Kurosawa's Rain
Apr. 24th, 2007 05:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
peterbirksI changed rooms today, as I am now being cared for by IBC, rather than my own pocket. This means a step down from the executive floors to the land of the masses, but it's no great sacrifice. Broadband now costs me $12 a day rather than being complimentary (but I'll charge that to the company), and there is no access to the "executive lounge" on the 18th floor.
The more that I travel abroad, the more I come to the conclusion that I am one hell of a shitty tourist. I think that my ideal holiday henceforth will be lying in the shade, reading a book. I wasn't like that 30 years ago.
Then again, I am one unlucky fucker. When I went to Berlin in 2002, I got caught in the middle of an August storm that lasted some 72 hours and flooded much of the country (and a few others besides; the Czech Republic had a great time, I recall). I thought that, with Hanoi, I was just being a fussy Englishman about the humidity. The staff give you a little piece of paper with the weather forecast each night, and it said "partly cloudy", with a minimum of 26C overnight and a maximum of 31C during the day. No mention of the humidity level, but it felt horrific.
And this was confirmed when one of the members of staff complained to ME about the humidity. Ah-hah, I thought. It's not just me.
Now, call me mad, but why should I trudge through the hell of the open air when I don't feel like it when I can sleep in the comfort of an air-conditioned room, or read a book? If I were Vietnamese, I know which one I would choose.
But, hell, I'm a TOURIST. So I have to do things that I don't want to do, in weather that I hate, because that is my role?
You see what I mean about me being one hell of a shitty tourist.
Anyhoo, the humidity should have been a warning, because, although the monsoon season doesn't begin until May, and notwithstanding our beloved local hotel weather forecaster, the wind started blowing up at around 3pm (is that a Mistral? It was certainly warm enough) and at about 7pm, down came the rain. Fucking global warming. You can't even rely on monsoons arriving in the right month any more.
Well, if that isn't a clear indicator that the Caribbean is in for one shit-stormer of a hurricane season, I don't know what is.
But the good thing about the rain is that at least I feel less guilty about not going outside. Apparently 90% humidity (or whatever) is no excuse not to go outside, while stampeding rain (or severe cold, for that matter), are. This is weird, because I find both of these less unpleasant than I do overbearing heat and/or high humidity. Why is that, I wonder.
The bad thing about it is that, if this weather persists, I suspect that my trip to the coast for the two-day trip on a junk is gong to be fairly miserable. But, hey, I can always sit in my cabin and read a book, and no-one is going to be imploring me to go swimming. So, maybe not so bad after all.
Later. Monsoon stopped. It's midnight and air outside is verging on bearable. Progress!
http://f3.yahoofs.com/users/427f5f2czf7575d12/3632re2/__sr_/f678re2.jpg?ph4tjLGBttmf5hgh
http://f3.yahoofs.com/users/427f5f2czf7575d12/3632re2/__sr_/6e8bre2.jpg?ph4tjLGBaYm2ioqY
The more that I travel abroad, the more I come to the conclusion that I am one hell of a shitty tourist. I think that my ideal holiday henceforth will be lying in the shade, reading a book. I wasn't like that 30 years ago.
Then again, I am one unlucky fucker. When I went to Berlin in 2002, I got caught in the middle of an August storm that lasted some 72 hours and flooded much of the country (and a few others besides; the Czech Republic had a great time, I recall). I thought that, with Hanoi, I was just being a fussy Englishman about the humidity. The staff give you a little piece of paper with the weather forecast each night, and it said "partly cloudy", with a minimum of 26C overnight and a maximum of 31C during the day. No mention of the humidity level, but it felt horrific.
And this was confirmed when one of the members of staff complained to ME about the humidity. Ah-hah, I thought. It's not just me.
Now, call me mad, but why should I trudge through the hell of the open air when I don't feel like it when I can sleep in the comfort of an air-conditioned room, or read a book? If I were Vietnamese, I know which one I would choose.
But, hell, I'm a TOURIST. So I have to do things that I don't want to do, in weather that I hate, because that is my role?
You see what I mean about me being one hell of a shitty tourist.
