Yes, I know that I have been MIA, for a few weeks...but that is simply because there has been nothing of note happening....daily life just rolls on, in the alley...
BUT...two nights ago, something BIG happened (it has taken me this long to write this, as the power went in & out)...
We had a major fire in the alley, with two houses burning to the ground!!!!
Just before midnight I had just got into bed, when I heard a commotion from across the alley...the woman was shrieking, & her husband bellowing ..."oh oh...a domestic?"
Her Royal Nosiness (that's me), of course rushed out to my balcony to see what was going on...to see them looking upwards along the alley...
I could then see smoke billowing out of the roof, down by my coffee lady's house....suddenly, before our horrified eyes, the roof burst into flames, like a bomb going off...
By this stage, heads were popping out of doors, windows & balconies ...& the screaming started (one of the things Vietnamese do well, is hysteria)...not that it wasnt very serious, because of the houses being so closely crowded together, but running about like headless chickens, screeching & crying, isnt that helpful !
I could hear a pounding on my door, & Poppa bellowing "Get out, Get out"...unusually, we had a nearly full house, (of chinese) who were all panicking...I threw on a pair of trousers, under my silk dressing gown, grabbed my passport & money (I realised afterwards that I had left $200US, in my drawer)...outside my room , on the stairs, was a seething mass of Chinese headless chickens...one guy had a huge suitcase he was trying to manhandle, blocking the stairwell, with people trying to clamber over it...FFS!
I pushed my way through the throng, & helped another guy lift the suitcase & throw it over the handrail, down into the office below....& we all bolted down the stairs & outside...
Poppa wasnt a lot of help! All he was interested in was getting the family's 5 motorbikes outside, & down the alley to the main street!
Other neighbours were racing down the alley with fire extinguishers, which were completely useless, as the two old wooden houses were completely ablaze, by now....
But, they did use them on any other spot fires.....which was sensible!
By this stage the alley was a sea of people....neighbours, backpackers from the two other guesthouses close to the fire, & stickybeakers off the street & neighbouring side alleys....
The police arrived (along with security guys from the bars on the street) & started trying to clear a way in, for the firemen who had just arrived....
Because of the narrowness of the alley, the fire truck had to park out on the street, & the fire guys gallop in , laying their hoses out behind them..
So....here we had the firemen trying to lay their hoses, carry breathing apparatus, place a standpipe for more water (which some fool had concreted in the access lid, during the upgrade of the alley plumbing, a few weeks ago.....luckily one neighbour had a sledge hammer, which he applied with vigour!)
Meanwhile the fire guys are trying to fight their way through the clowns, crowding the alley, taking photos on their cellphones (it was like New Years Eve fireworks, with all the flashes! )...some fools were taking "selfies" ! WTF? I have always thought it would be a great idea, to take a photo of myself, standing in front of a burning building...NOT !
Meanwhile the crowds are growing, pouring in from the street...the police had had enough...out came the batons!...I'd say there were some very sore heads the next day...it was a complete shambles!
Mind you, when some drunken western lout, beer bottle in hand, started shouting "Burn Baby Burn" I could have happily batoned him myself!!!
I had an altercation with a security guy, who was trying to shove me down the alley, & shouting at me "get out...go back to bar!"
Apparently he assumed that because our alley is mostly a local alley, that a white face shouldnt be there....why he thought a white haired granny, in her dressing gown would be out partying in a bar, is a mystery though...lol
I think they were all in a state of such panic, that all good sense deserted them....
To add to the panic, the power lines caught fire, & the breaker boxes along the alley started to explode, showering everyone with sparks, & plunging the alley into darkness...
In the midst of all this, Grandma & Hanh arrived, from their beer bar on the street, & took charge of our flock....which was a good thing, as Poppa was as much use in an emergency as tits on a bull!
He was doing a lot of shouting, & flapping, & not a lot else...older son & heir, Le, wasnt any better...he was among the photographic crew!
