Notes from Vietnam #4

June 24

Hallooooo!

So I talked to Mom briefly on the phone, and told her I'd email you the post that I wrote for my LJ. I'm going to bed. The fluorescent lights in this room are so killer I'm not even going to bother to write in my travel journal. But in any case, enjoy!

Quick update as to how this day has gone:

This hotel we're in is supposed to be 3 stars, but is kinda well, crappy. I've got about five minutes to write, so here we go.

Woke up in the Sunny Hotel this morning an hour later than Jenn and I wanted to (we are rooming together now; Peter and Helen switched all the roommates, well, the girls at least; the guys are sticking together. Anyways.) and wolfed down breakfast. I then proceeded to get sick to my abdomen. Not my stomach. Everything in my abdomen from just below my breasts down to my hips felt like it had been put through a blender that wouldn't turn off. Sharp, stabbing pains. It was awful. According to everyone, I looked like a zombie. Slept throughout the bus ride, which was nice, but I couldn't go into the pottery factory because I felt so horrendous.

We went to a rural village, which was AMAZING, though not as rural as I had imagined. I have sooooo many pictures, and tons of these kids that kept following us. Everyone was really nice. I felt better after sleeping on the bus, but the pains kept coming back randomly for prolonged periods. It was soooo hot there, as well. Really, really hot.

Anyways, right, so, rural (I have a headache, can't really think properly right now) and then we went from there to this hotel, and here we are.

Did I say anything about the boat we were on yet? It was AMAZING! We were on a junk in Halong Bay, and it was so unbelievably beautiful the whole time. I wish we were still on it. Unfortunately, on that trip I discovered that Amber is an awful roommate. You know how you can't drink the water in this country? Everyone has to buy bottled water. So we all stocked up before we went on the boat, since we couldn't buy any water on said boat.

Everyone was always hanging out, but Amber is still reclusive, so she was in our cabin (full of roaches!) a lot of the time.

It turns out Amber had stolen my water and been drinking it, even though she had her own (she still had two bottles left, I saw them).

Veeeeeeeeery frustrating.

So I switched roomies and it's fun with Jenn. Have to go now. Off to dinner, then tomorrow breakfast is at 6:30 and we're back to Hanoi for one more night.

Farewell to all!