The sobering fact is that we in the U.S. have an international reputation for being obese. Eating as much as I have been, I am rapidly heading in that direction. However, I’m having fish-sauce difficulties. First, as you know, on my first day here I drank it in gulps before realizing what it was. Immediately thereafter a Vietnamese told me not to ask what was in it. Then yesterday, I spilled a vat of fish sauce all over myself and the floor, and I can tell you that I smelled far worse then when I rubbed fish oil in my hair as a moisturizer. Plus, it looked like vomit. A shower and a load of laundry later, I still stink.
There’s a beetle in my bathroom that must think it’s in Japan.
My trip to the Mekong Delta was a welcome respite and culturally and visually fascinating, except for looking out the window and seeing the immediate aftermath of a motorcycle accident with pools of blood as big as those in war photos. “Blewd,” said the man next to me, who was from northern England.
Aside from the blood lake, which rendered me speechless for a full hour, the only other disturbing moment was when the group gathered at an outdoor restaurant for lunch. The vast majority of travelers I’ve seen have one or more companions. One group joined another at big round tables. I, early to sit, sat at one where there were no people yet. Nor did any ever appear. Then someone came over, bent over, smiled and asked, “Do you mind if I take this chair?” “Whatever,” I think I said. I wanted tea. A waiter stood in the center of all the tables, watching for the slightest sign of an inquiry. I stared sweetly, waiting to catch his eye. For a full minute he stood, looking in all directions, but I was as invisible to him as to the rest of the world. He left before I could make my request. Finally, a waitress showed up. As I opened my mouth to order tea, she reached over and took all the condiments, napkins and silverware from my table. At last, someone asked for the remaining chairs. The waiters rollerskated everywhere. I want to take up rollerskating, because in my dreams I’m very good at it.
Here’s a slideshow of the overnight Mekong Delta trip, with a Vietnamese children’s song for accompaniment.