Computer Problems in Vietnam

It is very difficult to post to the blog here in Vietnam. The computers are slow. And the Internet connections are often off. Two days ago, I spent 22 minutes opening my e-mail and reading ONE e-mail. Then I logged off rather than spend maybe 10 minutes on each email. It was frustrating. If Idon't post for a few days, it will be because I have no connection.

Note: The present computer has a broken space bar(as do many computers in 3rd world countries, caused, Ithink, from kids hitting the bar so often playing games. So please excuse any run-togethers that occur because the space bar didn't react to my hitting it.

Thursday, Aug. 31, Haiphong and on the Train

I was miserable this day. I either had a cold or allergies. I felt so bad that I wished I could take a knife and carve off my noseand sinus cavaties. My head wasaching. Unlike previousdays, I didn't really fell like trying to interact with locals.

My train wasn't to leave until 3 p.m., and I had toleave my room around 9. That gave me 6hours of walking around town in misery. I got onto a computer after lookingfor ages for a cyber cafe. And the connection was horrible (the one I wrote about above where it took me 22 minutes to openthe e-mail and readonemessage).

I stopped for lunch and ordered fried rice. It was dry and didn't havemuch flavor. It just wasn't my day!

While waiting for the train at the station, a young woman sat beside me. She was young and slender and wore pedal pushers, heals, and astretch top. I figured she was up to something, since there were plenty of other emply seats. Soon, she madeher move, asking if I would like to "have her." She used her finger to write "22" on my leg. I don't know if she was sayingshe was 22 years old or if she was asking 22,000 dong (Vietnamese prices are always in thousands which people denote by the number of thousands) for time withher. She looked at my ticket, and Icould tell she was disappointed that her train seat wasnot nearmine.

As the train made it way toward Hanoi, my nose started clearing up. I think I have a slight cold, but apparently a lot of my misery was caused by allergies to something in the air that I was breathing on the previous day as I rode the open train carto Haiphong.

What a surprise when I arrived in Hanoi. My train didn't go to Hanoi Station (which is where I needed to be for my next train in less than an hour). It stopped at a surburban station out by the Red River. The workers told me it was two more stations to Hanoi Station, but that this train did not go any further. I rushed out of the station to find a ride. The first motorcycle driver wanted too much money (about 4 times the normal fare). I finally got another driver who would take me for about 2 times the fare. But then it became obvious that he didn't understand where I wanted to go. I made him stop at a sidewalk cafe and found someone who could tell him "Hanoi Station" in Vietnamese. I got to the station in about 20 minutes, just as the gates were opening for us to board my scheduled train to Hue.

The train to Hue was much nicer than the one to Haiphong. I was in an airconditioned sleeper. It had compartments with four beds per compartment. My other roommates were all Vietnamese--a soldier in uniform, abusinessman, and an old man--slender with a long, scraggly Ho-Chi-Minh-style beard. None of them spoke English. But I was so tired from feeling bad and from the day that I was ready to sleep anyway. The airconditioning further cleared my sinuses, so that I breathed quite well asthe train rocked and clacked through the night. The nextmorning, only the old man and I werestill inthe compartment. He was a nice man. We communicated through our eyes and through hand motions a couple of times. When I departed, he shook my hand.

Friday, Sept. 2, Hue

I froze on the train. The air conditioning blew hard and cold all night. I spent much of my time trying tohold my comforter so that it would block the breezefromhitting my head. If I covered up with the comforter, I got too hot. So at the same time I was trying toblock the ac, I was trying to form a tent so the air could come up under it to cool me down. But I felt so much better this morning than I did yesterday.

I got a nice room in Hue. It's huge with windows and a door all across one wall which opens to a balcony overlooking the residential street where the hotel is located. There are nice trees outside, and the curtains on the window have cords to drap them back so that I can look out onto the tree tops. It also allows lots of light to enter the room so that I can read. The bed is huge and firm. There arethe usual items that all hotels seem tohave here inVietnam--air conditioning, mini-fridge, satellite TV, etc. But the satelliteTV does not operate well here. There are constant blips where the signal is missed.

