MIDDLE OF THE WEEK
Greetings to all back home in OZ … Well, I thought it was well overdue to add to the blog, but since there has been no recent drama’s, I thought it would be all too boring for all to read.
Work here at CHIA is going great, we get two OT’s from Canada in a few days, and I’ve been appointed the person to do the inductions and get them to settle in and give then their task lists … Me ??? Yep, the bosses (Aussies and Vietnamese) are making it clear to me every day that they want me to stay, not go home ever. Of course you would when you get free labour, but I guess I must be doing all the right things to be even offered a “free” voluntary position for another 9 months … as Project Development Officer, with accommodation thrown in …. But home I will come in November … and will consider the future … (maybe my boss would LOVE to arrange a secondment for a few months on full pay?? !! pssst Jock – John :o) )
Anyway all organised for the girls, gunna be the eternal language issues; as French is their native tongue, with english second; going to be lots of areas where stuff gets lost in translation. Just had lunch again with the troops …. Not getting much easier to eat street food … again was rice, grass clippings (they call it vegetable) … chicken bones with a sliver of tough dead chook … (they call it meat). Banana’s are ripe when they are green, lemons and oranges too!
One of the boys took me out for dinner last night in the ancient town to a “local” restaurant … not too bad actually, once you got past the grime .. Now I know that the wages here are not good, so I said that I was going to pay the bill, and had a heck of a time to do so without him appearing to lose face. Even bought him a beer, something he can’t afford often – a Heineken – 20 000 dong here .. about $1.30 … dessert was a disaster, thought I’d go pancakes with banana .. if I had my camera would have taken a photo … think they threw small amounts of batter in at a time, then threw bits of bananas, so you can image what it looked like … yep … like twenty overcooked pikelets all stuck together and turned rubbery! … was less than $1 so didn’t mind wasting it. We were upstairs overlooking the river, so could not throw the chick bones onto the floor for the dog to eat – it couldn’t get up the stairs … even I had problems with the stairs … they are soooo narrow and sooo high and most railings are a bit on the wobbly side.
Came close to having my first crash on the bike last night …. Motor bike turned in front of me … which is not unusual, but I didn’t see that it was carrying a coffin behind it … then got the giggles, at the image of me sprawled across the top of the coffin, then got the wobbles and got stuck in the sand on the side of the road (there’s lots of that here … quite thick, and comes about a metre from the road side on both sides of the road) … but amazed that I stayed upright, and safe.
Took bike back to my bike fix-it-man at the weekend, cause the light for the battery went flat …. 3 hours and 200 000 dong later, he say … all fixed … thank you madam … see you later … and of course when the sun went down, did the light work ??….. NO …. Ripped off again … no good going back, cause the general opinion here is if it’s broken, fix it for the day, and if its broken again tomorrow, fix it again … I guess that gives everyone something to do every day. Am learning soooooo much here, ie patience patience PATIENCE…. Just shrug the shoulders and say öh well” .. things might be better tomorrow.
ATM’s are a classic … some days open, sometimes closed, but always with an EXPECTED time to re-open … and most don’t … (especially when you need it) … sometimes you can get a max of 1 000 000 and sometimes 5 000 000 out. Most annoying cause each time you take money out it costs $5 back in Oz, so you want to get a big lot out in one go.
Our little kitten Sinatra is thriving … he can even purr now, still unsteady on is feet, when he shakes his head he falls over. None of the Vietnamese staff like cats, (as pets anyway) … maybe they are tucker back at home!; so It’s up to Nadine and I to do all the feeding – down to four hourly feeds now! And when he curls up he still fits into the palm of my hand! So cute …
Took the treadlie back out to the beach last weekend! … It’s still a mess from the storm, but was such a great “winters” day … came home absolutely cooked, and Suong from Fawlty Towers came running towards me crying: “You want doctor?” … No I say, no doctor, just sunburn … “Sit down Madam” she say .. I get you cold drink and cold towel and banana before you go upstairs. All I wanted was to get into the shower … the sand over on the beaches her is so fine, it sticks like glue, and I just wanted to wash it all off … but no, I had to sit and do as I was told, until they were satisfied that I wasn’t going to die from sunburn.
OK better go and see if I can upload this now, everyone is starting to wake up, so it’s time to get back to work again ….
Hope that the flooding back in Grafton wasn’t too bad … spoke to Ben ? from Bello this morning – he said it was minor down there … and Holly had a little baby boy last week! Yeah! Cheryl oi … hurry up and book to come back …. So I can book for HCM – will have to do it through Mr Hung cause it will be a last minute reservation!
So bye for now … take care all … sorry Chrissie, I can’t write every day!! Hug hug lyn oi
now nighttime and can finally get into the blog to post ... news news news - Cheryl coming back to HCM Friday evening ... I going down there ... and we coming back to Hoi An Saturday arvo ... then back to the Orphanage again at 7am Sunday morning ... yeah yeah
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
ANOTHER WEEK FLIES BY ... AND ALL IS WELL
Hello to everyone back home ... well it's Saturday night here now, and I can't believe that I've been here for 8 weeks. This week has just been a week of working hard; the long hours here sure take their toll on you by the end of the week.
Tuesday evening Miss Nadine asked where I was going for dinner ... and suggested a restaurant (cafe) that I had never heard of, let alone been to before ... so off to Cafe 43 we went ... and when we arrived the little lady who runs the show was running across the cement and was about to throw something over the back fence, or maybe against the wall, when she spied Nadine and cried "here" .. and threw this tiny little kitten into her hand .. Nadine (the softy that she is) went to mush and asked Madam Cafe who it belonged to. "You" cried Madam Cafe .... and that was it ... so began a week of bottle feeding this tiny little thing .... Survived the week on human childrens formula.... lucky that Stella (from Argentina) brought back a baby animal feeding bottle kit last time she came back to Vietnam, so we had a proper little bottle. Three hourly feeds for the first night ... then in to work all day, to be fed everytime it wakes up .... It's been to the vet who declared that it is healthy .... was unnamed until yesterday ... nothing seemed to suit ... then we looked into its big blue eyes .... so ... Frank ??? .... no ... Sinatra it is ... It gets around town with Nadine in a little back pack / shoulder bag ... and of course wees everytime it's travelling between venues! BM is surrogate Mumma ... it looks cute now ... not the scrawney pathetic runt that it looked like on Tuesday ... thriving under our care .... bet it has worms big time though ... grrr
Besides my english lessons at work (boy, the girls have trouble pronoucing "sheet") ... and i'll leave it at that .... we've been working on setting up a pilot programme in the next district to Hoi An ... now Hoi An is not the most affluent little town, but Duy Xuyen (pron: you swin .. go figure) is poor, poor, poor .... and its a big area ... goes from the coast up to the mountains .... and there are so many children up there who are born disabled ... non verbals, and slight movement etc ... they have never seen doctors ... can't afford them ... so many with multiple problems .... it's another case of where do you start .... and you can't help them all .... but who is the person who should choose which child / family should receive assistance ... and who misses out .... there are no hospitals, not many schools, literacy levels are very very low, most families are farming families ... they don't ask for help, because they do not know that help is available. So sad. Anyway, we are setting this up, and going to run a project ... hope that ALL the government agencies / people's committees / and welfare dept's support this . There are so many hoops to jump through before you start ... but all the staff are so enthusiastic about it ... they just want to get out there and help. Enough about that ...
Am now eating with the natives during lunch .... they go out any buy me what ever they are buying for themselves .... it's a real challenge to eat sometimes ... and i should be losing weight by now ... but not ... and wonder it it has anything to do with the number of cans of coke i drink for energy (and I hate coke) ... or the number of mars bars that i sneak out and buy from the shop next door .... now the family who has this shop love me! .... the shop section is on the ground floor ... and it goes a few metres back .... and then their home starts ... the lounge / eating / kitchen all together .... and its separated by the fridge ... where all my goodies are kept ... You keep everything in a fridge here ... cause the ants get into everything if you dont ... The only thing they don't get into is ginger (which i've taken a great liking too - except it gives you wind like nothing else in the world ... maybe i just eat too much of it!!) ...
better go ... line up behind me for the computer .... love to all back home .....
