To Hell and Back to Bangkok Again

First things first. I'm here, I'm alive and I'm so grateful. Our stay in Hanoi was noisy and bustling and busy. We met up with Maureen and Maggie again and went to see a water puppet show with them. A very old art in Viet Nam with an orchestra of ancient instruments accompanying puppets flowing through a water stage depicting ancient myths. We shopped, dodged traffic and walked and walked and walked. We also visited the famous Hanoi Hilton Prison where the French originally tortured and held the Vietnamese in the early 50's and the Vietnamese subsequently held the American pilots captured during the VN war. Senator McCain's flight suit is still prominently on display here. A hideous place. Man's inhumanity to man again, an echoing refrain on this journey through Asia.

One day while walking back to our hotel we heard a hell of a crash and turned around just in time to see an SUV pummel a scooter with 2 girls on it. The passenger flew through the air and slammed into the ground while the driver had her foot trapped under the bumper of the SUV with people yelling for the SUV to back up and us yelling "No!" but he did. Luckily he did not rip her leg off . It was quite gruesome but the police happened to be there at the time and pulled the girls away and threw them in cars and cleaned up the scene before anyone knew what was happening and the insane flow of traffic resumed as before. No accident reconstruction, no ambulances - no evidence. I could not stop thinking of those poor girls for days. The young lady who flew through the air was dragged to her feet in complete shock and God only knows what further damage was done through this action.

Hanoi is an exciting city but very tiring, the noise factor alone is nerve wracking. The Vietnamese people are very shrewd business people and while they don't appear friendly on the surface, they can be very sweet. One bizarre aspect of this city is that it starts buzzing at about 6am with food and flowers and wares of all sorts and goes full steam ahead all day, but at night everything slams shut at 11pm and the streets are deserted. We got lost at night trying to find our hotel as everything is shuttered and empty and foreign without the bustling life of the day.We contacted Miss Linh Chi, a friend of Bruce Chambers, to organize some tours for us over the coming week to Halong Bay and Sapa. Miss Chi is a lovely, gracious, kind and efficient young lady and if you do Viet Nam, you must hook up with her!

We embarked on a visually edible 3 hour minibus ride to Halong Bay viewing rice paddies, flower farms, rolling hills and the buzz of life in the country which made the trip whizz by. Upon arrival at the dock, we were greeted with the sight of dozens of huge junks harbored and awaiting their fresh catch of tourists for their one or two day sails. Our boat is luxurious and a walk back into time. If it were a train it would be the Orient Express. When we board the boat a young lady hands us cool wet cloths to wipe away the bus trip and after all parties have boarded, a total of 10 on this big boat, we set sail and settle in for a princely feast of a lunch. We are served cold white wine, king prawns, cracked crab, steamed garlic clams, crispy tasty fish and many other accompanying dishes while sailing out to a view of the 3000 island bay. If there is a heaven, then surely Halong Bay is the foyer.

We are sailed into ports of caves of grottos that are vast and cavernous and look like something out of a science fiction movie. Every time we disembark and return we are handed our small cool cloths to wipe our brows and there is always juice or fruit or some culinary treat to welcome us back aboard. After backpacking and stowing up in less than stellar accommodations, we have landed in the horn of plenty. Our cabin is cool and tropical and as luck would have it, we end up with the best berth on the boat with lots of room, hot water and comfort. Our companions are mostly Aussies with a couple of American girls. We make fast friends as we ooh and aah our way through the mysterious ocean mountains jutting out of the sea. At night we anchor in a bay amongst several other junks and again are served a delightful seafood supper and plentiful Viet Nam dishes. We are so relaxed for the first time in months there is little guilt for this indulgence. After dinner Ivan brings out his guitars and plays for the most appreciative cocktail set and a young fella from Australia accompanies him while the U.S. ladies are dipping for squid at the front of the boat. It was 2 days of bliss and then we are back on land and heading for Hanoi. It's a good thing we have had this respite as had we known what was to transpire over the next week, we would probably never have left the boat!

