It’s really hard to believe that the clinical part of the trip has come to an end. This may be a good thing considering Kit thinks she may have Dengue Fever, or heat exhaustion and a stomach not meant for Vietnamese food. Last night, we took our translators out to dinner. We went to a place called Tai Pho (which is not Thai food), and had a family style meal of spring rolls with pork and banh quioe (kway, and totally spelled incorrectly), which is a crepe with bean sprouts, pork, shrimp and lettuce. They picked the restaurant and told us this is a place they come to as a group. The food was yummy and we were stuffed by the time we walked out. However, out translators did insist that they take us out for dessert that consisted of layers of sweet bean, +/- corn, +/- banana all served with ice and coconut milk. Sounds crazy, but actually really sweet and delicious, like a parfait. The whole evening was a lot of fun and it was wonderful to spend time outside of clinic with everyone we have been working with, go to their favorite restaurants and share their favorite meals.

The last of clinic was both a very (medically) interesting and rewarding day. One of our colleagues saw a patient with leprosy, and we had a large group of Down’s syndrome patients. My last patient of the day was a young boy with Down’s syndrome who was not feeding well or growing as well as his peers. Tuyen (my translator) managed to distract him while playing music for him on my IPhone and showing him pictures. Talk about a team effort, but worth it. He seemed to like Van Morrison the best, and I was able to look at his heart with the ultrasound machine I have been lugging about. He appeared to have a complete AV canal defect (heart malformation) and we were able to refer him to the hospital for surgical repair.

We as a group then had a special celebration with all of our translators, and honestly, we cannot say enough about what a treat it was to work with them. We each worked with one specific translator the entire time, and we hands down had the best two translators. They were quick to pick up on all the medical terminology and were even recognizing our patterns of questions and diagnoses, when we would want a blood sugar checks, etc. We would talk about music, movies and what they typically did on weekends. Tuyen really liked the Dave Matthews Band that I introduced to her. Kit and Huong were listening to a lot of Beiber and Backstreet Boys. We are especially excited for them as they both won scholarships to study in the US this year and found out where they are going. Tuyen is going to Minnesota and Huong to South Dakota. So, if any of our friends have any XXS winter coats you no longer use, I am sure these girls will need them!

All in all, the people we have worked with on this trip have been a great group – from our translators to the Vets who have returned to a country they were at war with, and everyone else.

So, we have been out in villages, we have eaten local food with families, and even had massages. But it was not until the night on the boat that we had the true Vietnamese nightlife experience. Yes, I am talking about karaoke. Now, The Le had mentioned earlier in the week about karaoke, but I had not really paid attention to the importance of this. Looking back, there have been quite a few karaoke bars in each city – Funny Karaoke, VIP Karaoke, Karaoke Club 86 to name a few. The captain announced after dinner that it was time for the evening’s entertainment – karaoke all night long. He and his crew started off karaoke with an American song and then a Vietnamese song, then the Aussie couple took over followed by the French Canadians with a Backstreet Boys song. The captain then came to us four to really get the party going, and enthusiastically kept us up at the mike and sang along with us to Neil Diamond, Bon Jovi, Garth Brooks, Backstreet Boys (Kit), and Britney Spears. Don’t worry though – neither of us are quitting our day job, and since Leann has this recorded, neither one of us can ever run for public office. It was all topped off by a rather uncoordinated but enthusiastic version of “Time Warp” from Rocky Horror picture show.
You may be thinking that this was just our boat, with a captain who happens to love karaoke, but No! I escaped went to the upper deck sometime between Backstreet Boys and another traditional Vietnamese song. The bay was lit up by s small city of boats….and I could hear karaoke from several other ships. Our editor friend from Edinburgh mentioned the next day her friend had warned her about the entertainment. And even as I write this, we have passed by 32 karaoke bars.
They say, “When in Rome, do as Romans do”, but when in Vietnam, one must sing karaoke!

We started off with lunch, which happened to be a 7-course meal of fruit, vegetables, and fish. We were fed constantly and well – the food was amazing & fresh. We then took the boat to our first stop: a big cave to “hike” through. Now, in New Zealand, easy beach walk translated to 9-hour arduous mountain trek. Here “hike” meant a long stroll through a cave with 900 of your closest friends. Although stalagmites and stalactites are cool, it is not something recommended for those with claustrophobia. We then cruised over to a floating fishing village and took kayaks through the fishing village. This part of the day was way too short, or maybe it was the stopping every 2 minutes for another photo, but whichever way, wish we spent more time kayaking. This part was only complicated when Leann and Thao Linh never returned. 30 minutes after everyone had returned, they finally paddled up. Glad we were not going to have to explain a disappearance at sea to the rest of the team!