GET WELL PHIL ...... THEY TOLD ME YOU WERE IN HOSPITAL .... HOPE THAT ALL IS WELL AND YOU ARE HOME REAL SOON .... IF IT'S YOUR TICKER AGAIN .... GET IT FIXED!! HUG HUG BM
Tuesday evening Miss Nadine asked where I was going for dinner ... and suggested a restaurant (cafe) that I had never heard of, let alone been to before ... so off to Cafe 43 we went ... and when we arrived the little lady who runs the show was running across the cement and was about to throw something over the back fence, or maybe against the wall, when she spied Nadine and cried "here" .. and threw this tiny little kitten into her hand .. Nadine (the softy that she is) went to mush and asked Madam Cafe who it belonged to. "You" cried Madam Cafe .... and that was it ... so began a week of bottle feeding this tiny little thing .... Survived the week on human childrens formula.... lucky that Stella (from Argentina) brought back a baby animal feeding bottle kit last time she came back to Vietnam, so we had a proper little bottle. Three hourly feeds for the first night ... then in to work all day, to be fed everytime it wakes up .... It's been to the vet who declared that it is healthy .... was unnamed until yesterday ... nothing seemed to suit ... then we looked into its big blue eyes .... so ... Frank ??? .... no ... Sinatra it is ... It gets around town with Nadine in a little back pack / shoulder bag ... and of course wees everytime it's travelling between venues! BM is surrogate Mumma ... it looks cute now ... not the scrawney pathetic runt that it looked like on Tuesday ... thriving under our care .... bet it has worms big time though ... grrr
Besides my english lessons at work (boy, the girls have trouble pronoucing "sheet") ... and i'll leave it at that .... we've been working on setting up a pilot programme in the next district to Hoi An ... now Hoi An is not the most affluent little town, but Duy Xuyen (pron: you swin .. go figure) is poor, poor, poor .... and its a big area ... goes from the coast up to the mountains .... and there are so many children up there who are born disabled ... non verbals, and slight movement etc ... they have never seen doctors ... can't afford them ... so many with multiple problems .... it's another case of where do you start .... and you can't help them all .... but who is the person who should choose which child / family should receive assistance ... and who misses out .... there are no hospitals, not many schools, literacy levels are very very low, most families are farming families ... they don't ask for help, because they do not know that help is available. So sad. Anyway, we are setting this up, and going to run a project ... hope that ALL the government agencies / people's committees / and welfare dept's support this . There are so many hoops to jump through before you start ... but all the staff are so enthusiastic about it ... they just want to get out there and help. Enough about that ...
Am now eating with the natives during lunch .... they go out any buy me what ever they are buying for themselves .... it's a real challenge to eat sometimes ... and i should be losing weight by now ... but not ... and wonder it it has anything to do with the number of cans of coke i drink for energy (and I hate coke) ... or the number of mars bars that i sneak out and buy from the shop next door .... now the family who has this shop love me! .... the shop section is on the ground floor ... and it goes a few metres back .... and then their home starts ... the lounge / eating / kitchen all together .... and its separated by the fridge ... where all my goodies are kept ... You keep everything in a fridge here ... cause the ants get into everything if you dont ... The only thing they don't get into is ginger (which i've taken a great liking too - except it gives you wind like nothing else in the world ... maybe i just eat too much of it!!) ...
better go ... line up behind me for the computer .... love to all back home .....
GET WELL PHIL ...... THEY TOLD ME YOU WERE IN HOSPITAL .... HOPE THAT ALL IS WELL AND YOU ARE HOME REAL SOON .... IF IT'S YOUR TICKER AGAIN .... GET IT FIXED!! HUG HUG BM
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
CHIA Disaster Relief Work
And now some pictures taken at work on Monday afternoon .... Enjoy ... they are a great bunch of people here ... and they tolerate me well (even like me) !! :o) ... There's MOI .... Van, Dung, Loc, Vuong, Chau, our physio, IT guru, Accountant, Physio Translator .... many of the other staff were out in the field for the day ....
wedding piccies
crossing my fingers that they upload ok today .... :o) ... yes they did .... please enjoy, after all the effort it has taken ... me, chookhead, bride, groom, and all the crew from fawlty towers!!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
yesterday was disaster relief day here
trying to upload photos of the wedding, the internet was going up down / slow ... so gave up in frustration ....
It's Tuesday lunchtime now, nearly everyone has gone out for a while to eat, get something to eat, go home, and then come back here and bunk down on the floor and have the daily nanna nap .... Think I will just stay in and do this and then make a couple of vegemite and RyVita biscuits for my lunch. Supplies are getting very low now ... will be out of all aussie food by tomorrow ... then may need another trip back up to Danang to visit Metro and find supplies of the western kind. Tried to share my lunch with the girls and boys here yesterday, but they no like the vegemite at all.... guess it's the same with me trying some of their lunch ... There are some things that are great, and other things, well, my stomach (and it's a pretty strong one) starts turning with the first whiff of "nasty" food.
Yesterday was a great day when we finally got out the supplies to our CHIA families that needed help. Many of them are / were housed in bamboo houses, and they are gone, and many of the brick ones are damaged. Clothing and food was lost ... lots of it .. so we had boxes and boxes of noodles and heaps and heaps of clothing to distribute. Spend the morning sorting through and bagging up clothing, and then started the stacking on the footpath for the trip to the districts for distribution. Loc (lop) out it guy couldn't get a car from down the street, so .... no problem ... the guys and girls just grabbed their motor bikes and started stacking bags and boxes in front and behind them, then they took off down the street to go to the ferry (not like aussie ferries I tell ya) .... and then back again ... like little ants for an hour or so just getting everything to the ferry.
BM has the task of minding everything that is roadside to ensure that the locals didn't come along and steal it all ..... and I'm sure that if I wasn't there ... the roadside would have been cleared in a couple of minutes .... You gotta be quick in the country sometimes ...
When it was all taken to the ferry ... the rest of the (Vietnamese) staff spend the afternoon ... getting to the other side, and them to the communities for the distribution..... BM did not get to go - a new westerner would have caused some embarassment at their situations. But I was just glad to have helped from the home office.
We have another couple of ausies Garry and Sandra who are big beneficiaries to CHIA here at the moment ... they are working hard out in the field ... Garry is a builder, and sandra his off-sider ... busy restoring some roofs, and securing
shaky roofs (there are more big storms coming) .... adding doors and windows to some of the homes (that didn't even have any before) ... and replacing some that were lost by Katsana's winds and rain. Many homes here don't have windows or doors .... just walls and roof ... fly screens are way out of the question ...
We've done some prep work at the office for a disaster management plan for the staff / their families / and the office for the future. But honestly, i think it's us westerners who get concerned about what MIGHT happen in the future, the local natives just take it as it comes, and clean up after, then wait for the next thing to happen ... think that somewhere in the middle might be healthiest for all, but that's not going to happen.
Not much else to tell at the moment - work is going great, the people are so good, what they do is amazing for what little resources are available. All the money that everyone back home entrusted me with has now been spent. And spent wisely, We have some children who now have one year of education, books, food, support, uniforms etc .... we have rebuilt the home of a family of one of the young children who has just had heart surgery .... we have provided the protein for all the children at the orphanage to supplement their meals for three months .... we have bought a motor bike (so cheap - like $40 AUD) for another family so they can take their child to school, which allows the child to live at home ... and the bike can also transport their farm produce to the market. So all in all, we have made a difference to the lives of quite a few people, and i know that it has been 100% spent on the people
It's Tuesday lunchtime now, nearly everyone has gone out for a while to eat, get something to eat, go home, and then come back here and bunk down on the floor and have the daily nanna nap .... Think I will just stay in and do this and then make a couple of vegemite and RyVita biscuits for my lunch. Supplies are getting very low now ... will be out of all aussie food by tomorrow ... then may need another trip back up to Danang to visit Metro and find supplies of the western kind. Tried to share my lunch with the girls and boys here yesterday, but they no like the vegemite at all.... guess it's the same with me trying some of their lunch ... There are some things that are great, and other things, well, my stomach (and it's a pretty strong one) starts turning with the first whiff of "nasty" food.
Yesterday was a great day when we finally got out the supplies to our CHIA families that needed help. Many of them are / were housed in bamboo houses, and they are gone, and many of the brick ones are damaged. Clothing and food was lost ... lots of it .. so we had boxes and boxes of noodles and heaps and heaps of clothing to distribute. Spend the morning sorting through and bagging up clothing, and then started the stacking on the footpath for the trip to the districts for distribution. Loc (lop) out it guy couldn't get a car from down the street, so .... no problem ... the guys and girls just grabbed their motor bikes and started stacking bags and boxes in front and behind them, then they took off down the street to go to the ferry (not like aussie ferries I tell ya) .... and then back again ... like little ants for an hour or so just getting everything to the ferry.
BM has the task of minding everything that is roadside to ensure that the locals didn't come along and steal it all ..... and I'm sure that if I wasn't there ... the roadside would have been cleared in a couple of minutes .... You gotta be quick in the country sometimes ...
When it was all taken to the ferry ... the rest of the (Vietnamese) staff spend the afternoon ... getting to the other side, and them to the communities for the distribution..... BM did not get to go - a new westerner would have caused some embarassment at their situations. But I was just glad to have helped from the home office.
We have another couple of ausies Garry and Sandra who are big beneficiaries to CHIA here at the moment ... they are working hard out in the field ... Garry is a builder, and sandra his off-sider ... busy restoring some roofs, and securing
shaky roofs (there are more big storms coming) .... adding doors and windows to some of the homes (that didn't even have any before) ... and replacing some that were lost by Katsana's winds and rain. Many homes here don't have windows or doors .... just walls and roof ... fly screens are way out of the question ...
