Chuc mung nam moi!

Greetings from Vietnam! This is the best approximation I can manage of the Vietnamese version of Happy New Year!

I have been in Hanoi for three days. It is great. It is quite a friendly place, and it feels like a small city, although the population is about 4 million. I've discovered a new skill - a fantastic propensity for getting lost, not difficult in the Old Quarter where the streets and alleys are interwoven at all angles. Well, I'll just keep wandering around, and hope the penny drops....

On Friday I attended the National Economics University, which is south of the city. The whole university is dedicated to Economics! Can you imagine that. A small village has sprung up around the university, to service the needs of the students. As you walk through the streets, there are classrooms, dormitories, internet cafes and restaurants, printing/copying shops, food markets, everything the students could want.

Most people in the university speak some English, and I am lucky enough to be working with an Australian Economist who is here on a year long volunteer project.

I will try to post some photos but I am unable to view this blog from here - so my descriptions may have to suffice.

Well I am off for a walk around the lake.