We then returned to the boat and were able to swim in aqua blue water before sunset drinks, dinner, and entertainment. The night is worthy of a whole blog post on its own.

Sunday morning, we awoke to Vietnamese coffee and breakfast overlooking the bay – a 5 course breakfast in one of the most beautiful spots on earth, not too bad for a quick weekend trip. We then went to a pearl farm, a dedicated UNESCO heritage site, which was truly beautiful and interesting. All this was followed by a lesson in making spring rolls. Then a 10-course lunch. We keep trying to convince ourselves that the food is healthy (which is easy to do when you’re not sure what it is).

Leaving the bay was fairly uneventful, although not a one of us was looking forward to the trip ahead. Lemme explain: 3.5-hour bumpy ride to Hanoi in tour van + 45 minute hot cab ride to Hanoi airport + 1 hour plane ride to Da Nang + 2-3 hour rollercoaster trip through mountains to Hue. What do the kids say these days? YOLO?
The trip back was complicated when we boarded the plane. A tour group of excited Vietnamese mamma-sahns (older ladies) nearly trampled me, Margaret , to death in a rush to get a seat. It became evident that this was in fact their first plane ride when they all pulled down the trays immediately to set their purses on. The one sitting next to me then grabs me and pulls me in for a picture, complete with peace signs. BTW, they were all wearing matching hats.

So, we are not actually on a culinary tour of SE Asia. Nor are we being paid to scout out fabulous movie locations (although if someone wants to pay us to do that, just let us know). Not yet training to be on The Amazing Race. Average day here: (still pretty awesome) while we work on uploading the 864 photos from the weekend.

Oh where to even begin! The weekend trip began at 01:00 (yes that is 1 am for you non-military folk) with our driver taking us to Da Nang in our Magical Mystery Tour vans so we could fly out at 06:00. The idea was to sleep in the van. Ha-ha, that was a joke! Apparently we had forgotten that the road from Hue to Da Nang is through a mountain pass and lots of little villages. There was no sleeping at all. We arrive to the Da Nang airport at 03:00. Now, you may be asking why did we leave at 01:00 for a 2-hour trip? We had to be through the tunnel near Da Nang by 03:00 as it shuts down for an hour then. So we arrive to the Da Nang airport at 03:00 and were told by a guard that the airport was closed, and he pointed to the next resting/sleeping location – benches outside the airport. We put our bags under our heads to enjoy sleeping underneath all the stars, or as The Le (accent over e) put it “the 10,000 star hotel”.
We moved inside at 04:00 to rest in a few chairs, and sometime between 04:00 and 04:40, approximately 600 people flooded the airport (ok maybe not that many). The scene though was as if Justin Beiber walked into an all-girls high school convention (Kit’s been listening to a lot of Beiber recently). We somehow made it through the ticket counter, security and to the shuttle to take us 20 yards to the plane.

After arriving in Hanoi, we caught a taxi for the 45-minute trip to the tourism office where we were to meet up with the tour group. Realized quickly that the reason this is a 45 minute drive is that the average speed is 15 mph. This is largely due to the fact that there are NO traffic rules! Somehow we did make it to the tour office by 8:30, and even had time to grab a pork sausage Bun from the street vendor:

We made several stops in the tour van to pick up different people. Our fellow travelers were diverse and appeared to be a fun group – an Aussie couple, and French Canadian couple in medical school, and book editor from Scotland to name a few. After a 3.5-hour bus trip from Hanoi, sustaining several C-spine compression fractures, we arrived at Halong Bay.
Can I just say “Whoa”?! I was honestly expecting a little known, preserved nature area (a la Milford & Doubtful Sound), instead we had arrived at an Indochina Disneyland. Our guide even had a flag for us to follow him. I kid you not.
Once we followed the blue and yellow flag through the mass of people, we took a small junk (boat) to our real boat. Our boat was very nice with a top deck, dining area and rooms complete with private bathrooms. After having been to many different countries with many different interpretations of this, one truly begins to appreciate the importance of an en suite restroom.

