What we've been doing

Now, taking you back a week, here’s what we’ve been up to. Katherine returned on Monday, September 19. She arrived with Stephen and Bonnie, who were in the region for a conference Bonnie had in Hanoi. They stayed 2 nights in Vientiane, then headed to Vietnam on Wednesday.

Quality time for Katherine and me was put on hold, as I was control officer for a visitor from the State Dept’s office of Weapons Reduction and Abatement (the folks that run our UXO funding worldwide). He was in town Wednesday (21st) to Saturday for meetings with the GOL, and to meet with a consulting team that was wrapping up 4 weeks in Laos doing a needs assessment for the UXO sector. Their work will help the USG to decide how best to contribute aid to the sector in the coming years.

Anyway, a visit I was in charge of AND a townhall meeting for all AMCITs in Laos that we both had to work put a bit of a crimp into Katherine’s birthday celebration on the 22nd. The townhall was to talk with AMCITs about Avian Influenza, what we know, what we don’t, and what people can do to prepare for the worst. Very celebratory for Katherine’s 33rd birthday. After the townhall ended, we went out to dinner with friends, which was very fun.

Friday, I was busy again with meetings, culminating in an outbrief with the consulting team, the State guy and the Ambassador at 4:00 pm. Katherine headed to the airport ahead of me to check in for both of us as our flight to Hanoi was at 5:40. I swooped at about 5:15 and we got on the plane. We had to wait as a delegation of Vietnamese bigshots said their goodbyes on the tarmac, then filled in the first 10 rows of the plane. They had been in Laos for the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization meetings (so many ASEAN meetings here).

Upon arrival, we went to the Sheraton Hanoi (the hotel that Bonnie’s conference was at) and were informed that we would be upgraded to a better room. Lovely. Saturday morning, we got up at 4:30 am for our 6:30 flight to Da Nang, a 30 minute drive from Hoi An. Our hotel in Hoi An, the Vinh Hung I Hotel as opposed to the Vinh Hung II, Vinh Hung III and Vinh Hung Resort is in an old Chinese house. It was very cool, and right in the middle of the old city. We had breakfast at a little café down the street, where we were accosted multiple times by people hawking newspapers, postcards, and other crap. A big difference between Lao and Vietnamese hawkers is the persistence with which the Vietnamese go about their trade. It’s not often that you are bothered in the least on the streets of Vientiane. Our most entertaining hawker was an old man with a bathroom scale, who wanted people to pay him for the pleasure of weighing themselves on the street. He would come by about every 5 minutes to see if we had changed our minds.

We spent the morning walking around the old city, the central market, and the waterfront. Unfortunately (for me, at least) the quaint, historic old city has been turned into a shopping ghetto. As you walked down the street, it was shoe store, art store, curio store, dress shop, art store, curio store, shoe store, café, shoe store, curio store ad infinitum. You get the idea.

By about 2:00 we had walked most of the town, and it was really hot. So we decided to get on Captain Danh’s boat and float down the river for a while. I guess the steady beat of the motor, the cool breeze, and the fact that I got 4 hours of sleep conspired to put me to sleep, so I slept for about 25 minutes. But we did get to watch people fishing and the general life that goes on on the river in Vietnam. Towards late afternoon, Katherine went off to nap and Stephen and I found an outdoor café to enjoy a lovely beer, then found a bar with a decent pool table and spent a few hours playing pool. That night, we went to Brother’s café for dinner, which was a lovely outdoor restaurant right on the river. Unfortunately for Katherine, being on the river means that sometimes big rats poke their heads out and say hello, which happened to us once. Katherine doesn’t like rats.

Sunday morning we piled into a van and drove to Hue, about 2 ½ hours up the coast. WE passed through Da Nang again, then over the Hai Van pass, which was very beautiful. The drive was along the coast for the most part. Very beautiful. The South China Sea to our right and rice paddies and mountains to our left.

We stayed at the Saigon Morin hotel in Hue, right across the street from the Perfume River. We headed straight for the river to get on another boat. Where all the boats in Hoi An had eyes painted on them, each of the boats that take people on the river in Hue had dragon heads on the front. Our entire crew consisted of women (who couldn’t start the engine without help from a man…chalk one up for the men in the battle of the sexes).

We motored up river towards the mountains, and stopped off at a couple pagodas/temples, including the Thien Mu Pagoda, one of the most famous structures in Vietnam. It is a 7-level Pagoda, representing 7 incarnations of Buddha. . Hue is known for the huge, ornate, royal tombs of the Emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945). Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to get to any of the tombs on Sunday, an Monday morning the rain kept us away. However, we did spend our rainy Monday morning walking around the Citadel. The Citadel, which was built in the early 1800s, was the home of the Emperors. Unfortunately, Hue saw heavy fighting in 1968 just after the Tet Offensive, and the fiercest fighting took place in and around the Citadel, and it was almost completely destroyed. The Forbidden City (the place reserved for the Emperor and his concubines (only Eunuchs were allowed in, so as not to be tempted by the concubines), was completely destroyed, so it’s now just a grass field.

Anyway, that was our trip to Hoi An and Hue. We flew back to Hanoi on Monday afternoon, arriving in rain about 4:30 pm. We were again upgraded at the Sheraton, but this time to the Presidential Suite. We figure that there are only certain rooms with the required equipment to keep track of the goings on of foreigners, and given the color of our passports, we were pretty much a 99% likely target. As such, we got the royal treatment. Free drinks on the club floor, butlers at our beck and call, and about a 2,000 square foot suite. However, the room also included a guy sneaking around at 7:30 am after Katherine left the next morning but before I’d woken up. I woke up to see our ‘butler’ peaking in the bedroom from the living room. When I noticed him, he asked whether I needed any laundry done. Good cover. Anyway, they can sneak around my room anytime, as long as they upgrade us to the presidential suite.

My time in HCMC was work during the day, and fun at night. HCMC is much like Bangkok, vibrant, frenetic, etc. during the day, with good food, and good fun at night. I came home Saturday very tired. So tired that I think I’m due for a nap now, Sunday at 2:00 pm.
Next visitors arrive October 14, when Luther and Marilyn Nervig arrive for two weeks, followed by Ari and Jennine, Geoffrey and Melissa, and Stens and Ford. Then a break for a few weeks, followed by Kim and Matt and Rick and Astri over New Year’s in Koh Chang and Vientiane, Diana and Alan for a month in January/February, and Sarah and Scott for 10 days in February. I’m tired just thinking about it.

Photos below. Some pictures of Hue still in the camera, and no photo evidence of my time in HCMC will be forthcoming.