Day 40- Traveling

I’m not quite home yet as I got stuck in Bangkok today. Delta only has 2 flights per day out of Bangkok and I flew in after the last one had already departed. This meant that the Delta counter shut down for the day before I could get information from them about the flights for tomorrow and the next few days. It’s a little bit worrisome since 2 flights per day seems like nothing, and with the weekend coming up the odds of full flights also increase and I’m looking at a perfect storm that could extend my trip for a while. Since I have some flexibility I’m trying to look at it like an opportunity to spend more time in some pretty awesome places and see it as more of an adventure than a burden but sometimes when you get in the finish strong mode its hard to not want to git er done. The other unfortunate dilemma is that the train to and from the airport starts at 6 AM and ends at 12 AM -not bad hours- but the first Delta flight is at 6 AM. So unless I want to cut my chances in half of making a flight I have to find an alternate route to the airport or leave early from wherever I’m staying. And since the airport is out of the city about 30 minutes that cuts out a cab possibility (the end of the trip penny pinching really does compound everything). So the question is as follows: do I spend money for a place to stay tonight even though I wont be staying past midnight… or do I spend another night in the Bangkok Airport? The first sleepover with the other travelers was not my favorite experience of the trip, but to be honest, a cushioned row of seats will be without a doubt more comfortable than the bed I’ve actually grown to like at the Peace House. I think I’m taking my chances at the airport tonight. Everyone cross your fingers for me about the flights tomorrow.

As I start to connect more and more flights toward home I’m slowly going to be re-introduced to western civilization. Its actually quite interesting how my travels from city to city transitions me back into the life I know. Ho Chi Minh City is definitely the most far removed from what I am accustomed to, and now that I’m in Bangkok, I notice more intricacies that have been introduced by tourism. You start to notice little things like the speed at which you are served food or the accessibility of a power source. And by the time I hit Tokyo the organization and structure will all but resemble home, and only cultural differences will remain. And I do have to add that Minneapolis, MN will be a pretty awesome sight when I get there. It’s funny how when your travels take you so far away and distance you from so much that you are familiar with, the more you start to expand your concept of home. 6 weeks ago I would have said 3965 Hawthorne Circle was my home, but now I would call all of the United States my home… possibly even throw Canada in there just for kicks. What from home am I most looking forward to? Probably some fast food with my parents on the way home from the airport. I was rather astonished at how little of a presence American fast food had in Ho Chi Minh City. The only chain with any stores was surprisingly KFC (or dirty bird as the Aussies and Kiwis referred to it). I’m glad that there wasn’t a McDonalds and a Starbucks on every street corner though, it didn’t allow me to use it as a Western crutch and it forced me to eat Vietnamese food. That doesn’t necessarily mean eat healthier as much of the food is still fried, but I think a ceremonial fast food run will still happen before I indulge on copious amounts of fresh produce. 

Day 38- Da Nang

Another weekend in the books, and time is slipping away on this Vietnam adventure. I officially end my volunteering stint in two days and leave this great country as per my visa. But to avoid focusing on the end of the journey, lets talk about the past few days. I was fortunate enough to meet four great Australian girls during this trip who were all friends with one another and decided to come out to Vietnam and volunteer together. Matt and I could always count on them doing something fun and out of the ordinary. They took many many trips during their stay here (which ended a week earlier than mine) and as their farewell excursion they visited a town in Central Vietnam called Da Nang. Da Nang, which is farther North than my last trip to Mui Ne, is similar to Mui Ne only in the way that it was new to me.

What convinced Matt and I to go to Da Nang was the great deal that we got on our hotel accommodation because of the girls. They all work for an international hotel chain back in Newcastle, Australia and get ridiculous rates on their sister hotels. So needless to say, Matt and I were able to stay pretty lavishly for dirt cheap. I didn’t really like the luxuriousness of the hotel if we are being completely honest. I came to Vietnam to live like the Vietnamese and really immerse myself in as much culture as I could, and our stay in Da Nang could not have been more different. We were isolated from a lot there in our resort and it really forced our hand to eat, travel, and live out of character. But I should accept the break and the generosity from the girls… lets just say I’m glad to be back. I really have stayed in the best and worst conditions here on this trip.

There were of course many highlights from the excursion, and one of the most noteworthy was the town of Hoi An. Just to the south of Da Nang, Hoi An is one of the most culturally rich areas I’ve visited here. We spent two entire days going to Hoi An’s “old district” where the buildings are visibly worn and the streets are quiet (quiet meaning you don’t have vendors following or tugging or yelling at you and motorbikes and cars honking for you to get out of their way) and really allow you to get into an element. There were several areas that are blocked off to all motor vehicles and the best way to describe them is just peaceful. One of the biggest attractions in Hoi An are the tailors and designers, every other store is a tailoring shop. I got a jacket made and it fits like a glove... It really was a pretty cool experience, I walked in to one of the tailors with the rest of the group and next thing I knew I was being fitted for a jacket. The store was huge and full of every fabric you could imagine, and when I settled on a dark brow corduroy 1’x1’ swath of display fabric I thought to myself there was no way that Rebecca (all of the staff adopted mainstream western names which was both funny and sad that something like that clearly made a difference in their sales) would be able to churn out a recognizable quality product. But low and behold, 24 hours later she had. To celebrate the success of the endeavor we all got dressed up that night in our new duds and went to dinner.

And of course, I couldn’t possibly leave out the beach time that we got in over the course of the weekend… Second weekend in a row that I’ve had sand between my toes and an ocean breeze through my wet hair, and I consider myself lucky to have escaped both encounters without a sunburn… 

Da Nang from David Daly on Vimeo.