We have just arrived back at home (the Imperial Hotel in Hue) from a whirlwind trip to Halong Bay. Unfortunately, we have not yet had time to mentally process the sheer awesomeness of the trip, much less upload photos! We will work on having this updated for you tomorrow!

Over the past 2 days, we have been traveling up to the mountains to a clinic founded by the family of Capt. Olsen. The trip itself is about an hour and a half through winding mountain roads. Thank goodness for Zofran! The mountain village is more remote, and the villagers have their own dialect, which makes the translation even more interesting.
Last night, a few of the translators took us out to a very local restaurant for seafood “hotpot” and other true Hue delicacies. Talk about a new, great dining experience! I do not think I have sat in a chair that small since I was 10. The food was spicy and amazing, and although I did not understand 75% of the conversation, the company was great!

This weekend we are going to Hanoi and to Halong Bay with the other girls. Can;t wait ti get there!

Yesterday was our second day in clinic, and a very H-O-T day. No afternoon thunderstorms this time, just heat. Somehow it still does not compare to Columbia, SC in August though. I will say, I saw some of the most energetic 83 y/o women I have ever seen.  The clinic:

After clinic, we tried an avocado smoothie from Nina’s cafe (new favorite place in Hue), and OMG, this was actually life changing. Never thought to put avocados with sweet milk, but whoever did is a genius in my book! Then walked down to the local night market on the river, which was great.  All the local vendors come out and sell street food, paintings, more street food, and toys. We even got to witness (the start) of a Vietnamese flash mob. How much fun!

Today was a day off, and we took advantage! When you are used to walking up at 5 AM, it is easy to get an early start on the day. We were joined by Thao Linh and Leanh, as well as by two Vietnamese-American pharmacy students who are also on this trip. We started off early to get to the Imperial Citadel, home to Nguyen Dynasty (1800-1900’s), then to the Pagoda, and at that point we thought there was a good possibility of heat stroke.

We then moved on to the Pagoda, where the Buddhist monks were praying.

When in Vietnam….. there is always time for a snack!

After a very busy morning, we decided it was time to relax a little and visit a local beach. The sands were white, the water a perfect blue, and it was not crowded – Paradise! Young children kept coming up to sell snacks. All the local people were looking at us like we were crazy for being out in the sun (finally, a place where very fair skin is prized!). A lady came up to us carrying big pots of spicy crab & fish soup (yum)…. no wonder there is so much back pain in clinic.

Life is pretty good when you are eating Vietnamese home cooking on the beach

For some reason, the Eagles “Tequila Sunrise” came to mind when I awoke at 5 AM to this:

Supposed to be getting ready for clinic, but could literally not leave the window.

Today was the first day in clinic, and it was actually by far the nicest clinic I have ever worked in on a trip. There were ceiling fans, which was a huge luxury.  We also had a cadre of translators with great English and were a lot of fun to work with. Ours are pictured below:

Most common complaints: back pain and knee pain (when one works harvesting rice all day, this is a legitimate complaint). Blurry vision. Dizzy (see comment about harvesting rice in 95 deg heat).

Clinic only slowed a little when the Monsoon (quite literally) hit. We were still able to see a few more patients, then packed up, but not before taking some more pics. The mountains surrounded by clouds are beautiful after a rain. Trust me, this does not do the landscape justice at all!

Last night was the Saigon finale. We ended the evening with the long-awaited trip to the salon….. and there are just not words to describe it.  Find us later if you want the not-ready-for-prime-time account because we are still laughing about it!

Today was a travel day. We flew to Danang (some may recall this from Tom Selleck’s hat in Magnum, PI) and then took a 3 hour drive up to Hue. We both had a PTSD moment from India 2011 during the plane ride. Luckily, the drive was quite uneventful and also quite beautiful.  We drove through the mountains with a coastline visible, through small rice villages, up to Hue. Hue in itself seems to be a beautiful, clean city.  We have an amazing view from the hotel.  The architecture has changed from that of Saigon, there are  pagodas and an Imperial China influence (I believe).

Tomorrow we start clinic and have a 5 AM wake-up time.  Sounds early, but that is what time the sun comes up here.  Vaca over, time to get to work!

Here are some pictures snapped out the window of the van on the road to Hue…. the honestly do not do the countryside justice.

And the view from the hotel….