We've done some prep work at the office for a disaster management plan for the staff / their families / and the office for the future. But honestly, i think it's us westerners who get concerned about what MIGHT happen in the future, the local natives just take it as it comes, and clean up after, then wait for the next thing to happen ... think that somewhere in the middle might be healthiest for all, but that's not going to happen.
Not much else to tell at the moment - work is going great, the people are so good, what they do is amazing for what little resources are available. All the money that everyone back home entrusted me with has now been spent. And spent wisely, We have some children who now have one year of education, books, food, support, uniforms etc .... we have rebuilt the home of a family of one of the young children who has just had heart surgery .... we have provided the protein for all the children at the orphanage to supplement their meals for three months .... we have bought a motor bike (so cheap - like $40 AUD) for another family so they can take their child to school, which allows the child to live at home ... and the bike can also transport their farm produce to the market. So all in all, we have made a difference to the lives of quite a few people, and i know that it has been 100% spent on the people
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Rain, chook heads, floods and prawn whiskers! ... all at the wedding reception party!!
Hi All
Now, by now you've all guessed that yes means, yes, no, maybe, and that no also means yes. So, I should have guessed that I would have been taken to THE wedding party. Unlike anything ... anytime ... anywhere ...
It started off with BM and the five girls piling into Taxi to head over to Cam Am Island for the party ... now Cam An is still struggling to get back on its feet after the flood, and it's raining again ... We back out of the street, and BM's head is jammed against the roof, feeling like the elephant. Much conversation with taxi driver ensues, and we drive back to the hotel. Wondering if it was because of my head .... but NO ... we can't get over the bridge in a car / taxi because of the floods .... OK out we get and onto the back of a motor bike I get ... with trusty Evil Suong as my driver. Raining all the way, with the other four girls zipping in and out of the traffic ... I could tell it was them because from under the tele-tubbies i could see the gold heels of their well clad (and socked) little feet.
Now, I;'ve just been told that it's good luck at a wedding party to have a westerner there ... but I guess they haven't heard of MY history re weddings. So I keep quiet. I've still got a little belly trouble from all the tablets I've have to take this week .... So, I'm guest of Honour ...
Well it's set up between a kids party and an inauguration, I can't tell which, and I';m trying to remember vietnames ettiquete (sp??? it's wrong I know) when it comes to formal things.
Twelve round tables, all with about 12 little red plastic chairs, a huge karoke machine, and speakers that would do any outdoor concert proud. Everyone sits, and if you are the eldest at the table, nothing happens until the eldest commences, and then everyone can join in. So I spy a menu ... and try to quietly ask Suong or Mai what the future is going to offer me in the way of food .... They try and tell me, but before long they are all just laughing looking at the menu and then back at me .... Getting a little concerned now ... but no time for that ... its time to drink .... out come the buckets with ice ... not so clear ice .... and into the little glasses with red spots on them (think peanut butter jars now) .... And there are drinks everywhere .... beer ... beer ... and more of the stuff and finally i see a can of coke .... Everyone gets a glass full .... BUT ... there is a problem, if someone wants a drink .... everyone must drink .... OK I can do this I think, but then there is a vietnamese one, two, three, cheers that must be said before every drink, and one must clink glasses with everyone else around the table ... and because I'm oldest, I must hold my glass higher than everyone else .... get the picture here ???
I look around, and see food, kitchen, ladies cooking .... food everywhere ... dear lord, I;m now wondering how I'm going to get through this .... Out comes the first platter - plastic of course, It's ok I can deal with this I'm thinking, but there is silence at the table, because someone has filled my bowl and they are all waiting for me to start .... before they do ...
Take deep breath now ... I can do this ... its a salad .... with squid ... and there is sauce everyone ... yes ... first swallow ok ... then everyong tucks in, across the table ... under and over each others arms ....
I spy my glass of coke ... it now has pepper and chilli sauce floating across the surface ... hmmm .. I think ... but not for too long ... someone wants a drink ... so we all drink ... coke and peppercorns ... nice .... I look down and someone has filled my bowl again ... NOoooo I cry, I'm quite full thank you very much .... NOOOOO they reply ... you must eat ....
Out comes second course ... the table loots like a pig has run across it by now ... and its prawns, my tummy starts rebelling .... deep fried prawns ... with heads, whiskers and all ... and they are bigg-ish ... (in oz you would de-vien them) .... So my bowl is filled by four at the table, and its brimming with whiskers ... and they are all looking at me and waiting .... then someone tips a little sauce on top to soften them for me ... OK hold your breath and do it .... Crunchy ... hot ... I'm starting to gag ... and need a drink ... but my drink looks like a fruit salad by now ... but i need a drink badly ... so grab the glass, and up come another 12 glasses ... "one two three ...." Keep eating lyn oi they cry .....
Just them the bride and groom decide that they need to have a photo of themselves with BM ... so plant themselves beside me for the official pic .... so I try and comply and give a great big grin, when Mai besides me calls Nooo ... and quickly wipes my bottom lip .... prawn whiskers on ones bottom lip does not bode well for official wedding pics .... I gag .... I need a drink ... so we all have another drink again .... mine is now melted ice, coke, fanta, pepper corn, chilli sauce .... and I find a sprig of mint (that fell off someones prawn)
Then I realise that whe you are finished a course, or a plate, or a can, you just thrown it under the table .... excellent I'm thinking, they won't even notice when I throw up ...
Then comes the next dish ... I look away, can't do it Im thinking.... how do i get out of here .... but I'm stuck near the back corner ... I look down and see ....... my bowl ..... full again ..... YES, as guest of honour, I got the chicken head, beak, eyes and all ... steamed ....
Silence ..... i have tears in my eyes and can;t look up, when everyone breaks out into such laughter that the room stops and they all stare .... at me and chook head! Can't do it .... i said ... I'm quite full now thank you very much .... No, not yet comes the reply .... we wait for you ... You wanna sing karoke for us all now .... our pleasure ..... Not on your nelly I said .... "What's a nelly ... they ask .... dear god ... i must be on drugs!
I wish I drank beer ..... I start to cough ... Yes, I still have a bit of a barky cough ... and I cough, yep ... up comes a couple of prawn whiskers ... need the loo badly now .... so my trusty guides take my hand to the loo .... but ... you can't sit down .. so still coughing, i pee on my feet ... thank goodness for the plastic saucepan in the bucket of water in the loo with me .... need to wash feet, hands, face ... need to get out of here ....
But its raining too hard .... and the girls tell me that they've had too much to drink to double me back through the now flooding streets ... yes its a storm flood again .... Mr Baaa and his wife tell me that they will bring me home ... AFTER ....
OK, not long now .... but three more dishes arrive at the table .... Can't do it .... what's that pink stuff??? .... pork ... wonderful they say, but all I can see at this point in time are the three pigs that were taken to the slaughterhouse yesterday afternoon behind work!
Everyone else is having a merry old time .... there is so much loud music, singing, food, drinks, patting each other on the back .... men dancing with men ... women ... cooking!! and laughing ...
Madam An arrives back at the table with a wonderful glow ... so proud to have brought the westerner to bring luck to the wedding ... everyone who walks past me squeezes my fat arms ... for fat = wealth .... they must think i'm the wealthiest person at the wedding.
Escape time comes ... Mr Baa needs to go home ... I'm asking, if we couldn't drive to the wedding ... how come we can drive home ..... we go under the plank across the bridge he says .... and off we go .... safe ... until we get back to this side .... water flooding roads again .... seeping inside the car .... the shops are getting the backwash from the cars .... the bikes are stalling, and the push bike riders are knee deep .... but we made it .....
Back at hotel safely, can't quite believe the evening that has occurred ... tummy definitely upset .... throat threatening to cough ..... What an experience .... just had to get this down before bed, or don't think i would have slept ....
Can't wait for a quiet family meal back in oz ... or an office lunch ... or dinner with friends ... I'm sure going to appreciate them ! bye for now .... will upload pics as evidence soon! lyn oi
Now, by now you've all guessed that yes means, yes, no, maybe, and that no also means yes. So, I should have guessed that I would have been taken to THE wedding party. Unlike anything ... anytime ... anywhere ...
It started off with BM and the five girls piling into Taxi to head over to Cam Am Island for the party ... now Cam An is still struggling to get back on its feet after the flood, and it's raining again ... We back out of the street, and BM's head is jammed against the roof, feeling like the elephant. Much conversation with taxi driver ensues, and we drive back to the hotel. Wondering if it was because of my head .... but NO ... we can't get over the bridge in a car / taxi because of the floods .... OK out we get and onto the back of a motor bike I get ... with trusty Evil Suong as my driver. Raining all the way, with the other four girls zipping in and out of the traffic ... I could tell it was them because from under the tele-tubbies i could see the gold heels of their well clad (and socked) little feet.
