Adjusting

I don't know what clock my body is following, but I have woken up at 3:00a.m. Every morning since I've been here. Unfortunately this means that buy the afternoon the heat and the fact that I've been up for so long already means I am beat. Yesterday I couldn't even stay awake long enough to eat dinner. With lunch having been at !:00 I woke up starving! Breakfast of course isn't served til 6:30. Kill me. Luckily I had packed those fruit leathers. Thanks for the advice Char! They are coming in very useful in the wee hours of the morning. Today I bought a bus ticket to Hue. I leave 7p.m. tomorrow. I was going to walk to the train station, but as I was buying postcards from a girl, she said she would take me. And I'll be honest here: Anthony Bourdain is a wimp! My favorite part of this trip so far is getting on the back of those motortaxis and flying through the streets. The girl who took me had an adorable son and her family hangs out in the park looking for easy targets like me. She was great fun though. She was wearing a Burberry jacket, Dior jeans, and a Coach helmet. I doubt though, that Coach actually does helmets. Still: super cute and trendy. We chatted as she weaved the way through the packed streets. At one point my knee almost brushed up against a tour bus going the other way. There are some lines on the streets, signs and stuff, but rarely do people pay attention. Most street lights are turned off except for the very busy intersections. But even then, we went through a red light. The streets are a crazy thrill. I have one hand holding my helmet on, the other holding my purchases (yesterday a few things I had to buy ((gifts maybe?)) today pepsi and ritz crackers.) But nobody holds on. After driving those crazy mountain roads with Beki, this is nothing. As we flew down the streets we passed stores called Butterfly, Fairy, and Fermes (who needs Hermes right). There was a hotel called Charming and a street called Fried Fish. Hanoi is cute that way. Why have boring numbers when you can have Apple Cart Street. My hotel is on 22 Quan Thanh street, Quan Thanh meaning the bar. The breakfast buffet has an interesting assortment of foods including Oreos yesterday and today a marmalade that was orangey-yellow and tasted like marshmallow fluff. Must find out the name of that fruit. I'm hoping to see the water puppet show tonight. I'm going to try to make it for the 5:15 show so I'm not out too late.... Right now my plan is a nap, then head to the lake to do a bit of shopping and see the show.

Whelmed

So it has kicked in. As I was sitting at my breakfast table on the eleventh floor of my hotel it kicked in. The buildings are incredible. The houses are all four to five stories high, but so narrow! They look ridiculous. Every building is built either with a brick or concrete frame (depending on when it was originally built) and the front and back walls are gutted and rebuilt whenever. So I can see through many houses. It is a strange thing, but kind of cool. The buildings are so colorful. Lots of blues and yellows. Yesterday on my drive from the airport we passed rice paddies and I saw only one or two people per giant field. The growing of rice is all done by hand! They grow the tiny seeds to about two inches before hand planting them in neat rows in the field. In about 3 1/2 months they are full grown and picked to sell. Vietnam exports an enormous amount of rice. And the rice they don't export is sold in country or fed to cows and water buffalo. These people are amazing. Farming to us is combines and tractors and huge herds of cows, here it is backbreaking labour that women and children do and maybe a handful of cows. The animals here are skinny and strange. Nothing like our overfed world! The weather is gorgeous. A brief storm in the early hours of the day meant humidity like you can't imagine. The rain is hot and falls in huge drops on the street. It doesn't stop anyone from their day though. All the motorbikers wear ponchos to keep them and their parcels dry. Yesterday I saw a girl riding a motorbike, her father sitting in the sidecar with a wicker chair on wheels contraption in front of him. He had twenty foot rebar curled around him. Must be building something somewhere. It is amazing what people carry on the back of their bikes. Thousands of bottles, five AC units, three kids. Streets are a little crazy. Lots of honking as people drive on the road, sidewalks, and the wrong side of the road. Today on one of my rides, we went the wrong way down a one way street and my motor taxi driver was the one honking at everybody. Truly amazing that nobody gets hurt. My hotel is a modern building built five years ago, it is stunning. I can't believe I can afford the beautiful hotel room I am staying in! I will have to thank my travel agent when I get back! The fruit has been the best part of my eating experience so far. Dragon fruit, watermelon, and some strange citrus fruit. All so sweet and juicy. Nothing like the fruit we have at home. I was talking to a lady from Queensland at breakfast and she laughed that there was still snow on the ground at home. This weather is quite the difference from Edmonton and my hair is so happy! I don't think it will be happy to go back to dry Albertan air so I am eating up the great body while it lasts. Humidity is heaven in a weather pattern.

