Good Morning VIETNAM!!!

Left Nanning on the 15th and needless to say, it was a lonely couple of days without Erin. There was nothing (in my estimation) to do in or around Nanning as it was just another Chinese city. I felt like such a loser walking around town, eating by myself, barely saying 3 words over the course of the day. That being said, I did have an interesting incident happen on the day that I went to pick up my passport at the Vietnam Consulate (Monday the 14th). If you'll remember on my last post, I could not find a Vietnam Lonely Planet guide book in China. I knew that I wanted to get from Nanning to Hanoi, but I was not too sure how that was all going to transpire. When I went to the consulate, my visa/passport was not ready yet and they told me to come back at 6pm. I decided to sit and read there and as I sat down, I noticed that they had a Southeast Asia Lonely Planet in their office which included Vietnam. I asked if I could browse through it and then it dawned on me to ask them if I could buy it. They said no and followed in broken English with, "Someone loose it." I took that as someone lost it and it was now their copy that they were unwilling to sell to me. I sat down again to read it and then thought, "Well, let me ask them if I can make photo copies of the Vietnam section". I asked them if they had a copier in the office and they said no. Then I asked them if I could take it to make some copies and then bring it back when I came back at 6 for my passport. They said yes and I walked out the door, made the copies and came back 2 hours later at 5pm and gave them the book. 6:00 came around and people started rushing the window from all sides (Chinese protocol when "lining up" for something). As I let the masses squabble, I noticed that there was this one "Westerner" in amongst the cattle. I made a brief mental note as most Westerners don't usually bum rush the show and then continued to read my book. 10 seconds later, that same guy came up to me and said "Did you take my "F" ing book (in his British accent)? I said "Excuse me?" "Did you take my F-ing book? The guys over there said you took it." " Whoa" I said. "There must have been some misunderstanding because I asked them if I could take it to make some photo copies and they said yes." Then he went on to drop more "F" bombs saying that he had been all over town looking for it and spent 40 Yuan doing that. I apologized but he just continued to be an ass. So I killed him...just kidding. I told him that there was a misunderstanding and I would be more than happy to pay the $5 but that there was no reason for him to act like that. "You'll loose every time." was my last sentence and I looked at him and said in way to let him know that he may be going a little too far. Now, I am a lover- not fighter but the adrenaline was pumping and I had a little time to process things as I was caught off guard. I was going for my wallet and with that said, he replied, "Ahhh, forget it." and walked out. I would like to think that he was intimidated by my look/words as he was a smaller "bloke", but more than likely, he couldn't be bothered. I don't know what compelled me to post this. It's just that it was so out of the blue (the entire incident lasted 45 seconds or so). And I remember thinking after I made the copies, how good of a day it was and that if you have faith in the cosmic forces that be, all things will work themselves out. Then that happened. I spent the the next several hours playing the scenario through my head and thinking to myself what I should have done or said. I hate it when that happens. I was so miffed at myself for not just kicking his ass:) that I even had a hard time falling to sleep. Oh well. I guess what I really want to say is please don't let that be you and F him.

Crossed the border the next day without incident and met a very nice couple from Singapore on the train (we chatted to help time pass) and a Vietnamese cardiologist from Na Trang who I ended up sharing a short taxi ride with to the actual border patrol station. He gave me his contact info. and told me to contact him when I get to Na Trang. NICE! Vietnam was already showing some of it's colors. From the border, I met up with every Westerner that was on that train (7 of us) and with strength in numbers, we negotiated our rides to the train station (got beat up on the first Vietnamese transaction - as to be expected) and then made our way to Hanoi. Since then, I have traveled with this group (in various forms) around Hanoi,

Halong Bay

and now Sapa (the local market, spirits and indigenous hill tribe kids).

I'm traveling with a guy by the name of Christian now who is from Germany. We took the night train up last night from Hanoi
and we'll hike around the local villages around Sapa over the next few days. Vietnam has been good to me as food, beer and accommodation are cheap (here we are eating on the side of a road in downtown Hanoi - The vendor carries everything that she needs to make a fresh bowl of Pho right in front of you including plates and seats!),
the people are nice and the haggling has been kept to a minimum (got beat up a little on our Halong Bay cruise ship for 3 days and 2 nights but it's a small price to pay when I look at the fun that I had and the location that surrounded me.) Still getting used to the money as it was weird withdrawing 2,000,000 Dong(that's million BTW) from the ATM the other day (16,000 Dong = $1)

Thanks for all the positive thoughts that have been sent to Erin and her mom and please keep them coming. As the Beatles said - "All you need is love".

FMP
Parting shot - Ho Chi Min reincarnated?