Vietnam - The Aftermath
We had really been looking forward to Chiang Mai, really the only reason I had wanted to go there was to go to the Night Market. We did make it but I was so sick. This market was HUGE and I only made it through about 25%. I was feverish and just weak. I was thankful that at least there was a Burger King, as they had a toilet. Now, this was no ordinary toilet. There was only one, shared for both men and women. Compare this to a really really bad truck stop bathroom. It served its purpose though, a place for me to throw up. I was not ready to throw up on the streets of Chiang Mai with hundreds of people around me. In the end, I had James take me home in a tuktuk, as I didn't think I could walk back.
Again, for me to stop shopping and leave, meant that I really truly was not well. I had a feverish night, woke up and thought I was dying. James came back from hanging out to find me a mess. He immediately soaked towels in cold water and put them on me and put cold Coke cans on my neck and back. It helped. I felt somewhat better the next day, which was convenient as we had to fly back to Singapore.
Certainly, our troubles didn't end there. Seeing as our 'old school' plane tickets were stolen, we had a huge mess of trying to get on our scheduled flight. Of course, they had our names in the system, we had our passports, etc but as we did not PHYSICALLY have the tickets, they wouldn't let us board. WHAT??!?!? We spent two hours messing around with that, which meant we had to race through Customs and the terminal and just BARELY made our flight. I spent the next three days in Singapore with a fever but it did subside the day we flew home. Oh, but then James got it. Sweet.
I made a promise to myself, while in Hanoi, that if we got out (quickly) that I'd never really worry about anything again. Sadly, I've not held up to my promise but I did try. I compare my stress, problems and worries to our ordeal and tell myself "At least we got out".
When we returned, I was still sick and it wasn't until 3 days later I finally went to the Doctor. I had caught Strep throat, had an ear infection and just general issues. Oh and I lost well over 10lbs within those two weeks. I didn't look good and felt even worse. My jet lag took almost a week and a half to subside, whereas in the past it's been 3 or 4 days at the most. Then shortly after that, found out I'd be either losing my job or need to transition to a new company. Needless to say, this did not help.
We never did recover any of our stolen items, the Hotel never contacted us again and still refused to comp our rooms, etc. We considered pursuing this but in the end, too many other things going on, so we just sucked up the close to $2,000+ extra we spent due to the theft.
Kath asked if I'd go back or recommend others to go to Vietnam. Yes and Yes. While I may not actually PLAN a trip back to Vietnam, I'd go if it just happened or I needed to for some reason. I think people who want to go there, should. It's a place with a lot of history and interesting to see 'the other side of the story'. My thoughts are, you should try to learn the truths and facts (or supposed truths or facts) and make a decide on your own. Hearing people call the Vietnam War "America's War on Vietnam" was an eye opener. The propaganda that was shown, is much like ours, but for the other side. Praising Soldiers and regular citizens for acts of bravery. For how many planes one shot down. For how many lives ones saved OR took.
I think people should travel as much as they can – whether it's to Vietnam or to the neighboring state. Seeing something different, in my opinion makes you more open minded and just generally, less ignorant
(ouch, tough statement I know. Now, that's not to say that, if you've never left the US you are ignorant, because that certainly ISN'T true. I just think if you don't have other avenues of learning and experiencing, traveling is a good one to take up)
Hey, at least we didn't catch Dengue Fever!!!