Oct
Stardate: Nov. 1, 2008. Coordinates: Hanoi
Days of non-stop rain have transformed the small lake in the center of the historic quarter into a bubbling, slow moving but voracious boulevard-eating cauldron. Even native Hanoians are shaking their heads now at the ongoing deluge – this is supposed to be the advent of the dry season. It feels more like that Biblical story about 40 days and 40 nights…
It's not Jesus. It's just Vietnam's rainy season, after epic floods that, in this case, overflowed the banks of Hoan Kiem lake, in central Hanoi.
As expedition members begin arriving in Hanoi, let’s hope their travels by taxi into the city are not blocked by the water; in the crepuscular light of evening, motorbikers in the city center yesterday were driving unaware into floodwaters they couldn’t detect on the roads, stalling their engines and wading through knee-deep bogs to higher ground. And people arriving last night from Noi Bai Airport, 40 minutes away, said their taxi drivers were “going in circles” trying to find a non-flooded path into the central district. Not a propitious sign.
The Roadmonkey expedition may have to create and deploy an alternative plan to get to Sapa, if the rains begin to affect northbound rail service. We are booked to board the train on Sunday evening. We’ll see what Ma Nature has in store for us.
This is a Roadmonkey adventure, all right.
Paul