Now, I;'ve just been told that it's good luck at a wedding party to have a westerner there ... but I guess they haven't heard of MY history re weddings. So I keep quiet. I've still got a little belly trouble from all the tablets I've have to take this week .... So, I'm guest of Honour ...
Well it's set up between a kids party and an inauguration, I can't tell which, and I';m trying to remember vietnames ettiquete (sp??? it's wrong I know) when it comes to formal things.
Twelve round tables, all with about 12 little red plastic chairs, a huge karoke machine, and speakers that would do any outdoor concert proud. Everyone sits, and if you are the eldest at the table, nothing happens until the eldest commences, and then everyone can join in. So I spy a menu ... and try to quietly ask Suong or Mai what the future is going to offer me in the way of food .... They try and tell me, but before long they are all just laughing looking at the menu and then back at me .... Getting a little concerned now ... but no time for that ... its time to drink .... out come the buckets with ice ... not so clear ice .... and into the little glasses with red spots on them (think peanut butter jars now) .... And there are drinks everywhere .... beer ... beer ... and more of the stuff and finally i see a can of coke .... Everyone gets a glass full .... BUT ... there is a problem, if someone wants a drink .... everyone must drink .... OK I can do this I think, but then there is a vietnamese one, two, three, cheers that must be said before every drink, and one must clink glasses with everyone else around the table ... and because I'm oldest, I must hold my glass higher than everyone else .... get the picture here ???
I look around, and see food, kitchen, ladies cooking .... food everywhere ... dear lord, I;m now wondering how I'm going to get through this .... Out comes the first platter - plastic of course, It's ok I can deal with this I'm thinking, but there is silence at the table, because someone has filled my bowl and they are all waiting for me to start .... before they do ...
Take deep breath now ... I can do this ... its a salad .... with squid ... and there is sauce everyone ... yes ... first swallow ok ... then everyong tucks in, across the table ... under and over each others arms ....
I spy my glass of coke ... it now has pepper and chilli sauce floating across the surface ... hmmm .. I think ... but not for too long ... someone wants a drink ... so we all drink ... coke and peppercorns ... nice .... I look down and someone has filled my bowl again ... NOoooo I cry, I'm quite full thank you very much .... NOOOOO they reply ... you must eat ....
Out comes second course ... the table loots like a pig has run across it by now ... and its prawns, my tummy starts rebelling .... deep fried prawns ... with heads, whiskers and all ... and they are bigg-ish ... (in oz you would de-vien them) .... So my bowl is filled by four at the table, and its brimming with whiskers ... and they are all looking at me and waiting .... then someone tips a little sauce on top to soften them for me ... OK hold your breath and do it .... Crunchy ... hot ... I'm starting to gag ... and need a drink ... but my drink looks like a fruit salad by now ... but i need a drink badly ... so grab the glass, and up come another 12 glasses ... "one two three ...." Keep eating lyn oi they cry .....
Just them the bride and groom decide that they need to have a photo of themselves with BM ... so plant themselves beside me for the official pic .... so I try and comply and give a great big grin, when Mai besides me calls Nooo ... and quickly wipes my bottom lip .... prawn whiskers on ones bottom lip does not bode well for official wedding pics .... I gag .... I need a drink ... so we all have another drink again .... mine is now melted ice, coke, fanta, pepper corn, chilli sauce .... and I find a sprig of mint (that fell off someones prawn)
Then I realise that whe you are finished a course, or a plate, or a can, you just thrown it under the table .... excellent I'm thinking, they won't even notice when I throw up ...
Then comes the next dish ... I look away, can't do it Im thinking.... how do i get out of here .... but I'm stuck near the back corner ... I look down and see ....... my bowl ..... full again ..... YES, as guest of honour, I got the chicken head, beak, eyes and all ... steamed ....
Silence ..... i have tears in my eyes and can;t look up, when everyone breaks out into such laughter that the room stops and they all stare .... at me and chook head! Can't do it .... i said ... I'm quite full now thank you very much .... No, not yet comes the reply .... we wait for you ... You wanna sing karoke for us all now .... our pleasure ..... Not on your nelly I said .... "What's a nelly ... they ask .... dear god ... i must be on drugs!
I wish I drank beer ..... I start to cough ... Yes, I still have a bit of a barky cough ... and I cough, yep ... up comes a couple of prawn whiskers ... need the loo badly now .... so my trusty guides take my hand to the loo .... but ... you can't sit down .. so still coughing, i pee on my feet ... thank goodness for the plastic saucepan in the bucket of water in the loo with me .... need to wash feet, hands, face ... need to get out of here ....
But its raining too hard .... and the girls tell me that they've had too much to drink to double me back through the now flooding streets ... yes its a storm flood again .... Mr Baaa and his wife tell me that they will bring me home ... AFTER ....
OK, not long now .... but three more dishes arrive at the table .... Can't do it .... what's that pink stuff??? .... pork ... wonderful they say, but all I can see at this point in time are the three pigs that were taken to the slaughterhouse yesterday afternoon behind work!
Everyone else is having a merry old time .... there is so much loud music, singing, food, drinks, patting each other on the back .... men dancing with men ... women ... cooking!! and laughing ...
Madam An arrives back at the table with a wonderful glow ... so proud to have brought the westerner to bring luck to the wedding ... everyone who walks past me squeezes my fat arms ... for fat = wealth .... they must think i'm the wealthiest person at the wedding.
Escape time comes ... Mr Baa needs to go home ... I'm asking, if we couldn't drive to the wedding ... how come we can drive home ..... we go under the plank across the bridge he says .... and off we go .... safe ... until we get back to this side .... water flooding roads again .... seeping inside the car .... the shops are getting the backwash from the cars .... the bikes are stalling, and the push bike riders are knee deep .... but we made it .....
Back at hotel safely, can't quite believe the evening that has occurred ... tummy definitely upset .... throat threatening to cough ..... What an experience .... just had to get this down before bed, or don't think i would have slept ....
Can't wait for a quiet family meal back in oz ... or an office lunch ... or dinner with friends ... I'm sure going to appreciate them ! bye for now .... will upload pics as evidence soon! lyn oi
rainy saturday arvo and BM takes over Fawlty Towers
Yes, feeling fine now ... and now under the watch of the doc and RN, who I ran into yesterday twice when i was in and out of work, and also at the childrens home doing inspections etc .... They said, that I was definitely looking much better than I had ... Saturday here now, spend this morning chrissie shopping - to post back home in the next week or so, so they will be there when I get back ...
Been out to lunch with Robyn, Mark, Mary - an amazing couple from Melbourne who have been teaching here for 9 months, and Tim, a new man from Canberra who is doing Accounting work for CHIA and a couple of others ... at a "local" restaurant on the river side ... nearly came a cropper in the mud twice big time ... and I was walking the pushie at that stage ... and had to wash off in the river ...
(Hey Cheryl, they marked on the outside bamboo walls where the water came up to .... my forehead height ... and the little island (you know the one I called Susan Island ... well its just a drying out mud plain with a couple of trees sticking out through the mud ...., And Casa Verde - it was 3/4 the way up the kitchen doorway! - still got a 10% discount!! :o) from the German Owner man, who was happy to see me back)
Back to town (5 mins and i was home) ... had been invited to the "party" for the wedding of one of the men staff here ..... this afternoon (they got married on the Typhoon day, but delayed the party) ... but then it's pouring with rain now, so decided to stay in ... Dunno if it's Fee Fi Foe or Fum who got married, but one of them anyway ... so skeletan staff here today, with me helping now (but I'm not going in the kitchen - cause I would probably not eat anything from here again) ... getting wise now ...
Town is looking a little better for the rain, it's washing away the mud ... So I'm off to grab my book (nearly finished the second book of the Millenium series... and can't wait to read the third one, but don't think it'lll be here in vietnam yet) ...
Hi to all at E's croquet! ... I be back soon .... 7 weeks down already now .... the remaining 5 will fly by in no time .... hug hug lyn oi
Been out to lunch with Robyn, Mark, Mary - an amazing couple from Melbourne who have been teaching here for 9 months, and Tim, a new man from Canberra who is doing Accounting work for CHIA and a couple of others ... at a "local" restaurant on the river side ... nearly came a cropper in the mud twice big time ... and I was walking the pushie at that stage ... and had to wash off in the river ...
(Hey Cheryl, they marked on the outside bamboo walls where the water came up to .... my forehead height ... and the little island (you know the one I called Susan Island ... well its just a drying out mud plain with a couple of trees sticking out through the mud ...., And Casa Verde - it was 3/4 the way up the kitchen doorway! - still got a 10% discount!! :o) from the German Owner man, who was happy to see me back)
Back to town (5 mins and i was home) ... had been invited to the "party" for the wedding of one of the men staff here ..... this afternoon (they got married on the Typhoon day, but delayed the party) ... but then it's pouring with rain now, so decided to stay in ... Dunno if it's Fee Fi Foe or Fum who got married, but one of them anyway ... so skeletan staff here today, with me helping now (but I'm not going in the kitchen - cause I would probably not eat anything from here again) ... getting wise now ...