Underwhelmed

I know it is a strange thing, but I am completely underwhelmed by the craziness of my situation. I cannot believe that I am sitting in the Hong Kong airport (25C and humid) drinking starbucks. I woke up sometime between that world and this world and looked out my window. I could see the snowy mountain peaks of either Russia or Kamchatka. Flying over a country that I only have heard of because of the game Risk is crazy. We chased the sunrise and left it in our dust. The sky paled to dawn, faded back to night, sprung into a glorious sunrise then back to night. I have seen the sunrise 2 1/2 times in six or so hours. Dinner was at 3:30 a.m. your time. I had the vegetarian pasta. Yum. Breakfast was a choice of frittata or beef fried noodles. Tomorrow my breakfast will probably consist of a noodle dish and tropical fruit dipped in chili sauce. Heaven. The guys sitting next to me were very nice, which is good because we were at close quarters for a deathly long time. I can't wait for my king size bed! There is a very cute old couple skyping at the table in front of me. Using iPad2. Techie people! It's 7:30 now and the shops are opening in the airport. Maybe I can find something to snack on that has more substance than my popcorn twists. I'm not sure how these Asian women do it, but they all stepped off that 15hour flight looking as perfect and pressed as they got on. That is a skill I must acquire soon. There are showers here at the airport, but there wasn't enough time between flights to take advantage. More adventure to come!

Why Vietnam

Biggest question I've gotten once the initial shock wears off: Why Vietnam?

Four words: Anthony Bourdain - Medium Raw

He wrote about pho so well that I have spent over one quarter of the money I made last year to try it.

Also, I wanted to get out of my comfort zone in three distinct ways: Live with no toilet paper, Find out what communism means in modern societies, and Get six million vaccinations.

I will literally be off the map for five weeks. Facebook, Twitter, and most blog/social networking sites are blocked. This blog will hopefully run by e-mails sent to my dad and posted here.

I cannot promise that there will be posts every day, every week, or even at all. If you are family (this includes Kendall & Sarah) you will know who to call to find updates. I will hopefully be able to communicate with Mom&Dad.

I'm on an adventure (I am even bringing my adventure kit) and probably will not miss you. You should not expect presents as I am BROKE. I do, however, promise that if there is a moment that I think of you or wish you could see what I see, I will take a picture of that moment and tell you all about it.

I'm on a get-away. I literally want to get away from: school, work, you(friends&family), and most of all MY CELL PHONE. I am shutting it off April 20th at 7:00a.m. and leaving it at home. Feel free to e-mail either bethany_316@hotmail.com or bethany.r.hansen@gmail.com (not sure which I can use there).

I'm on a journey. I will be independent, self-sufficient, self-reliant. I have no safety net to run to. I will be alone. I will come back different, but the same.

I'm on a trek. I am not bringing practical shoes. I must travel approximately 1146km in 30 days. I'm often too lazy to walk to the Petro Canada across the street.

I'm on a sabbatical. A rest, leave, Sabbath Day. I am going to live in the moment and not worry about the next. I will rest until I finds peace. I will rely in God who has taken care of me since I was a child. And when I'm scared I will remember what my mom taught me when I was so young and so scared of the dark: God will command His angels charge over me, to keep me in all my ways. Psalms 91:11 It's the first verse I remember learning, the verse I still whisper to the noises in the dark. I'm not afraid.

I hope that my travel journal does not bore you, but I fully expect that my stories may shock, horrify, and worry you. Thank you for your support. I'm just over a week away and it's starting to sink in. Keep sending your prayers, well wishes, and good thoughts my way.

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
 -Dr. Seuss