Vietnam: Part One

We had been looking forward to coming to Vietnam for a very long time. We flew from Bali to Singapore, Singapore to Vietnam after a combined travel time of roughly 11 hours (door to door). We had to get our visa's on arrival (which was a bit of a pita) but, we were on our way to our hotel in District 1 in no time. Right away, the number of motorcycles was astronomical. For every car/taxi there were 100's of motorcycles. Jordan and I both agree that we've had the perfect transition into this completely different culture. We started with Singapore which is an Asian country but where 92% of the population speaks English (ie. very Westernized). However, you have your Asian food markets, the implementation of scooters, etc. then we went to Bali where there were more crazy scooter drivers and even less that spoke English. This brings us now to Vietnam where it is the 92% that don't speak a word of English (except please look at my shop or you want to buy?). So we definitely did it right-not a huge culture shock for us! 

Our first three days were spent in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in District 1- the backpackers district and also home to the famous Ben Thanh Market. Lots of hustle and bustle but we loved it! The market was a fantastic spot to buy endless amounts fruit and souvenirs such as purses, clothing, tea sets, jewellery, etc etc. We wandered around this market for hours-great cheap food too! We stayed in two different hotels that costs us roughly $15 a night. This was something we could get used to! Initially we had thought Bali was going to be along the same prices but they were much more expensive then Vietnamese prices ($40/night versus anywhere from $10-25...in our budget!). For $10 you can get a decent sized room, clean, breakfast usually included and...most of the time....hot water! We also went to the Reunification Palace where the president used to live before North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam. Everything was left as is (apparently) including the tanks in the front yard the knocked down the gate. Very interesting! 

As I mentioned in my last blog, our first few days in Vietnam were mostly dedicated to going to the International SOS clinic to get checked out for the whole rabies situation. The rest our time was spent just endlessly wandering around the city, checking the sites and trying different fruit! We decided to head down to Vung Tau (a smaller city on the ocean that was a 2 hour bus ride away from HCMC). Vung Tau is located only 25km or so away from Ba Ria- the town where Lukie was born. Since we left home in December and knew that we were travelling after, it was always in the plan to visit this city and spend a week or so volunteering at the orphanage where Luke spent roughly 5 months of his life as a baby. So we ended up staying the night in Vung Tau and renting a motorcycle for the week to drive to/around/ and from Ba Ria. The motorcycle cost is 700, 000 Vietnamese Dong (VND)-roughly $35 Canadian. Cheap cheap! A full tank of gas costs roughly $5 and gets you probably around 100 km-not too shabby! So off we went to Ba Ria with both of us on this bike with both of our backpacks (one on Jordan's back and one in between my legs)...probably one of the most fun and entertaining drives we have ever done! We arrived and checked in at the hotel (the only hotel in the city) we would be staying at for one week and headed straight to the orphanage. 

We arrived at the orphanage and right away we realized it was going to be tricky to navigate communicating with them because none of the staff spoke a lick of English. The older kids came up to us right away and asked where we were from and do we know Gangham Style (while imitating the dance)..so they knew a bit if English haha, but not much! I told them we were from Canada and they looked at us like we made the country up. I said do you know Justin Bieber (embarrassingly I sang the chorus to Baby) and they all got super excited "oh yes, Justin Bieber-we like Justin Bieber). I told them that JB was from Canada and then they understood. Over our travels so far we have learned that EVERYONE knows the Biebs...most can't speak any English but they can sing (in extremely broken English) the chorus to at least one Bieber song! We spent a few hours with the kids and then it was nap time. The entire orphanage sleeps from roughly 11-2 in the afternoon (unless the older kids are in school which goes from either 7:30-11 or 12:30-4). We didn't figure this out until a couple of days in but then realized this was the time for us to go back to our hotel, have some lunch and relax and head back for 2pm. With the help of a lady named Loan who was the translator between the orphanage and TDH (the adoption agency my parents used), she was able to convey to the director that we wanted to stay for the week and help do whatever they needed us to. This was still very much lost in translation with the other nannies and so it wasn't until about 3 days in that they started realizing we weren't going away and that we actually wanted to help in other ways then just playing with the children.

Jordan came down with a serious fever and stomach ache and was in bed for 2 straight days and so I continued making the trip on motorcycle to the orphanage twice a day. I started helping look after the 6 babies-ranging in age from 6 months to 2.5 years. There were 4 boys and 2 girls. One of the little girls (who was also the oldest) was unable to talk because she either didn't have a voice box or it just didn't work (we were unable to decipher exactly due to the language barrier). The little girl had a tube in her throat which helped her to breathe and was mostly restricted to the crib where she would lay flat on her back. Right away I asked if I could hold her and they nodded yes. I picked her up and instantly she just had the hugest smile on her face. After that, anytime you would smile, she would give you one back that was 20x bigger. She was such a beautiful and smiley girl despite the fact that she has a very tough life. It brought tears to my eyes just holding her in my arms! 

There was one baby who was the youngest at six months old and was such a cutie. The nannies never said anything but I think he may have been blind as whenever I held him he was never able to follow me with his eyes at all. They were both very glazed and were shut or very small most of the time. The little boy also had the flattest head I have ever seen. We had seen it previously before with Lukie (as the babies and toddlers have flat heads because of constantly lying down in their metal cribs) but this babies head was incredibly flat and coned to the left. It was so heartbreaking to see. Jordan and I were constantly taking turns holding him as we wanted to keep him out of his crib and entertained as much as possible (even though in the long run it makes very little difference). He was a very sweet boy by rarely cracked any smiles. I would give him loud kisses on his cheek and neck and he would give the tiniest, tiniest smile but that was it.