Town is looking a little better for the rain, it's washing away the mud ... So I'm off to grab my book (nearly finished the second book of the Millenium series... and can't wait to read the third one, but don't think it'lll be here in vietnam yet) ...
Hi to all at E's croquet! ... I be back soon .... 7 weeks down already now .... the remaining 5 will fly by in no time .... hug hug lyn oi
Friday, October 16, 2009
before and after pictures Hoi An
Cheryl and I took a few pictures from 'our' verandah at Hoang Trinh on the first fews days after we arrived .... and I took another few shots when I got back after Katsana plowed through ... and then a few extra from down on the riverbank in the ancient town (which is about 3 minutes bike ride from our hotel) ....
catching up again .....
LIFE RETURNS TO “NORMAL” 5TH – 8TH OCTOBER
Returning back to Hoi An via Da Nang, Lee and I were a little bit apprehensive as to what we were coming home to. But the towns have stood their ground pretty well, considering. Yes, many of the trees, and bushes have gone (they are now being cut up by the locals for firewood, we in Oz, would probably throw it all into the “green”bin). Yes there is dried mud caking the roads and footpaths.
So Lee and went to visit work in the afternoon, for Lee to tell Robyn and all the others that she would be leaving, and for me to take the bag of “goodies” that we bought in HCM for everyone … now they are calling me Willie Wonka … It’s amazing that a few chocolates can bribe people into thinking that they LIKE you …. Hahahah! But it works! Chocolate does not need translating! Everyone sad that Lee is going, Robyn asked me if I could take on her projects as well … Of course, I said, I can do it all … BADLY… which made them all laugh … So, I’ve got an increased work load now, and need to increase my days again …. It’s OK now, cause we have been into Cambodia, and because I’ve suspended going to the orphanage until Cheryl comes back. Can’t go there alone, there are just too many children for me to handle …. There really needs to be about 4 people going there at once, to be really effective.
Woke up Wednesday morning to see the Army working on the courtyard of the religious site across the road. It must be about 3 inches deep with dry mud … so out come the shovels, and the cane brooms (they are so soft, and I’d love one of these back home) …. And all is being swept up into cane baskets … while they were working hard, I couldn’t see much of a difference when they moved to different areas. And by this morning, I could not see ANY difference.
Went back to An Bang beach again last Thursday to have dinner with Linda and watch the movie of the week. And just got there before sunset, and saw the damage to the beach. Most of the beach huts / umbrella’s and chairs are gone, so much sand is now on the land or has blown way down (south ?) to Cua Dai Beach. Many of the grass hut business restaurants (if you call them that) .. are also damaged, some beyond repair, we would say; but they will rebuild over winter (we are coming close to winter now here) and re-open as soon as they can.
THURSDAY 15TH OCTOBER 09 … AND I’M WELL AGAIN
Unfortunately, I’ve been flat on my back for the last three days, sick as a dog. Think I got the lurgie from a drink that the girls in the market made for me when I was getting a hair cut. Now, it’s not that often that you are GIVEN anything in Vietnam, so you should not offend … so I drank it … and it tasted a bit dirty … and by that night had a roaring sore throat, which gave way to a fever and a chest infection … really really fast …. Must have looked like something that the dog dragged in, as everyone here was concerned, and when Robyn phoned late in the afternoon, she called a doctor.
Thank you Dr Mai (aussie lady doc who has been here 4 years) .. who did a hotel visit, on her motor bike with her doctors back pack. She had all sorts of Doctors things in the back pack and luckily had a bottle of cortisone tablets … and she also came back again the next morning to see if I was OK … Tablets opened up the airways nicely … good to be able to breathe without coughing … talk without coughing, and after three days of absolute bed rest, I’m feeling human again. AND looking forward to going to work tomorrow morning. Have had great treatment and care from everyone …. And now think that after 6 weeks of being on the go every day, the body has done particularly well to hold up this long without succumbing to anything.
It’s now raining outside, the first rain that Hoi An has had since Katsana … it may wash away some of the dust that the mud has turned into. The next typhoon Parma … which got stuck in the Phillipines for a while, eventually made it’s way over to Vietnam, but headed much further north than here and when it hit over Hanoi, was just a tropical depression, bringing much rain.
Being bedridden, and only having the TV for company, the Aussie channel makes you forget that you are not actually in Oz, until you go outside and hear the traffic and noise and get a face full of the dust again and it brings you back to the reality that you are ½ way across the world in Vietnam. On the news tonight, I really felt like I was home, when there was a report of the bushfires in Brooms Head and the surrounds … I hope that everyone is safe back down there and they get the fires out quick sticks.
It's now Friday 16th October 2009, and I've just returned to work, after nearly the week off with what-ever-it-is / was .... will just be glad when I've thrown the whole thing out of my system .... but very pleased to say that feeling much better! So hi to all back home in Oz and elsewhere ... and hugs to everyone (again) .... TTFN
Returning back to Hoi An via Da Nang, Lee and I were a little bit apprehensive as to what we were coming home to. But the towns have stood their ground pretty well, considering. Yes, many of the trees, and bushes have gone (they are now being cut up by the locals for firewood, we in Oz, would probably throw it all into the “green”bin). Yes there is dried mud caking the roads and footpaths.
So Lee and went to visit work in the afternoon, for Lee to tell Robyn and all the others that she would be leaving, and for me to take the bag of “goodies” that we bought in HCM for everyone … now they are calling me Willie Wonka … It’s amazing that a few chocolates can bribe people into thinking that they LIKE you …. Hahahah! But it works! Chocolate does not need translating! Everyone sad that Lee is going, Robyn asked me if I could take on her projects as well … Of course, I said, I can do it all … BADLY… which made them all laugh … So, I’ve got an increased work load now, and need to increase my days again …. It’s OK now, cause we have been into Cambodia, and because I’ve suspended going to the orphanage until Cheryl comes back. Can’t go there alone, there are just too many children for me to handle …. There really needs to be about 4 people going there at once, to be really effective.
Woke up Wednesday morning to see the Army working on the courtyard of the religious site across the road. It must be about 3 inches deep with dry mud … so out come the shovels, and the cane brooms (they are so soft, and I’d love one of these back home) …. And all is being swept up into cane baskets … while they were working hard, I couldn’t see much of a difference when they moved to different areas. And by this morning, I could not see ANY difference.
Went back to An Bang beach again last Thursday to have dinner with Linda and watch the movie of the week. And just got there before sunset, and saw the damage to the beach. Most of the beach huts / umbrella’s and chairs are gone, so much sand is now on the land or has blown way down (south ?) to Cua Dai Beach. Many of the grass hut business restaurants (if you call them that) .. are also damaged, some beyond repair, we would say; but they will rebuild over winter (we are coming close to winter now here) and re-open as soon as they can.
THURSDAY 15TH OCTOBER 09 … AND I’M WELL AGAIN
Unfortunately, I’ve been flat on my back for the last three days, sick as a dog. Think I got the lurgie from a drink that the girls in the market made for me when I was getting a hair cut. Now, it’s not that often that you are GIVEN anything in Vietnam, so you should not offend … so I drank it … and it tasted a bit dirty … and by that night had a roaring sore throat, which gave way to a fever and a chest infection … really really fast …. Must have looked like something that the dog dragged in, as everyone here was concerned, and when Robyn phoned late in the afternoon, she called a doctor.
Thank you Dr Mai (aussie lady doc who has been here 4 years) .. who did a hotel visit, on her motor bike with her doctors back pack. She had all sorts of Doctors things in the back pack and luckily had a bottle of cortisone tablets … and she also came back again the next morning to see if I was OK … Tablets opened up the airways nicely … good to be able to breathe without coughing … talk without coughing, and after three days of absolute bed rest, I’m feeling human again. AND looking forward to going to work tomorrow morning. Have had great treatment and care from everyone …. And now think that after 6 weeks of being on the go every day, the body has done particularly well to hold up this long without succumbing to anything.
It’s now raining outside, the first rain that Hoi An has had since Katsana … it may wash away some of the dust that the mud has turned into. The next typhoon Parma … which got stuck in the Phillipines for a while, eventually made it’s way over to Vietnam, but headed much further north than here and when it hit over Hanoi, was just a tropical depression, bringing much rain.
Being bedridden, and only having the TV for company, the Aussie channel makes you forget that you are not actually in Oz, until you go outside and hear the traffic and noise and get a face full of the dust again and it brings you back to the reality that you are ½ way across the world in Vietnam. On the news tonight, I really felt like I was home, when there was a report of the bushfires in Brooms Head and the surrounds … I hope that everyone is safe back down there and they get the fires out quick sticks.