Anyhoo, the humidity should have been a warning, because, although the monsoon season doesn't begin until May, and notwithstanding our beloved local hotel weather forecaster, the wind started blowing up at around 3pm (is that a Mistral? It was certainly warm enough) and at about 7pm, down came the rain. Fucking global warming. You can't even rely on monsoons arriving in the right month any more.
Well, if that isn't a clear indicator that the Caribbean is in for one shit-stormer of a hurricane season, I don't know what is.
But the good thing about the rain is that at least I feel less guilty about not going outside. Apparently 90% humidity (or whatever) is no excuse not to go outside, while stampeding rain (or severe cold, for that matter), are. This is weird, because I find both of these less unpleasant than I do overbearing heat and/or high humidity. Why is that, I wonder.
The bad thing about it is that, if this weather persists, I suspect that my trip to the coast for the two-day trip on a junk is gong to be fairly miserable. But, hey, I can always sit in my cabin and read a book, and no-one is going to be imploring me to go swimming. So, maybe not so bad after all.
Later. Monsoon stopped. It's midnight and air outside is verging on bearable. Progress!
http://f3.yahoofs.com/users/427f5f2czf7575d12/3632re2/__sr_/f678re2.jpg?ph4tjLGBttmf5hgh
http://f3.yahoofs.com/users/427f5f2czf7575d12/3632re2/__sr_/6e8bre2.jpg?ph4tjLGBaYm2ioqY
no subject
Date: 2007-04-24 06:18 pm (UTC)Titmus
no subject
Date: 2007-04-24 07:57 pm (UTC)-- Jonathan
no subject
Date: 2007-04-25 12:54 am (UTC)If I have time this evening, I'll try a re-jig. Meanwhile, I'll paste the links as well.
PJ
no subject
Date: 2007-04-25 01:01 am (UTC)If it's not working for anyone, then I'm obviously doing something wrong at my end, but I can't for the life of me fathom out what. Uploaded pictures are often a probem for other viewers, no matter how "public" you make the settings, because firewalls tend to throw out the baby with the bathwater in their defence against viruses.
PJ
no subject
Date: 2007-04-25 11:33 am (UTC)matt
download limits
Date: 2007-04-25 12:30 pm (UTC)PJ
no subject
Date: 2007-04-26 05:25 am (UTC)-- Jonathan
no subject
Date: 2007-04-25 11:26 am (UTC)Is there anyone out there who CAN see the pictures? That might give me a clue.
PJ
... why should I trudge through the hell of the open air ...
Date: 2007-04-24 09:13 pm (UTC)I feel that holidays should include a goodly amount of peaceful relaxation. If I spend a holiday in strenuous activity, I need another holiday to recover from it.
-- Jonathan
Re: ... why should I trudge through the hell of the open air ...
Date: 2007-04-25 05:57 pm (UTC)On the other hand, I have fond memories of my attempt to backpack through the Blue Mountain Trail at the age of twenty. It's about 100 miles long. I managed ten miles, pitched tent overnight in utter terror of bears, woke up the next morning and realised that, in fact, there is a perfectly serviceable road that runs parallel to the whole thing. Still had to trudge ten miles back to Point Royal, though.
I am resolutely opposed to any form of "vacation" that does not involve 100% personal control. This isn't an S&M thing: it just appears to me to be simple common sense, rather as Jonathan says. I remember following my mother's advice to go to the (local) Charolais and hire a punt ... two hours of sweating at the engine room to provide my friends with an unrivalled view of some very dull countryside, topped off with mosquitoes and freakish-looking cows.
Where's the fun in that?
Re: ... why should I trudge through the hell of the open air ...
Date: 2007-04-25 06:06 pm (UTC)Where's the fun in that? We didn't even get to eat the mosquitoes...
Edit buttons are nice things to have. Beats me why LiveJournal hasn't realised this.
Re: ... why should I trudge through the hell of the open air ...
Date: 2007-04-26 12:33 pm (UTC)Anyway, I think the point is that walking in the mountains in summer is pleasant. I did it because I wanted to.
-- Jonathan
Re: ... why should I trudge through the hell of the open air ...
Date: 2007-04-26 01:42 pm (UTC)-- Jonathan