Back in Hanoi we ready for our trip to Sapa to visit the mountains where there are 10 indigenous hill tribes who live in the cultures and mores of history. It's a 10 hour train ride and a one hour mini bus to Sapa and as it turns out for us, an auspicious and ominous journey through the fog. Once in Sapa arriving early morning, we check in our hotel and go down to meet our tour guide, a sweet little Black H'mong girl who takes us out to the market and for a day trek into villages to see the life of the villagers who hold steadfastly to their old ways of dress, trade and lifestyle. We return for the evening and have dinner again in the fog. This is no ordinary fog, it is cold here and you cannot see your hand in front of your face. We catch small, jealous glimpses of the amazing terraced hillsides and vast scope of our altitudinous threshold. It is titillating and beyond our reach so we settle in and hope for the best.

In the middle of the night my stomach is grabbed by an iron fist and I spend the hours until dawn scuttling between bed and toilet. Something is very wrong and I cannot remember pain like this for a millenium. I had hoped that by daylight I would have purged my scourge but it was not to be, it was worse. And it got monumentally worse. Moaning, tossing, whimpering, trying to find a comfortable position with no release I start to realize that I am sicker than I probably know and that I most likely have food poisoning. The hotel sends up the doctor and he diagnoses, yes, food poisoning and leaves me with tablets and instructions. The pain worsens. I am so afraid, I really don't want to die in Viet Nam and poor Ivan stays beside me just staying calm and trying to find things for me to eat that may possibly stay down. No chance. We call the doctor back later and he starts to administer more meds and in the end we call for a private car to take me back to the train station an hour away to get to Hanoi before I reach a crisis. My last memory of Sapa is the doctor sitting beside me on the bed hanging IV bags from the coat rack and telling me "you don't worry, you don't worry", this after telling me that people die from this. Shit. The doctor was a lovely, caring man and I will never forget him for his compassion, patience and encouragement.

The thousand hour train ride was excruciating and again I alternate between the small bag beside my bed and the rattling, smelly train bathroom. Miss Chi met us at the station and took us directly to the French International Hospital where they admit me and take blood tests. My bacteria count is off the scale and after stabbing me a total of 5 times because I am so dehydrated (ouch dammit!), the young VN nurses finally find a vein to insert an IV. Over the period of the next 2 days I am infused with 15 bottles of rehydration solution and 3 bottles of cypro to fight the infection and am finally starting to come out of it. I was very weak, very afraid and immensely disappointed that this may be my last memory of Viet Nam. I am emminently grateful to all the people who helped me through this ordeal; Ivan, of course, my angel, the people at the hotel who got the doctor and were very concerned for me, the lovely doctor, the car driver, Miss Chi, My VietNam angel, and the nurses in Hanoi. I cannot thank you all enough. Mostly I am grateful to be here to write this blog!

We spent one recovery day in Hanoi and got the heck out of there as soon as we could. My very last foggy memory of Hanoi is in our car riding out of the city on the day before Tet ( The lunar New Year - everyone's birthday) watching the Vietnamese selling huge bundles of flowers, plants, finery, holding your breath as they balance pots of kumquat trees and pink blossom trees 2 and 3 at a time on their scooters, buying exotic foods and herbs and good luck charms and burning incense and fake money in the hope that this will be their prosperity to come. It's exciting and exhilarating and yet I am happy to leave it in my rear view mirror this day. The next morning we headed for Bangkok and here we sit. We have had a great 2 days here visiting markets, watching spiderman- like window washers on the sky scrapers, eating lovely Thai food again, riding the subway to the areas of the city we have come to know and love.

Last night we watched Chinese acrobats celebrate the New Year by balancing a wee, tiny girl standing on the shoulders of four to five people standing on eachother's shoulders; a stomach wrenching display as one wobble could send that nymph crashing to her death. The dragons danced, the firecrackers cracked and the Chinese are officially into the Year of the Dog (which by the way is supposed to be my year?!!). I bought knock off Gucci purses, enamel jewellry, we ate great Italian food and jostled our way through Patpong for the last time on this leg of the journey. All is well, we are both healthy again and tomorrow we click our heels and fly to Oz. Love to you all and wish us luck.

