Rumour has it that the monsoon is nearly over and we are soon to enter into the short and refreshing winter. A word about the monsoon: it is an amazing time which regulates life and movement in South East Asia and if you have never been stopped by it you can never really understand its importance.

In this part of the world, from March till June, the heat is oppressive. In some places it is accompanied by drought. By mid-summer, the sky is an acid yellow and every bit of shade is a meagre blessing. Temperatures can soar to as high as 55°C.

And so the gentle monsoon rains come as a miracle. At first they are gentle, mere trickles which come to lighten up minds darkened by too much sun. It gets cooler, nights become pleasant. Things have a new bounce in them.

There are a few drawbacks to the monsoon, and one of them is the fact that the rain is rarely a light pleasant diaphanous drizzle. More often it is violent with high winds and huge amounts of water suddenly falling on one place. The effect on a place like Hanoi is disastrous and hilarious at the same time, since the sewer system simply can’t take that kind of deluge.

Whole parts of the city are cut off, other parts are paralysed. People wade through market streets and motorcycle engines flood. The amazing thing, and this is what makes living here so wonderful, is that no one gets upset or looses his temper or even seems put out. You’ll see a guy standing beside his dead motorbike laughing because the spark plugs are soaked!

Wonderful people



Marie Do