Monday 25th February
I have quite a few things to do
before we leave for another epic adventure.
- I have to finish work… I have
applied for, and have been granted, leave from Easter (29th
March) until April 7th 2014, which is a great blessing. I
am very much hoping that whoever replaces me is able to come and spend a
few days so I can explain the arcane practices of my nice little office…
- There are lots of things I want
to gather up to take to the Louisiades – sewing needles, fishing gear,
light-weight clothes, balls…ummm…and maybe desirable objects such as
playing cards and marbles.
- My computer needs an iTunes
upgrade and I need…a brain upgrade so I can use my beautiful MacBook Air!
- Food – I need to buy a
dehydrator and then dehydrate desirable items of food such as mushrooms,
potatoes and onions. All hard if not impossible to find in the
Louisiades.
- Ukulele – yes indeed; it is my
aim to buy a dear little ukulele and then learn to play it, on 2XS.
Won’t Pete just love that!
Cherry Hotel 2008
Our Saigon hotel was just
lovely. Light and cheerful, very cheap, with a comfortable mattress
(bliss!), a lovely hot shower, and a hairdryer. I had pho for
breakfast and thought this was a great way to start the day. Pho is the
ubiquitous Vietnamese soup, a light broth with egg noodles and greenstuff, and
sometimes thinly sliced chicken fillet, or beef. (Chicken is
nicer…) We had a siesta on our first day there - it is very hot,
everything closes down. I decided to test my powers of reconnaissance and
offered to go out in search of tonic water and limes - to go with the gin, of
course. One of the reception staff from the hotel offered to go for me,
but I said, no, please just show me where the shop is. Down a little lane
and around a corner and up another little lane. Simple! I
negotiated the lime, and the tonic, not a problem. I found that while not
many people in Vietnam really spoke English, they could always indicate money -
everyone has a solar-powered calculator, and can convert dong to $US quick as a
flash. And was it simple getting back to the hotel?? Of course
not! I was sure I had managed to retrace my steps, but was NOT in the
main street, NOT at the Cherry Hotel. Some men in uniform were sitting
around on their motor bikes, so I asked them “Cherry Hotel?” They were
very amused and said yes; we were at the back door, where all the rubbish goes…
How did I manage that??
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