of the Vietnamese spoken, and whenever I tried to join in, they didn't understand my shoddy Vietnamese. They were super-nice, but I always felt like a huge freaky foreigner.
But as well as the language, the life was just SO different to what I'm used to. Dung's brother-in-law is a farmer, and works for months at a time on his plot of land, which is several hours drive away from Bac Ninh, where his wife, daughter and new-born son live. His house in Lang Son is a shack, in the most honest and non-derogatory way possible. It may be made of wattle and daub. The water comes from a well. It's freezing. They drink vodka ALL day, literally starting at 7am with breakfast. At the end, I was really keen to get back to the relative normality and warmth of Hanoi. Dung seemed to think the trip was a necessary evil for me, like my character needed building. I think he's just generally amused by me and my floundering confusion.
home sweet homeThere were loads of good points too - everyone was really friendly and welcoming, the vegetables came from his farm and might have been the best vegetables I've ever had. Also, they asked if farmers in England live like farmers in Vietnam. I said definitely not, but the main difference is that rather than lots of small-scale farms, in England you get just a few 'farmers' who are kind of like businessman, and then have loads of people working for them. Dung's brother-in-law was really proud that he was his own boss, even if it meant living in a house without proper walls in freezing temperatures. I guess there's always vodka to keep you warm.
in their defence, i am pretty big and freaky
The main attraction of Lang Son is the market. Because it's right on the Chinese border, they get loads of cheap, bad-quality clothes and electronics, and sell them off in a huge glittering tower of tat, set incongruously against beautiful mountain scenery. It was one of the weirdest places I've ever been. I didn't buy anything. Actually that's a lie; I bought some dried sharon fruit.
it looks like a dried nipple! so i couldn't not buy them
really pretty...to the left were some polyester bomber jackets and perhaps some toy robots(I am sorry for being a lazy absent blogger, but it literally takes HOURS. However, I've just written two, so come back tomorrow for more delights.)
