A summary of the past few weeks….

Leaving Tuy Hoa seemed sad. We had met some exceptional people via Anthony’s work, most of whom have family connections in Tuy Hoa, returning to their home town after study and work to then teach at the technical college. They have an extraordinary capacity and motivation to work. Unfortunately it seems that health, play and family take a back seat to the expectations of work. For someone who is currently making an art out of doing very little, I found the ‘pace at which they ran themselves into the ground’ quite odd.

Once we arrived in Saigon we seemed pretty charged to check out the museums, eat at some delectable and aesthetically awesome restaurants, walk around slowly with our head down at timeless temples and splash out at the water parks – much to Tycho’s utter joy. Ten days later we were still there and loving it as much as the first day. We were very comfortable in our midrange hotel. You need comfort in Saigon. Great place to visit but I would say it would be a ‘bitch’ of a place to live (excuse the French). Why? Bloody (oops there I go again) hot and tiring. We managed to seek out beach action by catching a hydrofoil to Vang Tau (famous as the Australian base during the war) and a taxi to Long Hai. We stepped out of our midrange hotels and stepped into a fantastic guest house owned by the ‘military’ for $12 total! Yes the military! We were spoilt – beaches to ourselves due to mid week status. We managed to indulge ourselves at a nearby resort for a $6 day entry rather than the $200 a night rate. There was much swimming pool action to be had, cocktails, and scrumptious food. We were very happy to go back to our military guest house in the evening.

Finally we said good bye to Saigon and Vietnam and headed over to Bangkok. Super hyped up to explore BKK as a tourist; something we have never had much time to do in previous visits. Finally managed to get to the Grand Palace (so awe inspiring we were feeling a bit sheepish at never having been before); finally managed to get to the reclining Buddha (worth the hype – exceeded all expectations); finally visited the snake farm (slippery) and Anthony and Tycho went to an aquarium.

Bangkok food courts are marvelous and were our preference for lunch and dinner. I don’t think I could ever ‘do’ BKK without staying somewhere with a pool – especially with a kid in tow. Afternoons spent splashing about at the Hotel Reno’s 70’s style pool. Unfortunately our exuberance was cut short as I started suffering flu symptoms and feeling out of breath. After a hospital visit and x-ray I was diagnosed with a bout of pneumonia. Rest was in order. A check up x-ray in Nong Khai hospital about a week later showed I had no pneumonia. Thank god for drugs. So I seem fine now. Tycho also got some bug but not so seriously.

Tycho loved BKK – the sounds, color, pace, the eclectic variety of transport, the assortment of shops and the general frenetic nature of the place.

We finally got out of BKK and spend 3 days in lovely Ayutthaya (Thailand). One of those spots I’ve always wanted to visit and never got around to. It is a superb place and I would be as bold to suggest that it is as good as the Angkor temple complex in Cambodia and it is a mere couple of hours from BKK. Anyone who knows anything about it would know that was the ancient capital up until the 18th century. There are temple ruins EVERYWHERE, virtually in people’s back yards. It was also said to be the Venice of the East and despite this description used loosely to describe other places as well it really has waterways running throughout the town. Ugly modern developments haven’t sprung up and it has kept its rural or small town charm.

We stayed in an active, busy, homely yet overpriced guest house. Unfortunately they wouldn’t want us to show our faces around there again too soon due to the awesome tantrum Tycho had over not getting a chocolate! A guest checked out due to our child’s musical screams.

A familiar overnight train up to Nong Khai brought us closer to our second home town – Vientiane. The trip up was dominated by meeting an assortment of characters. It was quite refreshing after meeting a long series of ‘flashpackers’. Dave – a daring traveler, who had been to 108 countries and counting; he certainly has made a true commitment to ‘travelling’ rather than ‘holidaying’. His last trip was to Sierra Leone and Somalia. Collin – a New Yorker, young fella and currently a kick boxer. He barely had any baht to his name and was doing a visa run into Laos for Thailand – he entered Laos with no bags, no clothes, just a diary and a pen. The whingey Scotsman – looking older than he would have been due to too much smoking and not being happy. The enthusiastic, positive and honest mid 40’s something American who had been living in a series of Asian countries since he was 25 and wanted to return to the States. He felt that most men he knew who have Asian wives become unhappy and bitter after two years of marriage, usually overwhelmed by family emotional and financial commitments and cultural differences. He said amongst his friends ‘the honeymoon period’ is short. Kids (lucky them!) seem to come quickly (often the second time round for most of them), and sex on tap either stops or becomes less attractive. Interesting.

Then finally the Icelandic punk in his late 40’s also making a Thai visa run into Laos. I was looking over a hotel balcony watching the night life of Vientiane below – yes the city now has an energy about it at night. He came stumbling down the hallway but decided to take some ‘smoking air’ on the balcony. He looked like he parties hard. He was planning to marry his Thai girlfriend. They met in Patthaya while she was working!!!! He was looking forward to meeting her family which are big fish where they live – mafia. He is a long way from Iceland. Good luck to him.

Unusual rainfall welcomed us to the region. Luckily the rains dried up after a couple of days.

Vientiane (Lao PDR) – a week has passed and it just feels like we live here again. It still hasn’t lost its ability to embrace us like we are family. There are still enough people kicking about here who were friends we met during 2000 and 2002. We are staying in a patch of heaven at a very dear friend’s place. Suzie’s house is perfect; a spacious tropical villa with a charming garden. Our time has been taken up by visiting friends and chilling out. Bliss. Oh I could live here again in a flash – obtaining work, working visa and transport are the main constraints from making that happen. We’ll see what happens.

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