Asia et al

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything. I like to wait until I have something of some interest to report! We spent some beach time at Mui Ne - a couple mile strip of beach very famous for the kite and windsurfers. The kite surfing was very cool to watch, 10 of the world's best kiters were there and man, could they catch some air. I would love to try it but watching the learners left me a bit shy to give it a go just yet. The beach was kind of dirty and the water not a very pretty blue so we really didn't do any water stuff. Just lazed about and buzzed the strip on our rented scoot.

I left Mui Ne and Ivan behind for a couple of days to go to Nha Trang. When you are together 24/7 sometimes it's just best to take a break - as much as you love and care about someone, when you don't have alone time, it can get very stressful and when you are road weary, little horns are apt to sprout out of the top of your head (that would be me) so I journey on to give Ivan some practice time at the beach. I hate Nha Trang, it rains all the time I am there and I got lost so many times because of the wiggly back streets that I almost cried. Nasty little tourist trap it is and I could not wait to leave. When the cabbie finally picked me up for the airport, it was in a nasty little rattletrap cab that maxed out at 80kph and the airport was 35 kms away! We got passed by everything on the road including donkeys and I think one of the wheels was actually square. O h well. A one hour flight to Danang and then a 30 minute ride to Hoi An. Ivan, in the meantime, took a bus from Mui Ne to Nha Trang (about 4 hours) and then another one to Hoi An (about 11 hours) - he was a bit beat but because I was ahead of him, we couldn't organize a train or plane but he's a trouper.

Hoi An is jampacked with tailors! you can't swing a cat without hitting a tailor shop in this town. It's a world heritage sight and very old. Really quaint place and very pretty. We went to My Son - the Cham ruins for a trip one day by bus and back by another slow boat (we keep swearing off them) not such thrilling ruins when compared to Angkor Wat! I have attempted to have some silk clothes made with some good and not so good results. The first pair of pants I had made were so short I refused to take them which sent the shopgirl into paroxysms of rage as she screamed and hollered and spit at me. I refused to take her insults and persisted until the owner of the store caved in and gave me my money back. It's epidemic here, they do poor quality work, expect that you will be gone the next day and have no time for recourse and pocket your money. The next place made me some cute tops but screwed up a dress and pants so again I took only what I wanted and went again somewhere else. It was exhausting but overall I'm pleased with my buys - I got a rockin' jacket made and sent home so sometime in the distant future I will go home to a new coat. Ivan got a midnite blue silk jacket made and a black shirt and we bought him a silk dragonfly tie - zowie.

Walking down the street one day we hear "Hey, world travellers!" I turn around and there's Maggie Tai! So cool as I heard she was in Hanoi and that very morning emailed a friend for her email address and lo and behold here she is in Hoi An. We've been hanging out with her and her dear friend Maureen and it's been great to have pals to talk to. We will meet them again in Hanoi and Maggie (bless her golden heart) will make a stab at fixing this atrocious hair-do of mine. Hoi An is our favourite place in Viet Nam so far, so cool and charming with great restaurants, amazing art and shoe stores and ubiquitious tailor shops. Our hotel, suggested to us by Dan and Kita was really great - highly recommended for $15.00 night it was heaven. Big buffet breakie with banana pancakes, omelets, fresh fruit etc. included and free bikes and internet. What more could you ask for?? The name is Phuoc An.

Ok, well, today we are off to Hue for a couple of days and then on to Hanoi. Asia is coming to a close soon and none to soon I would say. As much as we have enjoyed it, there is only so much rice you can eat, so many scooters you can dodge and so many temples you can visit. I am dying to get to Australia for a barbi and some english recourse and the blue blue water. Until Hanoi....