The other kids however were such happy toddlers! They ranged from 1-2 years and they would run and crawl around the room constantly! The babies all slept and ate in the same room that consisted of 7 metal rocking cribs, 1 large wooden crib for the little girl who couldn't speak and two large metal beds for the nannies (but that were mostly used as climbing devises for the kiddies)! There was also one metal table with a few supplies including a rice cooker and some clothes all shoved to the centre of the table as the babies would step up on the bar and try and swat down anything and everything! It was actually absolutely hilarious seeing four toddlers all standing tiptoes on this small metal bar with there heads peering over the top of the counter! We were able to feed the babies and bathe them (only twice though) which proved to be much different then how we would do it at home (from what I've seen and experienced). The young kids were fed while they laid flat on their backs with the baby also being fed his bottle while still in his crib with blankets propped up to hold the bottle in place. This blew my mind because what would happen if the nannies are off in a different room and this little baby starts choking but he is lying flat on his back?? It blew my mind and needless to say, after that either Jordan or I held him every time it was feeding time! The kids also received the quickest and roughest "baths" which consisted of the kids on all fours on the floor with buckets of water dumped on them or the little baby and the little girl just lying on their tummies on the floor. The kids were all dried off with the same towel and were bathed, powdered and dressed in under two minutes each. Definitely a different way of doing things. Regardless of all of this though, the babies are very loved by the nannies and overall are very cheery kids. It was an emotionally, mentally and physically draining week but we loved it and would do it all over again in an instant! 

The town of Ba Ria, where the orphanage was located, had a population of absolutely zero foreigners. We were the only non-vietnamese people and certainly received our fair share of looks, points and laughs. It was the weirdest experience and it seemed liked everywhere we went, we were a constant spectical, especially among the kids. It was an experience for sure but we are very glad we were able to spend some time with the kids and help out a bit.

We left Ba Ria with one bag on the back and one in between my legs and headed back to Vung Tau to drop off the bike and catch the hydrofoil to HCMC. We had done this trip a couple of times as I had to go get a rabies shot earlier in the week and another trip because I had forgotten the iPad charger-we thought it would go as smoothly as our previous trips. Wrongo. About 15 minutes in to the drive I hear this snap and the engine starts revving and the bike stops moving forwards. Both Jordan and I were thinking, you've got to be kidding me! We drove this bike for a week straight and just as we are 20 minutes away it decides to break down on us?! Luckily, after crossing four lanes and a concrete barrier with the bike and our bags, we reached a tiny mechanic shop. I made the hand single for dead and pointed to the bike and the woman laughed and nodded. The belt had snapped and apparently this happens often as they had plenty in stock. They fixed the bike and we were on the road within 30 minutes. We had to laugh about the situation- it could have been worse! So we hopped back on the bike and head down the road. I'm thinking in my head, man we got so lucky that we weren't on one of the many bare stretches of road...there was a mechanic shop right there! Literally as I'm thinking this, BOOM! The damn thing snapped again!! This time we just couldn't believe it. We watched them put it on and didn't see any issues with it. What bad luck for it to happen twice to us within a 5 minute stretch on our very last day. Thankfully, the breakdown happened within a few hundred metres of another 'shop'. This time around though the mechanic didn't seem to know what he was doing. After two and a half hours and the guy going and getting a friend to help, we were back on the road and FINALLY, and in one piece, made it to our destination. We dropped off the bike so fast and hopped in a taxi before anything else could happen. 

Once we got to the boat that would take us to to HCMC, we were told there was only standing room left...we decided that we would take it anyways-we had had it with waiting around! We waiting until everyone boarded and then were let on. To our delight and surprise they took us to the very front cabin in the two front seats with a panoramic view! Looks like our luck was changing! We got to HcMC after an hour and a half boat ride and checked into our hotel near the train station. Our original plan was to sleep in the hotel over night and catch the 1:15pm train the next afternoon so we could meet up with Loan (the Vietnamese lady who helped with Lukie's adoption process) to give her back the phone we had borrowed from her and say thank you. However, we were informed that the 1:15 was sold out and that the 6am and 11 am only had soft seats or hard beds. After reading my dads blog and being advised to splurge the extra dollars for a soft bed, we decided that we would take the 11:15 pm train that night. We headed back to our hotel, had showers, Skype Jordan's mom and then checked out around 10pm- the hotel staff seemed very confused! Haha 

We boarded the train and after asking a few people to switched beds/rooms, Jordan and I were in the same cabin occupying the two top bunks. All soft sleepers have four beds (two sets of bunks) and so we assumed four people would be sleeping there. Wrongo. Six people ended up in the cabin with one of the men keeping the light on the entire night. Regardless of the fact that I drugged myself with Gravol to avoid any motion sickness and to try and get some sleep- I got zero. As there was nowhere else to sit in the train we spent the entire morning in our bunks until about 1pm when I just could'nt lay down anymore. We arrived in Danang after a 15 hour train ride and eager to get off! We met a super nice young American couple (who I had switched bunks with so they could be in the same room) and ended up exchanging tips as they had already been to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos and they were off to Australia and NZ. We then got to our hotel and explored around a bit.

Part Two of our Vietnam adventures coming soon (thought I'd break it up for you, it's a long one)!