Saturday, March 31, 2012

First Week Back

Ly Thuong Kiet is eerily quiet just after 5 p.m. this Saturday as I sit at the hotel’s streetside patio, taking advantage of their half-price beer.  Normally this street is a madhouse until close to midnight, but many sidewalk merchants closed shop early this afternoon because of the national holiday, and the sidewalks were much less crowded than usual as I walked some 18 km. earlier today.  But, more on that later, as this is the first post in almost a week.

It’s gray again today in Hanoi, but the vastly reduced traffic has substantially reduced the smog, and a mild breeze makes it feel almost cool.  Rain has been threatening all day, but nothing so far.  The forecast calls for us to be pushing 90 by next weekend.

Had a mild cultural shock earlier this week – the first time anywhere I saw a woman squat to urinate in the road gutter.  I am used to seeing guys use almost any venue (including off the Long Bridge into the Red River during my last trip), but this was a first.

It occurred to me that Korea Airways was a bit inconsistent on my trip here.  Boarding in Columbus, Delta spit out boarding passes for all three legs of my trip.  Trying to board Korea Airlines in Atlanta, I had to go back to the gate desk and get a new boarding pass.  But in Seoul, they accepted the original Delta pass without any question.  I can understand needing to change passes, but not the lack of uniformity.

I also got a first chance to test foreign medical facilities this past week.  Just before leaving Columbus, I had a long-standing lump on my shoulder re-inflame, and chose to ignore it (as anyone knowing me would expect).  Anyway, it broke open just as I landed late Saturday, and by Monday I finally decided to have someone look at it.  Four trusted contacts all recommended the French Hospital as the top med facility for expats, and they seemed to be correct.  The dermatologist took a quick look, de-pained the area, cut it open, scooped out the crud, and stitched me back up very professionally.  She also did a liquid nitrogen treatment on another growth I’ve had on my back since high school.  Both are now healing quite nicely, pending a return visit in a few days.  Total tab was only about $225, plus $9 for bandages, antiseptics, and antibiotics.  For a bad situation, not an adverse outcome.

Just spent a fine 45 minutes conversing on this patio with a couple of German gents who are here advising Viet vocational schools on how to bring their training up to international standards.  I love the meeting-new-people-and-cultures part of these trips.

The week at the bank started off very badly…the project has been in disarray with the rapid-fire changes in personnel, and coordination has been a joke.  Finally, after a presentation the IFC made to the bank on Thursday, the CEO gave a go-ahead on the strategy that had been worked on since last July.  With that, the mood and focus shifted, and while a shitload of work remains for my next three weeks, at least it looks to be worthwhile work.

So, after the successful presentation to the CEO, the head of the SME department at the bank took 7 of us (2 consultants, 3 IFC people, and a couple of bank associates) to a celebratory lunch at a top Japanese restaurant here.  The food was superb.  It was truly the first time I had ever enjoyed raw fish, fish eggs, seaweed, and all of the other assorted things many of you reading this have already experienced.  I was also a source of amusement, as it took about half an hour for me to re-acquire the chopstick skills I had learned last fall.

Not wanting to be self-confined to Hanoi as during my first trip, today I booked a 2-day group tour for next weekend to Mai Chau, located in the mountain highlands about 100 km. (4 hours by bus) from here.  Leaving at 8 Saturday morning and returning about 6 Sunday night.  I’m sure the mountain villages we will be visiting are not quite as “authentic” as they are portrayed, but it is a chance to see another aspect of this beautiful country.  The tour includes transportation, full meals, visits to at least 4 villages, a cave exploration, performance by a Thai tribe dance troupe, and other stuff for $205.  Seems like a good investment.  If all goes decently, the following weekend (my last in Vietnam) I’ll book a 2-day trip to Ha Long Bay, which was just named by UNESCO as one of the seven new natural wonders of the world.  Stay tuned for many pics.

So, back to today and the 18 km. walk.  Nancy and I have become immersed in geocaching (www.geocaching.com), which involves trying to find objects people have placed around the world, using clues and latitude/longitude coordinates.  We have been pretty successful doing this in Ohio.  There are 19 sites of which I know in this area of Vietnam.  I found one last weekend, at the National Military Museum; and am still trying to find a second that involves a 7-tiered rendition of clue solving.

For today, there is a cache about 1.7 km. from here that relates to the 12-day bombing raid Americans administered to a specific neighborhood in Hanoi in 1972.  So, after scoping out the clues online, and plotting my route, I set off at 10:30 this morning.  Finally admitted defeat about 3:00.  In essence, the site is supposed to be obvious once you see it, so I was kinda looking for plane wreckage or a sign saying “American Captured Here”, but found nothing of the sort.  I stopped for lunch (wonderful fried rice with pineapple) in a place that had wifi.  Used that and Google translator to ask the server if she knew where the wreckage might be. Another server knew, pointed it out on my map, and still I couldn’t find it.  So, back to the site to gather more clues, and I will make another attempt.

But, the afternoon wasn’t a bust as I re-visited Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum and strolled the beautiful grounds again.  I spent most of the walk in the grounds of a massive Buddhist temple, during which services were being held and many school groups came for their pics.  Much as Greg found out in Indonesia, everybody wanted their picture to be taken with the white guy, so I may be popping up on Facebook sites around the world tonight.  Many pics came from my wanderings…hopefully the hotel internet will allow me to upload them sometime tonight.

Tomorrow?  Well, there is yet another cache, located west of here past some nice parks I saw on my trip to the hospital Monday.  A whole new section of the city that I have yet to explore.

Final thought.  I converted more USD at the hotel desk this afternoon, and they rejected a $100 bill that has a small tear in it.  The local currency has a lot of plastic fibres in it to make it durable, and locals refuse anything that looks as if it may not function in an ATM.  Interesting.

Now to watch Monty Python – The Holy Grail, and catch up on sleep.  Enjoy.   

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