It's now Friday 16th October 2009, and I've just returned to work, after nearly the week off with what-ever-it-is / was .... will just be glad when I've thrown the whole thing out of my system .... but very pleased to say that feeling much better! So hi to all back home in Oz and elsewhere ... and hugs to everyone (again) .... TTFN
Monday, October 12, 2009
feeling normal for a while
Hi everyone back home ... great news ... things are settling down to normal over here. Been back in Hoi An for about a week now, and it's monday night, and I;ve just had along weekend before heading back to work tomorrow.
Everyone here at Fawlty Towers is looking after me ... too well .... i've just sat down to check the emails etc and have been given one cup coffee, one cup of tea and three bananas ... after they have all had a laugh at my new hair colour. Went down to the markets this morning, and have made lots of new friends down there, because last week I went Christmas shopping. When they knew I was working here, I got a discount, but still no where near local prices. They all loved me last week, because I was about the only one there, many of the tourists have kept away because of the storm. Sp back I went this morning .. needing a hair cut and colour ... Since being here, I have needed to wash my hair nearly every day because of the heat ... so it needed attending to.
Young girl last week told me that she was a hairdresser and also a beauty therapist (Vietnamese kind) ... and one of the older ladies down there told me that she had to move in with her in-laws cause her whole house had washed away with most of their belongings ... and she didn;t like her mother in law. So feeling sorry for her, I decided that she was a worthy cause for a sale.
Sitting amongst the silk scarves, she is cutting away happily and whispered to me that the government had banned all hair cut and beauty work from being done in a market. Great I thought .... I'm going to gaol for getting a hair cut ... No worries she said, but kept me hidden in the scarves ... I'm thinking that someone else is going to buy these scarves one day ... So out comes the cats water bowl and she starts combing the water through my hair and proceeds to cut it razor like ... This is different I'm thinking... back home they usually do the colour first ... but I guess I;'m in vietnam so ..... Ok hair cut over, she then disappears and comes back with a sample of colour.... Excellent I said, just what I like ... and so she mixes it all up, and combes it in really well .... We're getting to the end of the colour application when I ask .... How are we going to wash the colour out ... Oh she says ... Where you stay? Hoang Trinh I said .... Oh that 10 minutes away ... You go now ... when you get back you wash it off yourself.
OK I'm thinking ... I don;'t think that I'll be wearing the crash helmet .... thoughts get interrupted though .... Hurry Huirry madam ... you need to wash off! ... Ye gads, I'm thinking, If I don't get nack in time, my hair is going to fall out .... And no-one even looked at me ... it's normal to do this .... And the colour ..... ummmm kinda orange! Not the deep colour that she showed ... Oh well ... any wonder it was cheap!
So with 6 weeks down, there's only 6 weeks to go ... We've done so much ... there's so much to do .... and sometimes I wonder if I've done anything at all.... Robyn asked me the other day if I would consider staying .... longer .... we had a long discussion re what / how / why etc .... but I think that this three month spell will be long enough (for the first time anyway) ...
Cheryl is still getting paperwork through to the travel insurance people, and hopes to be back in a few weeks .... Hurry Up Wilson ....
Oh ... Mr Tam ... a really old man from the old town died last week ... funerals are big over here ... and his was huge. And someone else died up the road ... well somewhere up the road ... cause another coffin was being towed behind a pushbike up the street .... All covered in glad wrap ... really ornate coffin ... and this one had about 6 bed pillows ocker strapped on top of the coffin lid .... looked v v strange ....
Got sore throat .... first time felt off since we've been here ... must go find more vitamins ...
Hi to everyone back home .... I'm surviving well ... taking care and being looked after ... hug hug ... lyn oi
Everyone here at Fawlty Towers is looking after me ... too well .... i've just sat down to check the emails etc and have been given one cup coffee, one cup of tea and three bananas ... after they have all had a laugh at my new hair colour. Went down to the markets this morning, and have made lots of new friends down there, because last week I went Christmas shopping. When they knew I was working here, I got a discount, but still no where near local prices. They all loved me last week, because I was about the only one there, many of the tourists have kept away because of the storm. Sp back I went this morning .. needing a hair cut and colour ... Since being here, I have needed to wash my hair nearly every day because of the heat ... so it needed attending to.
Young girl last week told me that she was a hairdresser and also a beauty therapist (Vietnamese kind) ... and one of the older ladies down there told me that she had to move in with her in-laws cause her whole house had washed away with most of their belongings ... and she didn;t like her mother in law. So feeling sorry for her, I decided that she was a worthy cause for a sale.
Sitting amongst the silk scarves, she is cutting away happily and whispered to me that the government had banned all hair cut and beauty work from being done in a market. Great I thought .... I'm going to gaol for getting a hair cut ... No worries she said, but kept me hidden in the scarves ... I'm thinking that someone else is going to buy these scarves one day ... So out comes the cats water bowl and she starts combing the water through my hair and proceeds to cut it razor like ... This is different I'm thinking... back home they usually do the colour first ... but I guess I;'m in vietnam so ..... Ok hair cut over, she then disappears and comes back with a sample of colour.... Excellent I said, just what I like ... and so she mixes it all up, and combes it in really well .... We're getting to the end of the colour application when I ask .... How are we going to wash the colour out ... Oh she says ... Where you stay? Hoang Trinh I said .... Oh that 10 minutes away ... You go now ... when you get back you wash it off yourself.
OK I'm thinking ... I don;'t think that I'll be wearing the crash helmet .... thoughts get interrupted though .... Hurry Huirry madam ... you need to wash off! ... Ye gads, I'm thinking, If I don't get nack in time, my hair is going to fall out .... And no-one even looked at me ... it's normal to do this .... And the colour ..... ummmm kinda orange! Not the deep colour that she showed ... Oh well ... any wonder it was cheap!
So with 6 weeks down, there's only 6 weeks to go ... We've done so much ... there's so much to do .... and sometimes I wonder if I've done anything at all.... Robyn asked me the other day if I would consider staying .... longer .... we had a long discussion re what / how / why etc .... but I think that this three month spell will be long enough (for the first time anyway) ...
Cheryl is still getting paperwork through to the travel insurance people, and hopes to be back in a few weeks .... Hurry Up Wilson ....
Oh ... Mr Tam ... a really old man from the old town died last week ... funerals are big over here ... and his was huge. And someone else died up the road ... well somewhere up the road ... cause another coffin was being towed behind a pushbike up the street .... All covered in glad wrap ... really ornate coffin ... and this one had about 6 bed pillows ocker strapped on top of the coffin lid .... looked v v strange ....
Got sore throat .... first time felt off since we've been here ... must go find more vitamins ...
Hi to everyone back home .... I'm surviving well ... taking care and being looked after ... hug hug ... lyn oi
Friday, October 9, 2009
ANGKOR WAT AND THE OTHER TEMPLES
Well, I’d only seen this on TV a few times, and obviously hadn’t put much more thought into what / where / how / when re Angkor Wat … it’s taken me ages to even spell it correctly. But … the temples are amazing … they are all in the same area … and only about 8 k’s from town. AND, there was a lot of walking. So the flood water was up even further, and Sam and the driver kept apologising that the water had seeped into the floor of the car. It didn’t matter because they got it out, and they then sprayed the car with perfume (for our comfort). Everything they did was to ensure that we were going to enjoy Cambodia. Our meals were excellent, and I’d never eaten Cambodian before, but we both tucked in like there was no tomorrow. I’m now sort of getting an idea why I am not losing any weight!
So on the way to the temples (or between the early ones) ….. we’re walking down the road …. And there’s monkeys!! Lots of monkeys …. All playing on the road side and playing in the water. Sam tells us that when it floods, the monkeys come down the hills to play … they climb the trees and dive into the flood water on the side of the road …. Over and over all day … Can’t go near them though, cause they might have rabies …. Saw a 3 legged (armed???) monkey – must have been a land mine victim (and there are soooooo many human and aminal land mine victims ….. still…. You only walk on land that is signed to say that it is land mine free …. They got the Pol Pot army people who laid them, to start clearing them :o) … So this monkey just sits there like a beggar with one arm out … looking for peanuts???? Finally had our fill of monkey looking and we moved on! Think Sam was upset cause we were so interested in the monkeys, and less so in the temples ….
There are different types of temples, all with a long long history. I kept thinking, jeez Australia had not been discovered yet, not by a long shot. There are Cham, and Kmer and some other religions behind the temples …. I got confused, and could only remember that one lot had long ear lobes, but even forgot which ones!
