Vietnam

The past few weeks have been building in an unpleasant crescendo of stress. It was the end of the term, we were wrapping up grades, teachers and students alike were getting sick, everyone was burning out. Nick and I were testy. The girls each had tearful, exhausted meltdowns at separate times. Two teachers had deaths in their families. Another teacher walked off the job. The principal decided that the last week of school would be a great time to rearrange the schedule for some professional development, for which we would need to prepare work. Everything felt like a tornado.

And then? The King of Thailand died.

School was canceled. We had a day to breathe, and organize our thoughts and suitcases for our Vietnam trip.

The King’s death has been oddly uneventful, so far. CNN had the headline, “King’s Death Throws Country into Turmoil,” and… not really. Everyone is wearing black. There was TV footage of people crying outside the hospital in Bangkok. A lot of plans have been canceled. Every TV channel had retrospectives. I wouldn’t get all Shatner and call it thrown! into turmoil! It’s no wonder people think the world is such a terrifying place, with stupid headlines like that.

Even with the day off school, we pushed our limits traveling that day. It was planes, trains & automobiles for hours on end. Walking, dragging suitcases through chaotic Friday night Bangkok. The girls were absolute champs. We were filthy and exhausted by the time we got to our hotel at 9:30 pm, and after we hosed ourselves down, got bad sleep in a room that never cooled off enough despite the jet-engine air conditioner.

Up & at ‘em 8 hours later!  We made it through the expensive visa labyrinth that is having a US passport in Vietnam. We gawked our way through the cab windows to the hotel, then had a quick lunch. 

I had low expectations for Saigon (also called Ho Chi Minh City), having not heard good things about it from any source. To my surprise, I felt a weird magnetic connection to Saigon. I just… dug it. It’s mostly the Southeast Asia that I know, with people sitting in plastic chairs on sidewalks...

This. Everywhere.

...with some French colonial architecture mixed in, and just enough propaganda to tug at my fondness for all things Soviet. A great part of the city is small streets lined with big shady trees, giving it a homey feel. Maybe we just had good luck there and only saw the best parts, but I definitely feel that I could live there. Especially if I was young and single; it’s that kind of city. Nick and I were both quietly cursing that we wasted our 20s not living in a city like that. Also, holy crap, we stayed in a three bedroom, two bath apartment with a full kitchen and laundry for about $65 a night!

While in Saigon we went to the War Remnants Museum. It was fascinating to see a museum from the perspective of the people who we fought against, and the people who beat us. There were many stories of gut-twisting atrocities, but what bothered me the most was this one couple taking pictures. This vapid twit of a woman was taking semi-sexy poses next to the exhibits, like doing the head-tilted, wide-eyed, hair stroking move next to a display of bullets and grenades, or next to a section of sewer pipe where three children hid and were found and murdered. I was so horrified that I found myself following them around, and I tried to get a picture of one of their poses but couldn’t make it happen. It was so offensive that I had to sit down in the hallway for a little while. Aside from them, and the myriad of selfie sticks (why, people? There? Why?)… great museum. 

Next we moved on to Hoi An, which is about 30 minutes south of Da Nang (we checked out China Beach first, but having just missed a hurricane by a day, there was no swimming). I went on several recommendations. People said they wanted to retire there, a few others said they went for two days and ended up staying longer, so I was intrigued. And? Mmmmehh. I mean, it’s gorgeous. The old part of the city is like a movie set, it has so much character. But that was about four blocks, and it was full of nonstop hawkers. “You want to buy? Please, special price for you!” “Hello! Lady!” “Happy hour!” (lots of “happy hour”), and our favorite, “In the morning!” I guess that was supposed to mean that because it was morning, we got a special price? I don’t know, but we would hear “In the morning!” as a constant sales catcall. 

One thing I can say about Hoi An is that we stayed in the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in in my life. It was jaw-droppingly gorgeous. I once spent a day at the Ojai Spa near Santa Barbara, where celebrities go, and this was just as nice… if not nicer. And? $55/night. 

