A Post About Pollution

I think I have mentioned pollution a few times already. When I first got here, at the end of the rainy season and summer in August, the air quality was decent for being a city of 8 million.

Now that "winter" is coming and the rains are fewer, the rice fields are being burnt, the winds from the big neighbour blow in this direction and the haze from the Indonesian forest fires spread around South East Asia, the pollution in Hanoi rocketed sky high a few weeks ago. And the city itself sure contributes too. A The air quality index (AQI) was all the way reaching over 300, which is considered hazardous for humans.

This week we enjoyed good air quality again for a couple of days (the firsy two screen shots from my phone are from Friday and Sunday this week)! Lovely! I was fighting off a cold though and stayed indoors the whole weekend. But let's not focus on that.

Today the air quality is back to its normal "unhealthy" levels. I was feeling better and took a stroll along West Lake to people watch after a weekend in bed. West Lake is beautiful, as long as you don't take a took close look at the water. Look at the picture, you'll understand why. And it comes with a smell too.

I usually trak the air quality with an app called Air Visual to know if I should avoid the outdoors.

West Lake 

West Lake. On a clear day you can actually see mountains behind the buildings. I've only seen them once. 

Unicorns and Yoga mats

I've always been a pony girl. Not a lot of horses in Hanoi though! So I need to spend my time (and money) on something else.

Since I moved here, like everyone else, I joined a yoga center. And I kind of enjoy the yogi life. Maybe like being a pony girl, being a yogi is not just a hobby but a lifestyle. Kind of like bubble tea. Bubble tea is a lifestyle too, according to some. 

Anyways, there is a super nice yoga center conveniently close to the UN bulding where I work and I happend to see that they were arranging a yoga retreat. It's good to try new things so I signed up for the yoga retreat weekend that served vegetarian food only on the retreat. I've kind of missed a good veggie meal here - Vietnam is all about their pork and chicken!

So last Saturday morning I jumped on the bus with a bunch of other lovely yogies and we headed for Ba Vi national park outside of Hanoi for a weekend with yoga, veggies, waterfalls and unicorns!

The place was absolutely lovely. There was a waterfall right next to the traditional open-style house where we lived and everything was so GREEN and the air was so FRESH! 

We wen't for a swim in the waterfall between yoga workshops. The second day it was pouring so no waterfall swimming - the waterfall had turned into a dangerous mud colored beast becasue of the heavy rain. 

On Sunday afternoon I was super relaxed after a weekend of peace and quiet in the jungle. I wasn't too excited about going back to the pollution, but then again Hanoi always throws these small pleasant surprises my way. This morning my motorbike taxi driver recognized me "Hey I pick you up yesterday!" he said with a big smile. It's always nice with a familiar face in this city of 8 million people. 

A unicorn in the jungle