Category: Vietnam

From our kitchen window on the second floor I see roof terraces –peeling dull ochre concrete walls; bamboo struts supporting dried palm leaf rooves. TV aerials and electric wires go this way and that. The cardboard holder of my Lipton teabag clatters softly against the tin tea mug under the giant pistachio ceiling fan. Windows…

Hanoi –an unexpectedly small airport. There is my brother standing at the exit gate, his face all alight and grinning – a bunch of cellophane encased orchids and rigid palm leaves held askew. Behind him dreamy misted conical mountains take me back years and years. Luggage, taxi, optimistic excitement. We will be living for one…

Beyond the triple glazed glass dome of the airport unfamiliar long legged birds duck and strut on the white sand  encroaching the 5 lane highway. White cuboid houses outface the sun. Men and women are to transit through separate checkouts. It is Ramadan. There will be no eating or drinking in public places.The aircraft cabin's…

  When does a trip begin? Is it when the contours of daily life take on a transparent aspect; when you note that the days and weeks pass with a rhythmic quality akin to the bump of moving train wheels but you feel you have travelled no-where. Something dancing, something formless like a swarm of…