My favorite part of Hoi An was when we rented some bikes. We rode about 30 minutes out to the beach, where the waves were still crazy. I didn’t have a data plan in Vietnam, so without GPS or a map I used my old-school compass on my phone to get us back to town. We had a great time. I love getting lost on a bike. 

Hanoi was next. We had both read in several places that Hanoi was the real charmer, with its historical buildings and whatnot. Okay, picture this: Imagine New York City, with its storefronts and noise and people. Now put the city through the dryer and shrink it by about 75%, but keep the same traffic, people, and noise. OH MY GOD THE NOISE. People in Vietnam drive with their horns to let others know they’re there. With all streets packed full of cars and motorbikes, it’s earsplitting and nerve-wracking. If you know my nervous, Type-A daughter Sascha, you can appreciate how much it bothered her. She would shriek, “Why aren’t they driving on the right side of the road? Why are the bikes riding on the sidewalk? Why are they driving the wrong way down the one-way street?” and so on. I promised her that I’d someday take her to Vienna, the pinnacle of civilization and order, where she truly belongs. Hanoi is just a tangled mess. The storefronts are tiny, sometimes barely wider than the doors.  I didn’t feel any charm, I felt stress and flight (as in fight or flight). We tried to walk around, but all sidewalks are full of bikes so you’re kind of forced to dodge cars and more bikes in the street. The air is thick with exhaust, giving me a nagging cough that has lingered for days. 

Then there are the most aggressive hawkers I have ever encountered. One guy cornered me to quickly glue part of my sneaker that he perceived to be loose, then harassed me for two blocks about “Why you no pay me? I fix your shoe!” Another woman practically shoved a donut hole into my mouth, then demanded about $10 for a bag of them (I laughed). UGGGHH. We were quite happy to hide in our crappy hotel room. Hanoi is not for the faint of heart. 

At the very least, we were able to find an awesome public playground. There are exactly zero public playgrounds in Chiang Rai, unless you count the vintage metal set we found along the river.  I love Chiang Rai, but it is utilitarian. No frills.

And then... Halong Bay. This is one of those places like Switzerland that you cannot believe is real. It is so beautiful, and of course pictures don’t do it justice. And it is so quiet. We really appreciated the peace after Hanoi. We were on a cruise line that was rated #1 on Trip Advisor. This whole visit to Vietnam has got me second-guessing online reviews. We lucked out in Saigon & Hoi An, but I’ve raised an eyebrow at the reviews up north—and after encountering those awful hawkers, it's not too hard to figure out who is putting in the top ratings.

Reviews aside, this is one of the greatest tours I have ever taken. There were only 18 people on the boat. We went kayaking, swimming, and hiking into a cave; we had a white-tablecloth barbecue on the beach and cooking lessons. We visited a pearl farm. By far my favorite has been the swimming. Any chance I could get my body into that beautiful green water, it was a good day. There was minimal trash, a rarity these days, the temperature was perfectly cool, and it had the most wonderful smell.

It's nice to get back to the comforts of a country I know. I didn’t realize how much I rely on Thailand’s ubiquitous 7-11s—Vietnam has no convenience stores. However, my workload at school has gone insane. I got really sick at the end of the term and I blame stress. I had planned to run a half marathon in December, but I think I’m going to have to downgrade to a 10K and I'm very disappointed about it. Between my exhaustion from work and the hot, rainy weather, this has been my training:

I want to plan ahead so that I can breathe a little, but the workload is so staggering that I’m kind of paralyzed. For two of my five classes right now, I’m looking at the subjects going oh my god where in the fresh hell do I even begin with this. I end up just moving through the term patching leaks in the dam instead of building a solid structure. I hate it because my students deserve better than that. But there is only so much one person can realistically do, and it has to be that way in order for me to have time for the kids, to exercise, to cook dinner, to have a life. The silver lining is that I’m in an odd position of power. If the school asks me to do something (run a workshop or club for example), and I politely decline, what can they do about it? Will they fire me? Who will they find to take my place, to pay their own way here and teach five different subjects for a whopping $24,000 salary? It has made me a little braver about not being a yes-man. 

So the next blog post may be about visitors! I have three visitors coming in November and I cannot wait to see their goggle-eyed amazement at Thailand. And seven more weeks until my parents arrive!