The chinese contingent had snuck back inside, & collected their belongings (this was the source of most of Poppas hysteria), & were shoving their way out of the alley (never to be seen again...lol)
I was sitting on our front steps, with our elderly, infirm neighbour, (having already made a plan to take us down the side alley, if the fire got any closer)...so by the time Hanh & Grandma arrived, I was the only one they had to concern themselves with...& they were happy to find I was calm, & in control of my wits.....not so Poppa...he was still bellowing & running in & out of the lobby...what he was actually doing is unclear, as he wasnt retrieving anything.....Grandma followed him in, adding to the round of shouting, then there was a loud slapping noise, & Poppa shot out, holding his cheek...Yep...she had slapped some sense into him!!!!
Anyway....finally the police got the crowd under control. & the fire crews did a jolly good job, with foam & water, to quell the fire, & prevent any more spread....
3 hrs, after dashing out into the night, I was allowed back inside & to bed....
At 5am, I woke again, to the sound of noise in the alley (not that this is unusual on 6 days a week...but this was Sunday, when most people have a day off...usually, when I go out to the street for my Sunday coffee, around 6am, you could hear a mouse fart!)
The power line men had arrived at first light & were busily mending the wires & the neighbours, up & down the alley were out starting the cleanup.....this is one of the strong points of the Vietnamese...the alley's they live in are their village, & when something bad happens, its all hands to the pump !
I was talking to the drinks lady, who lives across from me, when the door opened behind me...& a parade of sugar plum fairies, & their mothers, started filing out....
My estimation of Poppa went up...for all his faults, he loves children....he had gathered up all the traumatised kids & mothers, who lived very close to the fire, & bought them back to the guesthouse...well done Poppa!
Luckily nobody was killed, & apart from a few minor burns & some smoke inhalation, nobody was seriously hurt.....
My favourite mototaxi man has lost his home, & his brand new motorbike....same with the poor old cyclo guy, next door....
The two sisters who own the corner shop, next door to the fire, have had all their stock ruined with smoke & water damage....
The guesthouse opposite, & the two houses on either side of it, had all their windows blown out, & the air con boxes melted....but all day, the alley residents have been busy, helping put all to rights....makes me regain some faith in humanity!
BUT...two nights ago, something BIG happened (it has taken me this long to write this, as the power went in & out)...
We had a major fire in the alley, with two houses burning to the ground!!!!
Just before midnight I had just got into bed, when I heard a commotion from across the alley...the woman was shrieking, & her husband bellowing ..."oh oh...a domestic?"
Her Royal Nosiness (that's me), of course rushed out to my balcony to see what was going on...to see them looking upwards along the alley...
I could then see smoke billowing out of the roof, down by my coffee lady's house....suddenly, before our horrified eyes, the roof burst into flames, like a bomb going off...
By this stage, heads were popping out of doors, windows & balconies ...& the screaming started (one of the things Vietnamese do well, is hysteria)...not that it wasnt very serious, because of the houses being so closely crowded together, but running about like headless chickens, screeching & crying, isnt that helpful !
I could hear a pounding on my door, & Poppa bellowing "Get out, Get out"...unusually, we had a nearly full house, (of chinese) who were all panicking...I threw on a pair of trousers, under my silk dressing gown, grabbed my passport & money (I realised afterwards that I had left $200US, in my drawer)...outside my room , on the stairs, was a seething mass of Chinese headless chickens...one guy had a huge suitcase he was trying to manhandle, blocking the stairwell, with people trying to clamber over it...FFS!
I pushed my way through the throng, & helped another guy lift the suitcase & throw it over the handrail, down into the office below....& we all bolted down the stairs & outside...
Poppa wasnt a lot of help! All he was interested in was getting the family's 5 motorbikes outside, & down the alley to the main street!
Other neighbours were racing down the alley with fire extinguishers, which were completely useless, as the two old wooden houses were completely ablaze, by now....
But, they did use them on any other spot fires.....which was sensible!
By this stage the alley was a sea of people....neighbours, backpackers from the two other guesthouses close to the fire, & stickybeakers off the street & neighbouring side alleys....
The police arrived (along with security guys from the bars on the street) & started trying to clear a way in, for the firemen who had just arrived....
