puking in hanoi

By: JenElliott Mood: happy Date: 08/01/2007 06:44:15 Music: None

Well we have moved on to the central coast.  It is possibly warmer here, but our senses are disturbed.  The heat causes us to walk around in delerium.  Luckily, one of us always seems to pull through and find a sense of direction, while the other is stumbling through the streets like we just finished a bottle of homemade rice wine.  We left the mountains and returned to the city on Saturday night.  Sapa (the mountain city) wore out it's welcome fast with me.  The climate is beautiful and the people interesting, yet the hawkers constantly harassing you to buy something wears your patience thin.  It is rather sad to see these people reduced to selling crap on the street while gloriously dressed in their traditional clothing.  The hotel we stayed in was beyond a dump.  Huge insects in the room, very dirty. But hey, I think that place cost 5$, so you can't expect much more.  We took the night train back to Hanoi, this time I slept like a baby.  We arrived in the city at 5am with no where to go and all of our belongings, which continue to grow.  We wandered the streets for a while, then camped out in front of the hotel we had previously stayed at.  When they finally opened, they gave us a respite from the street, though it is nearly boiling temperatures in their lobby.  The streets of Hanoi in the early morning are very different and almost unrecognizable from the midday.  It is even easier to get lost when all is closed and the streets are closer to still.  As the morning grew and we waited for our cab to the airport I began feeling ill.  Finally we are on our way to the airport, I can feel the contents of my stomach desperately wanting to breathe oxygen again.  As we twisted out of the city I could hold it no more and quickly rolled down the window and vomited all over the side of the cab and possibly the car behind us.  The driver pulled over and ran to a roadside stand for some water, yet I was too nervous to take it from him, considering he looked like he had avian influenza.  I popped a Phenergan and we continued to the airport.  I was in a complete fog.  Stacy was convinced I was very sick, I was fearful too.  However, we landed the plane in Danang and I began feeling well.  We traveled on to Hoi An where we are today.  It is not what I expected here, it is very touristy-Sedona.  We spent most of our time in town at a tailors having clothes made.  Pretty amazing to point at a picture in a magazine say "I want that" and 24 hours later you have exactly that for 10$, custom fit.  Now we are resting on the beach at a very nice resort. Not my cup of tea, but it is spoiling us nicely.  We only have two days of luxury then we return to the 10$hotels.  Tomorrow we are off to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) then Chau Doc and from there a boat up the Mekong Delta into Cambodia.  I look forward to Phnom Penh and the Angor Wats.  This is the life