I ateBahn Khoai for lunch. That's a local dish that consists of a crispy folded pancake made from rice flour and eggs and filled with shrimp, pork, and sprouts. It was served with lots of leaves (as are many dishes here in Vietnam) anda peanut-sesame dipping sauce. It was sort of like a Vietnamese taco, so I picked it up in my fingers to dip it and to take bites. It was delicious. Icould have eaten two. I should have, since it only cost about 40 cents, but I decided not to so that I would be hungry enough to go out for dinner inthe evening.

It was so hot and miserable that I stayed inside during the afternoon and read. I finished reading Trojan Warrior by Clive Custer. It was given to me and is not a book I would have bought. It confirmed my thesis that books with shiny covers are never great literaature; they tend to bethe "B" books for quick entertainment. The story was full of holes, too many coincidences that would never occur naturally, and too many instances of everything working out perfectly. It was an entertaining story, however. The author is fullof himself, though (as evidenced by bringing himself inthe story and having the opening pages of the book point out how similar the author's life is to that of the center character's life [who is the central character in all of his books apparently]), and I don't think I would consider reading another of his books for that reason alone. I gave it 2 to 2 1/2 stars out of 4.

I went to a sidewalk restaurant last night where I saw many people eating at lunchtime. There was an American family there in the evening--father, mother, teenage soon, teenage daughter, and younger daughter. I guessed that he mayhave been inthe war here, since he was balding on top. When they left the restaurant, they were on cycles--a motorized bicycle for the wife and one of the children, and a motorcycle for the father and the other two children. What an experience this must be for those children to be here traveling. It reminded me of the British family I met and traveled with for 2 weeks 6-7 years ago who had their two children--a 12-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girm--with them on a year-long trip through the far east.

My dinner was another local specialty and was fantastic. It was chicken and vegetables on a bed of crispy noodles. The sauce was a little sweet, and the meal just crunched and melted inmy mouth. Ummmmm! It's one I took a photo of.

Saturday, Sept. 2, 2006--Hue (Vietnamese Independence Day)

I had the free breakfast at my hotel--warm French loaf, butter, jam, freshly-squeezed orange juice, and plate of cut fruit. Then Iheaded toward the Imperial City--one of the twomain sites to see here. On the way, however, I got sidetracked. As I started to cross the Perfume River, I saw that they were having boat races and that a huge crowd was there. I changed my plans and headed for the races.

I worked my way to a central location. There, I interacted with a couple of young boys who were giggling and sayinghello. They were too short to see, so Ilifted one up. That made him giggle even more. I walked further intot he crowd to try to get inthe shade. Soon a young man was beside me and introduced himself as Tan, anemployee of one of the hotels in town. We stoodand watchedthe races together for along time. Then he invited me to sit at a table and have a drink. When it came, it was some kind of a creamy juice in a glass of ice. I know I shouldn't drink something inlocal ice (which I know is not the kind manufactured from purified water), but I couldn't refuse the drink after it had been ordered. I drank it as fast as I could before the ice could melt much. It's now been 8 hours and my stomach feels fine, so I hope I am home free from the potential disaster. After about 6races, I excused myself and headed to the Imperial City.

Hue was the capital of Vietnam when it had emporers. The Imperial City was their home. Much of it has been destroyed in wars, but there are a few buildings still standing and somethat have been restored. It's a World Heritage Site and is well worth the designation. What I especially liked about it was the used of glazing. The tiles on the roofs are glazed. Glazed porcelain is used for decorative effect everywhere. It's really nice. But it was so hot. And I got sunburned.

I stopped at a restaurant for somedelicous noodle beef soup onmy home. But I spent the afternoon in my hotel tired and relaxing.