Kate's Thoughts II

Sick away from home - don’t do it

Nothing worse than feeling sick and not having your usual comforts around you. Just knowing what to ask for at the chemist or how to explain your symptoms when they keep evolving or wanting to eat plain toast and drink some ribena or resting in a separate room to the rest of your family is all much harder away from home. Matt (whilst also sick himself - I blame him as he gave it to me and somehow I got it worse) rallied with the kids trying to keep them out and occupied, Sienna even managed to brush her own hair after a wash and Seb well tried his best to be quiet occasionally I’m sure. It’s hard on everyone and the guilt of needing to just rest was extremely heavy. But thankfully chemists here can dispense a whole heap of good stuff, you just need to know how to ask (tears help) and get one that speaks good English (my Vietnamese is still limited to Giat - laundry). After almost 10 days of feeling like I was dying I finally got the right concoction of drugs to feel normal again. Unfortunately it will most likely happen again at some point, the only lesson learnt is go to the chemist in person sooner.

South East Asia road rules - phones and horns compulsory

I’m not sure I can even explain the road rules. From what I can gather…mopeds / motorbikes will attempt to avoid people, but won’t slow down. Cars think they rule the roads and ‘bully’ mopeds to get right of way, yet are seriously outnumbered by mopeds. Mopeds don’t really pay attention to traffic lights and are happy to run a light or mount the pavement to avoid stopping. And the most important rule… use your horn all the time. It’s almost like the horn here has its own language. You can tell if it’s a ‘hello’ kind of beep, to a ‘I’m overtaking’, to a ‘move over’, to a ‘who taught you to drive, get out of the way’ kind of beep. But you definitely need a horn.

White stripes in the road (in Australia and UK we would refer to them as zebra crossings) are really just a bit of paint on the road and no one pays any attention to them. Matt even gets annoyed at me when I ask to cross on the zebra crossing as opposed to 20 metres away from it as he says it means nothing. I naively get comfort from the white lines and assume at least the ambulance will be able to see me when knocked over on the white lines.

Parking on the pavement is a given in Vietnam and the curbs are all sloped to enable motorbikes to easily mount the pavement. Mounting the pavement to avoid traffic is a regular undertaking. Makes being a tourist on foot even harder stepping off a sloped curb into a road where you are most certainly at the bottom of the food chain in terms of right of way. Majority of homes have a slope as well as steps into the front room so that motorbikes can be driven straight into the lounge.

Part of me regrets not getting a motorbike licence in Australia before travelling as motorbikes certainly seem an easy way to get around in Thailand and Vietnam - not only easy but you can load these motorbikes up to the max with loads of stuff…. family of four no problem, flat screen TV simple, 100 pairs of sunnies + 50 hats + 30 pairs of crocs for sale easy peasy. The other part of me thanks the lord I can’t ride as at least I am still alive.

The number of mopeds quadrupled (most likely more, but I can’t think of the right word above quadrupled) in Vietnam compared to Thailand, and there were a lot in Thailand. They weave effortlessly like going through a slalom, whilst carrying the most bizarre stuff and majority of the time on their phones.

Sienna shines

Vietnam does seem more appreciative of Sienna than Thailand. It’s not a contest, but it really is when it comes to attention between siblings. Don’t get me wrong, Vietnam still loves and probably favours Seb, but Sienna is noticed. Usually for her hair and or her slim frame. Lots of patting / stroking / friendly pinching occurs. Sienna acts coy but is lapping it up inside.

Rubbish

I feel ashamed of how much single use plastic we have used this trip. It doesn’t help not being able to drink water from a tap. We try where possible to refill and reuse our water bottles, but there is no escaping them. Seb had to do a tally of plastic used in a week for school work and it was embarrassing the number of bags, bottles, cartons, straws etc. counted (although good for Seb’s tally counting skills). We're a fairly conscious family regarding recycling when home in Australia and even here where we can, but I will have to try even harder to counter the usage over the last couple of months.

Toilet humour

The bum gun is a feature in every toilet in Thailand and Vietnam (unless you are in a really dodgy toilet where you just get a bucket of water instead). Toilet paper can’t be flushed down the toilets as it blocks everything up. Generally toilet paper is available otherwise drip drying after using the bum gun could take a while. There is then a small bin to put your paper in. I’m not a fan of the bum guns (they are not for everyone), which is fine. I carry multiple back up toilet paper wads for the whole family on any given outing. My only small gripe is that the toilet bin needs a lid. It’s a simple request and I know both countries have A LOT of plastic to cater for this. The rest I can deal with.

Jobs & phones

Both in Thailand and Vietnam there are jobs created for the sake of a job, which I have come to appreciate. Yes it’s slightly strange buying a ticket to enter a temple then 5 steps later showing three more people who just witnessed you buying the ticket the ticket again, but it gives them a job and hopefully a small income. 

