The Hanoi dairy; Temple of litterature, Koto restaurant, the traffic and the Hanoi haircut

Hallo folks, today we have been to The Temple of Literature or Van Mieu Temple. This place was the first national university of Vietnam, to train talented men for the nation. Here they studied Confusian canons and composed poetry like;

"See the little mandarin duck

who was a little down

on his luck.

He pecked all day amongst the hay,

slurped strong coffee in the mug

said, leave me alone

and crossed the road on his bone".

"NOT"

Even the roof of a Temple for Confusius needs repairing, so the work man found a ladder from the opening of the Temple in 1070.In one of the rooms we were invited to listen to some traditional Vietnamese music and because the musicians were affraid we would forget about it, they suggested that we should buy a copy of their CD.The KOTO restaurant is located just outside the temple and it is a project where street children gets the chance to be trained and educated as cooks and servants in a restaurant.

The menu is first class with various dishes and the quality is top, so it can be a little hard to chose what you really feel like.

So we spend some time there but it was nice and relaxing after the temple visit and the crossing of the street, and I think that Catriona and Julia on purpose took their time ordering, just to forget that we had to cross the street again to get to our next destination. And it is some of a challenge to cross the roads here. It is not for people used to traffic lights. You just have to go out on the street and look straight forward and keep moving, never suddenly stop or regret and go backwards. It is like the rule is only to worry about things you can see in front of you and avoid that. Here Catriona seek shelter behind Julia to cross the road again.

Todays Traktor:

It is amazing what the vietnamese people manage to transport on their bikes and scooters. We have seen some pictures of mopeds with the most incredible loads, even a Buffalo. This guy delivers coal with his traktor bike and I just know that I do not envy him his job moving this load around the roads of Hanoi.

Like I've told yesterday, we go on an excursion to Ha Long Bay and we will be away for two days, so there will be no news here untill New years day or so. Maybe on the 31st in the evening but I am not sure. We will go out in the streets of Hanoi to celebrate new year. At 6 pm MEZ, you might be able toread something from the future, because then we will already be in 2008 and so I could tell you a little about how it will be. I've got myself a nice Vietnamese haircut at a little very friendly hairdresser here in Julias neigborhood. It was including head and shoulder massage, so now I feel very relaxed and right now I am watching Chelsea vs. Newcastle live with Vietnamese comments. This picture is taken before my haircut, I felt sorry for the guy because he seemed a bit stoned. There is new photos in the Hanoi album.

Take care.

From all of us in Hanoi.