Now, we’ve all seen temples before, and after a while, they all look the same and you kinda get this glazed interested look on your face after a while, but these ones held my attention for far longer than I ever expected. There are 4 main lots of temples … and many other small ones … they’re all different …. And huge …. And I have absolutely no idea how on earth they were made, put together or carved. What with I kept thinking??? …. Bit like the pyramids I’d say. Some of the carving and fine delicate work could not be done today.
So we trudged on for about 6 hours seeing temple after temple, and just when I was about to drop to the ground, Sam brings us to the last one … and it’s nearly sunset. He says that we JUST have to follow the path to the top of the hill and we will come to another old temple and that the view over Siem Reap and the temples will be amazing. OK I thought, I can do this … only problem was, I could not see the top of the hill …. After about 20 minutes of climbing, I’m singing ‘ï think I can, I think I can”, honestly thinking that I was going to collapse. Lee was OK, she’s a tad fitter than BM … she’s striding it out happy as larry! Ughhh …. Finally make it to the top, and yep, there’s steps to climb to get to the top of the temple ….
Now they’re not like the steps we have in Oz … these are hand carved … about 6 inches wide, and about 20 inches high … so they are steep ….BM throws in the towel … Miss Fitness decides to tackle them …. And makes it … only just … took a pic for me … and then decided that she was too scared to come back down the same way, and took another exit down. Yeah yeah … cause on her way back round to find me she finds the ELEPHANT RIDES…. Now Miss Lee has been looking for elephants ever since we landed in Cambodia … we knew they were somewhere, because EVERYTHING trinket has elephants on it …. So up the wooden ladder we go … and try and get on, which is not an easy thing to do when your heart is pounding …. There’s this plank across the shoulders of the elephant, with a little support rail all around (yeah not likely to hold anyone if they take a tumble) …. But on we get … giggling with more nerves than anything else … and off Cheetham (the elephants name) goes … DOWN the other side of the mountain that we had just climbed. V V V nervous I tell you! But we got the hang of elephant riding and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Down the bottom we gave him a good old pat, paid the money (of course) and got our ticket which told us that they DID have insurance against people falling of elephants … comforting then!!
We finally got to visit to Angkor Wat the following afternoon, but it was not my favourite. I really liked the pink temples … Angkor Wat is so much like the Citadel in Hue and also the Forbidden Palace in Beijing …. They are all so far apart, yet all the same design, well pretty much anyway. But this one is so much better because of all the carvings …. Like nearly every meter of the place has carvings in / on it …. Leaving on sunset, was magic … the reflections in the ponds were great, and the camera got some excellent photos ….
Then had a great dinner and saw a Cambodian traditional dance (that held my attention right through) … and celebrated with a bottle of Tattingers (Lee had a phone call and was offered a job back in Oz … she accepted it … and was sad to have to cut her time short in Vietnam). She came back to Hoi An with me, but only to pack and fly out the next morning. Very very nice lady, and we’ve arranged for visits between Grafton and Noosa for all to catch up again in the future.
And so we headed back to HCM, then flew back to Da Nang the next day ….. nearly caught up with the days now!!
So on the way to the temples (or between the early ones) ….. we’re walking down the road …. And there’s monkeys!! Lots of monkeys …. All playing on the road side and playing in the water. Sam tells us that when it floods, the monkeys come down the hills to play … they climb the trees and dive into the flood water on the side of the road …. Over and over all day … Can’t go near them though, cause they might have rabies …. Saw a 3 legged (armed???) monkey – must have been a land mine victim (and there are soooooo many human and aminal land mine victims ….. still…. You only walk on land that is signed to say that it is land mine free …. They got the Pol Pot army people who laid them, to start clearing them :o) … So this monkey just sits there like a beggar with one arm out … looking for peanuts???? Finally had our fill of monkey looking and we moved on! Think Sam was upset cause we were so interested in the monkeys, and less so in the temples ….
There are different types of temples, all with a long long history. I kept thinking, jeez Australia had not been discovered yet, not by a long shot. There are Cham, and Kmer and some other religions behind the temples …. I got confused, and could only remember that one lot had long ear lobes, but even forgot which ones!
Now, we’ve all seen temples before, and after a while, they all look the same and you kinda get this glazed interested look on your face after a while, but these ones held my attention for far longer than I ever expected. There are 4 main lots of temples … and many other small ones … they’re all different …. And huge …. And I have absolutely no idea how on earth they were made, put together or carved. What with I kept thinking??? …. Bit like the pyramids I’d say. Some of the carving and fine delicate work could not be done today.
So we trudged on for about 6 hours seeing temple after temple, and just when I was about to drop to the ground, Sam brings us to the last one … and it’s nearly sunset. He says that we JUST have to follow the path to the top of the hill and we will come to another old temple and that the view over Siem Reap and the temples will be amazing. OK I thought, I can do this … only problem was, I could not see the top of the hill …. After about 20 minutes of climbing, I’m singing ‘ï think I can, I think I can”, honestly thinking that I was going to collapse. Lee was OK, she’s a tad fitter than BM … she’s striding it out happy as larry! Ughhh …. Finally make it to the top, and yep, there’s steps to climb to get to the top of the temple ….
Now they’re not like the steps we have in Oz … these are hand carved … about 6 inches wide, and about 20 inches high … so they are steep ….BM throws in the towel … Miss Fitness decides to tackle them …. And makes it … only just … took a pic for me … and then decided that she was too scared to come back down the same way, and took another exit down. Yeah yeah … cause on her way back round to find me she finds the ELEPHANT RIDES…. Now Miss Lee has been looking for elephants ever since we landed in Cambodia … we knew they were somewhere, because EVERYTHING trinket has elephants on it …. So up the wooden ladder we go … and try and get on, which is not an easy thing to do when your heart is pounding …. There’s this plank across the shoulders of the elephant, with a little support rail all around (yeah not likely to hold anyone if they take a tumble) …. But on we get … giggling with more nerves than anything else … and off Cheetham (the elephants name) goes … DOWN the other side of the mountain that we had just climbed. V V V nervous I tell you! But we got the hang of elephant riding and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Down the bottom we gave him a good old pat, paid the money (of course) and got our ticket which told us that they DID have insurance against people falling of elephants … comforting then!!
We finally got to visit to Angkor Wat the following afternoon, but it was not my favourite. I really liked the pink temples … Angkor Wat is so much like the Citadel in Hue and also the Forbidden Palace in Beijing …. They are all so far apart, yet all the same design, well pretty much anyway. But this one is so much better because of all the carvings …. Like nearly every meter of the place has carvings in / on it …. Leaving on sunset, was magic … the reflections in the ponds were great, and the camera got some excellent photos ….
Then had a great dinner and saw a Cambodian traditional dance (that held my attention right through) … and celebrated with a bottle of Tattingers (Lee had a phone call and was offered a job back in Oz … she accepted it … and was sad to have to cut her time short in Vietnam). She came back to Hoi An with me, but only to pack and fly out the next morning. Very very nice lady, and we’ve arranged for visits between Grafton and Noosa for all to catch up again in the future.
And so we headed back to HCM, then flew back to Da Nang the next day ….. nearly caught up with the days now!!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
BM's discoveries in Cambodia a week ago, i think
Hi everyone back in Oz ... and Melea over there in London ... It's catch up time on the blog now that things have settled back down to what is "normal" again; although I don't honestly think that anything is normal over here!
So From Ho Chi Minh City, without the aid of a glass ball (Wendys words) decisions had to be made, so three travelled back home and Lee and I booked for Cambodia. Up early the next morning, out to the Air Port, we found that HCM can be a quiet place to live ... there were hardly any motor bikes at all, compared to what we are used to. Saying goodbye's to the other three we headed down to the plane, and had a lovely 1 hr 20 min trip into Siem Reap ....
Coming in low, and being able to see land again, Lee and I looked at each other, raising brows and asked each other if we thought that everything looked flooded !! We could see the outlines of a river, but the water had somehow escaped and flooded the land, the trees, houses, and yes, parts of Siem Reap. Wonder why? we thought, then it came to us! DUH!! the typhoon had blown itself out by moving inland .... and that's just where we were now! ... Oh well, lets just get on with it we said!
Sam, our man in Siem Reap and his trusty driver (whose name I could never catch, so I stuck to just grinning like an idiot at him every time he opened the car door for me, and he didn't understand "thank-you" in Vietnamese either!) ... escorted us back to our Hotel. City River View was now an island, but modern technology is in Cambodia, because they had sand bags! ... We did quite a lot ot trecking along sand bags, but when the feet and legs did get wet, we sure hurried home to give them a good old wash asap!
Sam tells us that Cambodia is 500 k's long and 600 k's wide ... well that surprised me ... But i must say that I was not all that knowledgable about the country before we went. Now at the southern end of the country is Phnong Phen (sp??) ... and up the northern end is Siem Reap ... took me two days before I could spell it right .... then in the middle is a lake ... now this is a special lake , it has a river flowing out the southern end of it .... and that river flows down to the Mekong river, which is coming from Vietnam and China .... bored yet with the geography lesson ??? .... Now the Mekong floods every year for months, so the flood goes down, then the water goes up the river which leads to the lake. So it has two tides a year ... high tide for 6 months July - January , and low tide from February - June .... so when the tide is high, and it rains, it floods! and Floods!