The use of phones here is huge, with most shop owners, drivers, chefs, tour guides, cleaners, ticket offices, security guards, kids, hairdressers and even dogs happy to watch something rather than speak to the person sitting next to them. I get it, they have long days, often quiet moments, but it’s constant even when people are clearly socialising with friends.

To be honest the phone thing is likely the same everywhere, I’m only mindful of it because for the next 12 months I am always out with the kids, so if my phone is out they pester me for it or some other screen. But everyone really is addicted to them.

Karaoke and noise pollution

We’ve seen the occasional karaoke bar advertised, but it’s not uncommon to walk past a group of men having a smoke in front of a very large TV with subtitles on all singing at the tops of their voices a slow Vietnamese ballad. Microphone and giant speaker on full volume. Perhaps hearing it in the next town is what drew the other men to join? I mean this is like sitting in your front garden doing Karaoke at 11am. There is a popular street cafe at the end of our alleyway currently in Hanoi and there’s a lady (50+) sitting at a table with her phone propped up on a chilli sauce bottle connected to a microphone belting out a few songs. I’m all for a session in a soundproof room with just trusted confidants to butcher a few songs, but out on the open street?

When we have been cycling through the rice fields and small villages there are often houses blaring out music full volume. Speakers are out in the open so the music spreads easily. Perhaps the neighbours agreed on the playlist and enjoy the background noise? It doesn’t quite sit with the tranquillity of the rice fields though.

Then there are the bike / moped ‘stalls’ that ride around the streets with a megaphone connected to a usb that repeats over and over what they are selling. Think of it like an ice cream truck and greensleeves - but more annoying (maybe because I don’t understand what they are saying, maybe because it’s infuriatingly loud).

Haircuts

Anyone who knows me knows I’m not that precious when it comes to hair. Travelling light means using the random ‘shampoo’ each homestay / hostel offers. Which varies greatly in colour and quality. But I make do even if it is fairy washing up liquid. We’ve seen plenty of hairdressers throughout Vietnam and it was time for me to test one out. Mai Chau is a small town, yet still has maybe a dozen hair places. I checked with our homestay host what the usual price was, to get a gauge on how much the white person markup was. 40k vnd for a wash and 100k vnd for a wash and cut. Armed with knowledge I pick a hairdresser in town based on there being a female hairdresser and having a customer in the shop. I asked how much for a wash and trim, pointing to the lady currently having a shampoo and then indicating scissors at the end of my own hair. After some silence she said 100k. Winning already!

Hair washing is done laying down in Vietnam. There is a bed, then a sink at the end of it. Except I can’t lie down flat as it’s made for Vietnamese people, not 6ft tall people. With knees bent I’m ready for my hair wash. Turns out it’s not just a hair wash, it’s a full head wash and massage. She put her fingers in my ears further than I would dare go. Massaged my face with those very ear fingers. This process went on for about 30 minutes - perhaps I had particularly dirty hair, ears and face from the fairy washing up liquid, but who knows. I feel I had a brief introduction to what waterboarding might be like given my nose was slightly blocked from a cold. But I survived and although I couldn’t hear much from the water in my ears I guess I felt clean.

Into the chair for the haircut. First a rough brush of the hair (it’s fairly knotty from the straggly ends that need cutting so she gives up / doesn’t think it important). Then she confirmed how much of a trim I wanted, things felt roughly on track. I was then slightly surprised the hairdryer came out until my hair was completely dry. Another rough brush so the hair all sat on my back (no mention or sight of a parting and still knotty given it had not been cut or brushed through properly yet). Then out came the scissors. Without holding the hair she snipped along the back one handed. Done. Ok so she at least checked it wasn’t level by pulling some hair from each side to the front and used her comb like a spirit level between the two sides. I could visibly see in the mirror it was nowhere near straight. Thankfully her ‘spirit level’ indicated the same and there was a brief snip to that side and I was done.

To be fair, my hair was washed and my ends trimmed as I had asked for. It’s too hot to be wearing my hair down anyway.

Really lovely girl, who got a well deserved tip, which I hoped she would put towards some hairdressing tutorials online.

Hospitality

My heart is filled with warmth with how absolutely wonderful our hosts have been in the states. We essentially invited ourselves to stay with Daniel and Maggie in LA and Greg and Mel in Maddison, to the point they couldn’t really say no. But they have both gone above and beyond at making our whole family feel welcome and living in a home from home for the stay. Moving out of bedrooms, cooking gorgeous dinners, taking us on guided tours, enabling us to use their cars and bikes, use of washing machines, even buying tea (and other food favourites) ready for us to use on arrival. Every minute spent in their warm inviting homes has been wonderful and a lovely reminder of how generous and supportive our friends are. I can’t say thank you enough!