A short entry today I think. We travelled from Hoi An to Hanoi. The latter is a much tougher city to process. Crowded, polluted and raucous. We will sample some of the cultural offerings tomorrow and then off to more pastoral settings. The north of Vietnam has those crazy-beautiful karst outcrops that defy belief. It is as if God poked his finger from within the earth to create magnificent sugarloaf formations rising from table-flat land and sea. Roger Moore meets Scaramango(?).
I wandered around Hanoi from about sunset to early evening. The air is dense with smog or mist. The fumes are acrid and biting but the effect can be quite poetic visually. I'll post in a couple of days on facebook but I was struck by the painterly quality of the landscapes and scenes I beheld. This morning the channel in Hoi An was like a Corot, waxy hues with mossy greens and browns like caramel. The night market provided canvases reminiscent of Hopper and a walk along the promenade brought Dulac (The Nightingale) to mind - also Turner. Sisley and Cezanne are iterated. Fantastic light with a strong chiaroscuro. The fucked-over colonial architecture and additional kluges of wire and wrought iron bring Blade Runner immediately to the imagination. The street was slick with a gloss from a very light drizzle - stubby fluorescents paint a ghastly blue-white limn while the ruby neons complete the palette. Where is Rutger Hauer when you need him? 'Time......to die'.
Our pho was disappointing - we are always comparing our meals to ones that have created a sort of ecstatic eating experience. Off to the market in the morning to try our luck again.
to sleep, perchance.
here are the latest few entries. If you want to see more images please go to sophie or my facebook page.
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