Cockadoodle-don’t you dare!

During one of my days off this week I was rudely awoken at 4:15am by the sound of a cockerel crowing.  This is nothing new here in ‘Nam, during my first week in the country my accommodation was arranged by the school.  Unfortunately, they opt to house all of their new teachers in a guesthouse on one of the busiest roads in the heart of backpackerland.  Not only do you have to deal with the noise from the traffic, drunken party revellers and locals shouting in the beautiful tonal language that is Vietnamese, but you may also find your neighbours own one of these god forsaken birds.  Cock fighting is common in these parts, so you can expect to see many cockerels strutting down alleyways, tethered by bailing twine or trapped inside wicker basket prisons on the pavement.

So, in the wee small hours, bearing all this in mind I very calmly surfaced from my bed, closed the bathroom window and door, managed to ram my ear plugs in to the appropriate orifices and placed my pillow over my head.  It seemed to do the job, until 6:00am, when the bird got a second wind and resumed crowing.

Now, I like my sleep and having already been disturbed two hours previously I was not to be messed with.  This time, I very calmly surfaced from my bed, opened the bathroom window and door, managed to ram the shower head out of the appropriate gap in the window and turned my shower on full.  It seemed to do the trick, the bird ceased squawking; however, the shrill, tonal shouting from one of my neighbours was something I hadn’t bargained on.  C’est la vie – I call it karma: you wake me up, I’ll wake you up a little more!

Surprisingly, the sound of silence resonated over night until I woke naturally the following morning at around 9:00am – bliss.

A xx