Weren't we lucky to strike the worst flood in 7 years. We asked how long the water would stay up for and Same said ... oh about three days .... we asked how long it had been up now ... he said ... oh about three days ... and it was still getting higher. Kids were playing/swimming in the river / streets ... kids were drowing too! Yes! just along the street (flood) from us three went in and only two came out! ... they were having a ball ... some had not seen a flood before .. lying in it and being washed with car waves .. squirting water out of their mouths. Ugggghhh ... and laughing so much ... people sitting on the tables and chairs (well tables anyway) on the river bank ... surrounded by brown water rushing by ... and so many tables along the road were full of people!
After an hour or so in the hotel to make ourselves beautiful (actually we needed clean clothes badly by this stage, and had to do some quick bathroom washing), Sam and driver picked us up and we commenced out tour. Really really interesting it is ... A small town ... airport on one side, mountains on one side, the temples on yet another and the only other side had the road that went straight back down the line to Phnong Phen .... So the town will stay smallish ... cause all the previous things are only 6 - 8 k's out of town. Didn't expect that either. Was a little cooler, but the humidity was 100% .. so BM looks like a drowned rat in sweat again.
Oh ... when Mr Pol Pot man took over in the 70's .. there were 8 million people in Cambodia, and after just 4 years, there were only 4 million ... these people did it to themselves. Mr Pot conned them. There was a bit of a drought on, and the poor people on the land were hungry, so he said to them that if they joined his army and did what he told them to do, that he would feed them. So they did .... and enjoyed good meals for 4 years. After it was all over and the madness stopped the country declared that the "little" people in the army were pressured and they were forgiven, but the big wigs got thrown into goal. So now, 30 or so years later, there is a population of 14 million people, with 70% of people being under 30 years old.
And you can see it in the country ... there are no oldies ... well not many anyway. I felt old! So many lost ALL their family, they have no grand-parents or parents, they have no family stories. It's weird, because all these young people are full of respect, work hard and support each other! And they are so proud of their Country and what they are doing FOR it.
That's the end of the history lesson - I found it so amazing, that I had to share it with you. It was obviously more dramatic that the above version, but i was trying to keep it short, (but didn't again, sorry) ... next episode ... the temples! WOW!!
brb ... need the loo!!
So From Ho Chi Minh City, without the aid of a glass ball (Wendys words) decisions had to be made, so three travelled back home and Lee and I booked for Cambodia. Up early the next morning, out to the Air Port, we found that HCM can be a quiet place to live ... there were hardly any motor bikes at all, compared to what we are used to. Saying goodbye's to the other three we headed down to the plane, and had a lovely 1 hr 20 min trip into Siem Reap ....
Coming in low, and being able to see land again, Lee and I looked at each other, raising brows and asked each other if we thought that everything looked flooded !! We could see the outlines of a river, but the water had somehow escaped and flooded the land, the trees, houses, and yes, parts of Siem Reap. Wonder why? we thought, then it came to us! DUH!! the typhoon had blown itself out by moving inland .... and that's just where we were now! ... Oh well, lets just get on with it we said!
Sam, our man in Siem Reap and his trusty driver (whose name I could never catch, so I stuck to just grinning like an idiot at him every time he opened the car door for me, and he didn't understand "thank-you" in Vietnamese either!) ... escorted us back to our Hotel. City River View was now an island, but modern technology is in Cambodia, because they had sand bags! ... We did quite a lot ot trecking along sand bags, but when the feet and legs did get wet, we sure hurried home to give them a good old wash asap!
Sam tells us that Cambodia is 500 k's long and 600 k's wide ... well that surprised me ... But i must say that I was not all that knowledgable about the country before we went. Now at the southern end of the country is Phnong Phen (sp??) ... and up the northern end is Siem Reap ... took me two days before I could spell it right .... then in the middle is a lake ... now this is a special lake , it has a river flowing out the southern end of it .... and that river flows down to the Mekong river, which is coming from Vietnam and China .... bored yet with the geography lesson ??? .... Now the Mekong floods every year for months, so the flood goes down, then the water goes up the river which leads to the lake. So it has two tides a year ... high tide for 6 months July - January , and low tide from February - June .... so when the tide is high, and it rains, it floods! and Floods!
Weren't we lucky to strike the worst flood in 7 years. We asked how long the water would stay up for and Same said ... oh about three days .... we asked how long it had been up now ... he said ... oh about three days ... and it was still getting higher. Kids were playing/swimming in the river / streets ... kids were drowing too! Yes! just along the street (flood) from us three went in and only two came out! ... they were having a ball ... some had not seen a flood before .. lying in it and being washed with car waves .. squirting water out of their mouths. Ugggghhh ... and laughing so much ... people sitting on the tables and chairs (well tables anyway) on the river bank ... surrounded by brown water rushing by ... and so many tables along the road were full of people!
After an hour or so in the hotel to make ourselves beautiful (actually we needed clean clothes badly by this stage, and had to do some quick bathroom washing), Sam and driver picked us up and we commenced out tour. Really really interesting it is ... A small town ... airport on one side, mountains on one side, the temples on yet another and the only other side had the road that went straight back down the line to Phnong Phen .... So the town will stay smallish ... cause all the previous things are only 6 - 8 k's out of town. Didn't expect that either. Was a little cooler, but the humidity was 100% .. so BM looks like a drowned rat in sweat again.
Oh ... when Mr Pol Pot man took over in the 70's .. there were 8 million people in Cambodia, and after just 4 years, there were only 4 million ... these people did it to themselves. Mr Pot conned them. There was a bit of a drought on, and the poor people on the land were hungry, so he said to them that if they joined his army and did what he told them to do, that he would feed them. So they did .... and enjoyed good meals for 4 years. After it was all over and the madness stopped the country declared that the "little" people in the army were pressured and they were forgiven, but the big wigs got thrown into goal. So now, 30 or so years later, there is a population of 14 million people, with 70% of people being under 30 years old.
And you can see it in the country ... there are no oldies ... well not many anyway. I felt old! So many lost ALL their family, they have no grand-parents or parents, they have no family stories. It's weird, because all these young people are full of respect, work hard and support each other! And they are so proud of their Country and what they are doing FOR it.
That's the end of the history lesson - I found it so amazing, that I had to share it with you. It was obviously more dramatic that the above version, but i was trying to keep it short, (but didn't again, sorry) ... next episode ... the temples! WOW!!
brb ... need the loo!!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
AMAZING CAMBODIA
Hi everyone .... just a short note to say that all is well. Cheryl should have returned to Oz with Wendy and Sue by now, and Lee and I decided to take a little trip into Cambodia, to kill some time and wait for Hoi An to become livable again.
So we are in Siem Reap ... arrived yesterday .... and leave again tomorrow night and head back down to HCM. From there will check situation in Hoi An (power is on, but water is short) and also the incoming weather from Phillipines.
This place is great, have seen unbelievable things, had an elephant ride ... but the most ironic thing is that Siem Reap is also flooded (worst in 7 years) .... Hmmmm what is it .... so while the town is surrounded by water ... and it is ... we are driving through it (well our chauffeur is) ... and the temples are relatively water free ... Off to Anchor Watt this arvo .... you have to see this to believe it, so the camera is going overtime ....
hi to all at home .... cambodian food is EXCELLENT .... people are so different from vietnamese ... in a great way ... storm approaching now ... ugg more water .... :o) ....
OH neither telstra or vinaphone sims are working in Cambodia .... will be back on Vinaphone tomorrow night (4th october) ... and the only text messages we are receiving come from Optus - telstra ones never get here ... it's taken this long to work it out ...
Luv Big Mumma ....
So we are in Siem Reap ... arrived yesterday .... and leave again tomorrow night and head back down to HCM. From there will check situation in Hoi An (power is on, but water is short) and also the incoming weather from Phillipines.
This place is great, have seen unbelievable things, had an elephant ride ... but the most ironic thing is that Siem Reap is also flooded (worst in 7 years) .... Hmmmm what is it .... so while the town is surrounded by water ... and it is ... we are driving through it (well our chauffeur is) ... and the temples are relatively water free ... Off to Anchor Watt this arvo .... you have to see this to believe it, so the camera is going overtime ....
hi to all at home .... cambodian food is EXCELLENT .... people are so different from vietnamese ... in a great way ... storm approaching now ... ugg more water .... :o) ....
OH neither telstra or vinaphone sims are working in Cambodia .... will be back on Vinaphone tomorrow night (4th october) ... and the only text messages we are receiving come from Optus - telstra ones never get here ... it's taken this long to work it out ...
Luv Big Mumma ....
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