Because of the narrowness of the alley, the fire truck had to park out on the street, & the fire guys gallop in , laying their hoses out behind them..
So....here we had the firemen trying to lay their hoses, carry breathing apparatus, place a standpipe for more water (which some fool had concreted in the access lid, during the upgrade of the alley plumbing, a few weeks ago.....luckily one neighbour had a sledge hammer, which he applied with vigour!)
Meanwhile the fire guys are trying to fight their way through the clowns, crowding the alley, taking photos on their cellphones (it was like New Years Eve fireworks, with all the flashes! )...some fools were taking "selfies" ! WTF? I have always thought it would be a great idea, to take a photo of myself, standing in front of a burning building...NOT !
Meanwhile the crowds are growing, pouring in from the street...the police had had enough...out came the batons!...I'd say there were some very sore heads the next day...it was a complete shambles!
Mind you, when some drunken western lout, beer bottle in hand, started shouting "Burn Baby Burn" I could have happily batoned him myself!!!
I had an altercation with a security guy, who was trying to shove me down the alley, & shouting at me "get out...go back to bar!"
Apparently he assumed that because our alley is mostly a local alley, that a white face shouldnt be there....why he thought a white haired granny, in her dressing gown would be out partying in a bar, is a mystery though...lol
I think they were all in a state of such panic, that all good sense deserted them....
To add to the panic, the power lines caught fire, & the breaker boxes along the alley started to explode, showering everyone with sparks, & plunging the alley into darkness...
In the midst of all this, Grandma & Hanh arrived, from their beer bar on the street, & took charge of our flock....which was a good thing, as Poppa was as much use in an emergency as tits on a bull!
He was doing a lot of shouting, & flapping, & not a lot else...older son & heir, Le, wasnt any better...he was among the photographic crew!
The chinese contingent had snuck back inside, & collected their belongings (this was the source of most of Poppas hysteria), & were shoving their way out of the alley (never to be seen again...lol)
I was sitting on our front steps, with our elderly, infirm neighbour, (having already made a plan to take us down the side alley, if the fire got any closer)...so by the time Hanh & Grandma arrived, I was the only one they had to concern themselves with...& they were happy to find I was calm, & in control of my wits.....not so Poppa...he was still bellowing & running in & out of the lobby...what he was actually doing is unclear, as he wasnt retrieving anything.....Grandma followed him in, adding to the round of shouting, then there was a loud slapping noise, & Poppa shot out, holding his cheek...Yep...she had slapped some sense into him!!!!
Anyway....finally the police got the crowd under control. & the fire crews did a jolly good job, with foam & water, to quell the fire, & prevent any more spread....
3 hrs, after dashing out into the night, I was allowed back inside & to bed....
At 5am, I woke again, to the sound of noise in the alley (not that this is unusual on 6 days a week...but this was Sunday, when most people have a day off...usually, when I go out to the street for my Sunday coffee, around 6am, you could hear a mouse fart!)
The power line men had arrived at first light & were busily mending the wires & the neighbours, up & down the alley were out starting the cleanup.....this is one of the strong points of the Vietnamese...the alley's they live in are their village, & when something bad happens, its all hands to the pump !
I was talking to the drinks lady, who lives across from me, when the door opened behind me...& a parade of sugar plum fairies, & their mothers, started filing out....
My estimation of Poppa went up...for all his faults, he loves children....he had gathered up all the traumatised kids & mothers, who lived very close to the fire, & bought them back to the guesthouse...well done Poppa!
Luckily nobody was killed, & apart from a few minor burns & some smoke inhalation, nobody was seriously hurt.....
My favourite mototaxi man has lost his home, & his brand new motorbike....same with the poor old cyclo guy, next door....
The two sisters who own the corner shop, next door to the fire, have had all their stock ruined with smoke & water damage....
The guesthouse opposite, & the two houses on either side of it, had all their windows blown out, & the air con boxes melted....but all day, the alley residents have been busy, helping put all to rights....makes me regain some faith in humanity!
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