 | 16.
Second Day, Off to Vinh Long! (June 22, 2004)Day Two. 05/18 Journey to Vinh Long
I woke up the next day to find out we were going to travel to Thu's parents home in Vinh Long. This normally involves a three hour drive and a fifteen minute boat ride. We were basically going to accompany Thu's parents home. Well, the three hour drive actually ended up being closer to six because of a traffic jam caused by construction. We were able to get a boat easily enough, but it was after dark by then. No problem, we set off in two small boats carrying about ten people total, without a light among us. Have I mentioned the Vietnamese casual disregard for death. It was really eerie motoring along the river in nearly complete darkness. After a couple minutes my eyes adjusted so that I could see fairly well. There were, of course, lights on the shore, and the larger boats normally had lights of some sort. I even noticed a boat with a proper set of nav lights (green on one side, red on the other). The river was about 50 feet wide. Eventually, we turned into a smaller tributary, and then into an even smaller one. This branch of the river was only about 20 ft wide, but it still felt deep. The lights were getting fewer and fewer, until all of a sudden we came to a large house that was all lit up. Thu was home.
A word here about Vietnamese river boats. The boats we used to get to Thu's house were identical to the ones in James Bonds "Man with the Golden Gun" That is, they're long and slender, with an outboard motor in the rear. The motor isn't what we consider an outboard, its basically a standard two or four stroke engine mounted on a long pole, there's a straight shaft that runs along the pole and ends in the propeller. The whole deal is mounted so that the weight of the engine is balanced by the weight of the pole so that the boatman can swing the propeller up or down and back and forth. By the way, these boats all have round bottoms, so they are very unstable, but very maneuverable.
We pulled up to a small wooden jetty and hopped onshore. Well, Thu hopped nimbly. I kind of staggered and fumbled, but with the grace of God and lots of helping hands I was able to get ashore without falling in. By then it was getting pretty late, so we took our showers and went to bed.
Thu's family home is rather difficult to describe. Well, actually it's not that hard. The place is really only a barn, that's been upgraded with internal partitions. The basic structure is a steel reinforced concrete frame, with a tile floor and a corrugated steel roof. The walls are planks of wood that, while flat, where never trimmed down from the shape of the tree they where cut from. So to make a wall, planks of similar shape are simply fitted together. If it wasn't so crude, it'd actually look artistic. Thankfully there's a real bathroom with shower. (No surprise, Thu sent them money to build one). The original bathroom was a seat on a wooden jetty over a pond out behind the house. At least this place has electricity. Oh, and the kitchens are out back as well. The food is cooked over an open fireplace. The house is divided into about four or five rooms, with about that many beds. The beds deserve comment, as they have no mattresses, just thin rattan mats. Me and Thu bought a mattress for our bed, we left it there, but with all the heat, humidity and vermin, I'm not sure how long it will last. Mosquito nets are standard. All in all, it's pretty rustic, but when you remember that the temperature basically never varies from 90 to 100 degrees F, it's pretty comfortable. It didn't rain while we where there thankfully, you could see the holes in the roof. |
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 | 17.
First Day (June 22, 2004)Return to Vietnam.
This will be the first time we (my wife and I) have visited Vietnam since I brought her to the United States almost three years ago.
Since that time, we've been married and had a child. A small but precocious lad named Robert, who is just shy two years old. By saving our money, we decided that we would have enough to visit Thu's family and let them see their grand child.
The Flight.
We traveled as a party of five, me, Thu and Robert as well as our friends Gerald and Le. The flight was only mildly horrible. I am now guilty of doing what I despise others for. I'm traveling with a small baby. A small loud, rambunctious, difficult to control little monster. Thankfully we are not alone. Gerald and Le are traveling with us, and are able to provide assistance at need. There were some good moments. Robert was able to sleep for a few hours, and was pretty good about playing quietly for most of the rest of the trip. He didn't get sick, and didn't make a mess (at least not a huge one). The airline attendants were really patient with us as well. In addition, San Fran International terminal has a great Sushi Bar, (dammed expensive, but good). Travel Note, always bring food bars and water, what the airlines supply is never enough.
Day One: 05/17
We arrive at Da Nang, and find a scene of absolute total chaos. Which is pretty normal. Actually, getting off the airplane and going through customs is pretty well organized. The chaos starts at the baggage pickup. Luggage is thrown around pretty indiscriminately, and people are crowding around fighting to get both carts and a place at the carousel. Thu got pissed that I couldn't find our luggage right away and made me wait with Robert and our carry on luggage, while she went looking. Sure enough, she found them within moments. Robert seemed to find the whole thing rather amusing. He just sat there in his stroller looking around with a smile. Getting through security was a lot like being in Vietnamese traffic, you just crowd around the Baggage Xray machine, and toss your luggage into the first gap you find. Thankfully, they let you hang on to the carts until you get to the parking lot.
Once you exit the terminal you walk into a wall of humidity and noise. The front of the terminal is just packed with hundreds of people. Fortunately, our party was waiting for us, so we were able to force our way through with no problems. This was Roberts first meeting with his Vietnamese kin. It went fairly well, for them anyway. How Robert felt, being hugged and kissed by all these strangers... Well, he didn't seem to mind. The party included Thu's parents and most of her siblings, plus Miss Hong and her son Vu. It was good to see them. I tried to take some pictures but it was so hot and humid that the camera lens fogged up. We got ourselves a van and headed off into Saigon.
The heat in southern Vietnam is constant and oppressive. During the day, it saps your strength, but it's at night that it's at it's worst. You see, air conditioning is extremely expensive, and thus rare. And, for some reason, the Vietnamese don't believe in putting screens in their windows. So, when night comes, they close all the windows and doors and turn their homes into virtual ovens. Trying to sleep under circumstances like this is really hard. Xai has a kind of evaporative air conditioner, which barely works because the air is so humid, it's almost impossible to get any kind of evaporation. Interesting question, does putting ice into an evaporative air conditioner make it work better or worse. After all, the goal is to get the water to change state, but if the temperature the water is lower, not as much will be evaporated. Yes, no... Need to research this...
We went to a friend of Thus, a pretty young wife named Xai. Her husband is staying in France, so she had an extra bedroom that we could use. It's a nice compact house, about 1300 square feet with two bedrooms and a bath. For a wonder, this place had only three people living here, Thu's friend Xai, her mother and daughter (most Vietnamese houses are much more crowded). I was able to take a quick shower, and had a light supper, and I then I passed out. I was coherent enough to notice when Thu put Robert next to me and then went to bed herself, but I didn't really recover until the next day. I did have time to do something stupid. I had brought along a PDA with some EBooks on it. By the time we got to Vietnam, it's batteries were dead. I checked the rating of the power supply, which clearly stated that it was limited to 110 Volts, but I figured what the hell, and I plugged it into a 220 volt outlet. The outlet let off a little puff of smoke and I yanked the unit clear. Hands shaking, I checked the status of the PDA, it had survived. Sometimes God watches over the stupid and tired. I packed the PDA away and went to bed. |
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