5.7.23, it got late yesterday. The journey from Halong back to Hanoi dragged on, a sandwich to go, the urgently needed shower, a live link to Nicolas Geburi party, correspondence, blog and it was already 1:45 am. I set the alarm for 5:30 a.m., because I wanted to get out of the worst of it before the big traffic chaos. I was wide awake at 4:00 a.m., packed up my sparse household effects, hung them around the Vreni and at 5:00 a.m. sharp I set off for the first cycling stage in the 'DadandSun☀️' project. My goal for the day was to get out of this chaotic city of 9 million safely and to reach the stage destination Ninh Binh. I admit it, the start has room for improvement. In any case, I saw the approximately 40-woman yoga group twice. But I got into the flow very quickly, suddenly had a clear course on the display, pinched my ass cheeks and milled just as cheekily over the fat crossings on red as this is what the Vietnamese do and it worked great. Traffic lights and pedestrian crossings are of no interest to anyone here. The initial fear turned into real fun and I was able to enjoy the ride. Okay, when my alarm clock rang in my handlebar bag at half past five, I was one hand short, but somehow I managed that too. It was definitely a good idea to start so early because from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. all hell breaks out on the streets in Hanoi. But there is also a lot going on between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. What I've seen Unbelievable. For example, a moped driver with an old woman lying over the handlebars (and hopefully just sleeping, after all, Asians sleep everywhere), another with maybe 30 chickens, hanging, in bags and in lattice baskets, they believe I still have seen in motion and finally another who has definitely removed a corpse. He had hung a whole sow over the scooter on the seat behind him. Nothing, stark naked. So she wasn't quite whole anymore, because the head was missing. The legs hung down on either side and the claws dragged on the asphalt. Hanoi - possibly all of Vietnam - doesn't seem to be for the faint of heart and animal lovers could probably just cry all day here. What gives me chills, even when it's 40 degrees outside, is when I see small children on these scooters. The little legs don't even form a right angle on the bench seat and the hands can hardly grab Papa's shirt and yet they drive around and not at all slowly, but jaggedly like everyone else. Without protection, without support just with trust in God. Another scene was a mother behind your husband? on the scooter, with her two hands she held the few weeks old baby wrapped in a cloth. A short brake is enough and the little caterpillar takes off. It's really amazing how this is going. But what I have to say is that people in Hanoi use the morning hours to exercise. It had many cyclists doing their laps, groups but also individuals doing exercises and stretching their limbs and muscles with or without music. They all use the road for this, along with scooters, cars, buses and trucks. Somehow this just seems to work. In any case, I constantly turn my head like an owl so as not to miss anything. After a good 10 kilometers I am out of town and then the redeeming cry of happiness. You can do whatever you want here, it seems. This was followed by a hearty 'Goooood Mooorning Vietnam' skyward and I've wanted to do that for a long time too (good 1987 movie starring Robin Williams) and as I'm tackling my Vietnam route today it seemed appropriate. It won't be the last time I start this early. I don't have to be considerate of anyone anymore and can do whatever I want. The nice thing about this variant is that it's not that hot yet - although at 5 a.m. you're already sweating from doing nothing - and I have the afternoon 'free', so to speak. Because for the daily 100 kilometers I need 5 hours with a leisurely drive. And I want to take it easy on purpose. Maybe I'll do something on foot later, because often even with the bike it's too fast for me and I miss a few snapshots. The day was perfect and I'm really happy. Except for the short heart failure when a stately but quite elegant and supple snake scurried across the street only 8-10 meters in front of me. I kind of dress things up. I bet if I asked people here they would tell me they rarely if ever see snakes..
I can't say enough that I'm very grateful to those around me and to my long-term colleagues for giving me the opportunity to switch off. And I can do it with ease. I'm currently in my dream world, with my thoughts far away from foot creams, hallux bandages and corneal files - but maybe only because the regular 'Good News' from Burgdorf and Vienna leave no doubt that things can be done without me without any problems. By the way, it doesn't scratch at all, on the contrary, it makes me really proud!
