From Nov. 5:
Day 7, a day of rest, I hope. I still need to shake this cough and sniffles.
We had breakfast, then visited the street markets and the big covered market in town. I saw frog meat for sale in the meat section... and had my first surprise of the day when the frog meat jumped! If it doesn’t jump or wiggle it can’t be fresh and no one will buy it. They skin the frogs, which doesn’t kill them, then clean them up when a purchase is made.
I could spend a week in My Tho just photographing people in the street. Yesterday when we arrived here I saw a woman about 80 years old, who was little more than skin and bones, squatting on the sidewalk selling fruit. She was at least 60 pounds, 70 at most. She should have had every reason to be miserable, but she had a most beautiful smile on her face, waiting for customers to come and buy her fruit.
On the bus now on our way back to Saigon. We’ll have a few free hours before meeting our tour operator and his family for dinner. I will miss My Tho. Our host was extremely gracious to us. We look forward to our next meeting.
Day 7 recap: it’s a good thing that day 7 was a day of rest because after our return to Saigon my symptoms worsened... steadily . My nose was like a dripping faucet and my head was foggy.
Somehow I managed to make our dinner appointment with our tour operator and his family, and in spite of my symptoms I still enjoyed the best restaurant food I’ve had in years. Not to mention that the meal lasted 2-3 hours! My great regret is that my stomach isn’t large enough to consume more! Our tour operator’s wife is a gem, and their 4-year old daughter will wrap you around her finger so fast it’ll make your head spin. If she ever needs another grandfather I wanna be first in line. In the cab on our way back to the hotel the little girl quizzed me by asking questions in both Vietnamese and English, which I had to answer in Vietnamese, and I returned the favor by asking her questions that required answers in English. She passed with flying colors. I’m not sure if I passed, but she seemed happy so I’ll take that as a yes.
However, when my wife and I returned to our hotel room the dreaded “c” (cancel) word came up. It was ironic that the day with fewest surprises should be the day with highest potential to upset our plans most severely. The trip for which I’d waited 33 years was in danger of being cut short by my illness. It occurred to me that my symptoms were much like a severe allergy, possibly due to high pollution levels in Saigon, and my desire to leave Saigon for cleaner regions quickly intensified. I only had to get through one more night... |