Me n' Ive with Uncle Ho

Happy New Year! Me and Lam in Viet Nam.

Happy New Year!

More Comfortable than the Bus!

Killing Fields - Cambodia Khmer Rouge Victims

Over and out of Cambodia and on to Viet Nam

From Sihanoukville we moved on to Phnom Penh. The bus trips are gruelling even if they are short term - I HATE BUSES!! Usually we get stuck on the sunny side of the bus and cook all the way to the destination. Not to mention being cramped and the seats are not all that comfortable. Phnom Penh was a happy surprise though. It's a cool city, it even felt more laid back than expected and all the buildings are French Colonial with curly-cue ballistrades and a bit as I would imagine New Orleans looked. The big thing we did in PP was go to the killing fields where nearly 9000 bodies were uncovered after the Khmer Rouge were finished their brutal regime. It was sobering and tragic. We also went to the prison in the city where many of the prisoners were held before their trip to the fields. It's an ominous and gruesome site that gives you horrors just imaging the torture the Cambodians experienced in just 4 years of despotic rule by Pol Pot.

From PP, we took a bus to transfer to another slow boat to cross into Viet Nam. Did I mention that I HATE BUSES? We got on a boat that transferred us to the border where we got stamped and processed and then transferred to another slow boat that took us to stay overnight at a place called Chau Doc. On the way we got to see how people live on the Mekong Delta - it's a thriving, living thing, the Mekong River. We then had to take another bus to Ho Chi Minh city, about 6 hours in a minibus where I, of course, got the hot seat. Although 6 hours doesn't seem like much, it can be an eternity when every moment is filled with weaving and bobbing and the bus driver seems determined to blast your eardrums out with his assorted cassette collection.

We got to Miss Loi's guesthouse in Saigon on the eve of the 30th December and scoped out the area a bit. The next day we wandered about and found the tourist area called Pham Ngu Lao where all the travel agents, cheap guest houses and bars etc. are located. We met up with some guys playing the New Year's Eve gig at the Go-Go bar and Ivan jammed with them a bit and they said to come back later ....and so we did. As the evening turned out, Ivan played with the band at one bar and then we moved over after midnight to another bar where there were about 500 people inside and out and the band played on. It was a lot of fun - a very memorable New Year's eve.

We have shopped and grazed the food - VN food is very good but again, it's always difficult to translate but we do manage, and visited the VietNam war museum which is very, very moving and sobering. Throughout Laos, Cambodia and VN, we have encountered many, many people who are missing limbs from land mines left after the war as well as seeing a lot of people who are blind or disfigured from the agent orange sprayed across the country. Hearing and reading about it cannot describe the impact of seeing how it affects the daily life of the people here still, after 30 years!

Now for the damn, some times I wish I had just stayed home stuff...First day in the market, there's people pulling on you and distracting you and I feel something brush by my arm - my purse is open and I realize that a girl I can only see as a blur has pick-pocketed me - AGAIN! I ran after her and caught her by her shoulder and dug my fingernails into her and told her to GIVE ME MY MONEY - a crowd has gathered by now - and she, not really believing she has been caught, reaches into her pants and gives me back my $10 US bill. A bit of adrenaline on that one but it really felt good to come out on the upside of it. Then....New Year's eve - 3am - We are walking home arm in arm, I have my bag - tiny bag - around my shoulder, under my arm and a scooter comes whizzing up and they grab the bag right off my arm!!! I hung on tho and it fell in the road and they didn't get it. This is the very worst city in the country for theft and boy, do I know it now. I keep my bag snapped on my waist and away from traffic. Whew. Oh well, life on the road.

Tomorrow we head to Mui Nea which is a beach area and then head up to Hanoi via Danang, Hoi An, Hue and points in between. We have only this month left in Asia and on the 26th will head onwards to Australia where at least we can read the menus! I am still in mourning for my hair of which a good deal was lopped off by a well meaning Spaniard, a lovely guy really, in Cambodia but it will grow back and Safari Girl will triumph once again. Ciao for now.