Dripping in a Beautiful Place: Nha Trang..still

As I post tonight I'm dripping with sweat. It is after 9pm and still the heat and the humidity in Nha Trang are high. The hotel I'm at has free internet on laptops in their outdoor reception area. Classical piano music plays over loudspeakers and the waiting area is empty. The hotel has been quiet ever since the weekend crowd began to leave on Sunday. The night is more quiet tonight than on other nights. I can hear the trees singing in the wind. Last night the trees were howling and on other nights there was pounding rain. On those nights I was glad to be inside and not running from a car to the hotel like earlier in the week. There is only a crescent moon tonight so the stars were bright. I often forget to look up to see if there are stars. In Korea I learned to assume no vissibility. So tonight when I happened to look up I stood looking at the stars like a child in a candy store. Amazing! I came to my senses to check if anyone else was watching me. No one was around. I chuckled. I must have looked silly with my head laying way back and talking out loud to myself in amazement of the view.

This hotel is about 60k north of the major city of Nha Trang. Today I took a shuttle into town to secure onward transportation to HoChiMin City on Saigon. On Thursday I head to HoChiMin and on the weekend I'll head to Cambodia.

This Vietnam part of my trip is NOTHING like I planned. I'm enjoying the very open ended, plan as I go, listen and follow kind of trip. Early on I had hoped to see so many things. That drive in me always wants more! But I've been gifted with an entirely different Vietnam experience and gotten the "more" in an unexpected way. Slowing down has given me way more than I could have asked for in those "sight" I hoped to see. This leg of the trip, while not much to share in terms of people and places, will give dividends in the coming months. It is a beautiful thing, no matter where I am in the world, to just be. I've had more fun in the last 3 days in one place with few people than I've had in a long time. I have been more alone here too. Yet, I've not felt alone. I think I could spend a lot of time here "alone" but not lonely. So I'm staying a few more nights. A few more days of this will be great for the soul!

I finished a pretty powerful read today. After going to the museum and HOCHIMIN Moseluem this week and being confronted with a Vietnam story told in a way I've never heard before I hoped to read more of the Vietnam story--from any perspective. "The Girl In The Picture: The Story of Kim Phuc" is a book I picked up in Hanoi. It has given me what I was looking for--a new perspective. Most who remember the days of the Vietnam war or have studied it will probably know of Kim Phuc's picture. She was from Trang Bang a village between Saigon and the Cambodian border. Her village was accidentally bombed by the American--a casualty of friendly fire. The village received a napalm bomb. The picture that would became world famous shows Kim Phuc running out of the village naked with her hands out to her side. The book begins by telling of that napalm day but then follows Kim Phuc's life-- from a pawn of Vietnam's propaganda to freedom in Canada. Here life been about "the picture" ever since. She lived under the eyes of "minders" for years. She suffered not only burns and other health related issues but also from living in two poverty stricken countries--Vietnam and Cuba. Just as life seemed to be getting better it would get worse. Kim Phuc became a Christian and the author of this book does a great job of showing the importance faith played in her life. The book sure has helped me put a new perspective on the Vietnam War and the aftermath of it. It portrays difficult days and dissapointing times for the Vietnam South. What a roller coaster ride the people of the South were on for years! On Saturday I'm taking a bus from HoChiMin/Saigon and will probably be very near to where she grew up.

A fun thing happened today. As I was in town I stocked up food. I'm splurging on the accommodations and going cheap on meals! Thank God for the mini-fridge! I wanted to find the fruit market. I had been given directions but for some reason had a hard time following them. Actually, the maps and directions in Vietnam have been very hard. I'm usually really good with maps but not here. Every street seems to have multiple names and some streets are not on the maps. It could be me, or it could be a different system! Anyways, I was lost...again. The motor bike guys always pick up on my "lost-ness". I usually ignore or just say I don't need them. I did that again today. After I had shewed off a motor-biker a man came up to me. It was clear he wanted to say hello and was curious about me. I took the opportunity to ask him where the market was. He pointed and said he'd show me. As we walked he told me he had a son in the USA. His son is my age. His English was broken but we were able to get the basic information across to each other. He walked me all the way to the market and then asked if I would like him to help me buy my fruit. YES! Bartering is an acquired skill and I'm still acquiring it. I'm getting better and think I could get good however each country is so different. The prices and the money get all confused in my mind. How do I know what a fair price is for Vietnam? I learned what it was in China. I know what it would be in Korea or the USA. But Vietnam? How much is one supposed to pay for a mango? So, having a native help me was great. And help he did. I paid less today for my mangos than I did last week. Once I made the purchase we said goodbye and we were both on our way. What a kind man! I'm grateful for these kinds of interactions.