Joy is all about friendship

I don’t always feel terribly homesick.  I miss my friends and family and I hate missing out on everything that is happening back home.  Sometimes you just have put those thoughts aside and keep plugging away.  I really thought I had everything handled, until we received our first visitors from the US. 

John and I headed into Hanoi to meet up with a group from the Washington Agriculture and Forestry Education Foundation that was traveling to Vietnam.  Among the travelers were two very good friends.  For two days I was walking on air.  You know joy?  That overwhelming feeling of happiness where you just know everything is going to be ok?

Of course there were a couple of glitches.  I made reservations at a different hotel than the one they were staying at (same name, same street, and slightly different address). The weather was soooo cold, the coldest, wettest and drizzliest it has been so far.  Instead of waiting for them in the lobby as they walked in the door from their very long trip; we were sitting just down the street, waiting in a very empty and quiet lobby.  All was OK – they arrived and I got to show them all my favorite spots of Hanoi.

Checking out Hanoi with Cheri & Robin

Early morning walk and
exercise

 Cooking class at Hanoi Cooking Centre

Trip to Duong Son Ancient Village

With the hat, or without the hat???? I like it, but will he actually wear it?

I think she needs to keep the hat for sure.

 Visit to Ba Vi and Homestead Village

  

Bi Vi Mountain in the background

Catching fish for lunch

Cooking the fish

Thuy An Orphanage

Taking one of the always popular selfie's.  He was really happy, it just doesn't look like it.

Since Robin and Cheri were traveling part of the time with the group, John and I slipped out early to get the house ready for a party to welcome the delegation to Hai Phong while they made their way to Ha Long Bay. Our trip home turned into a Vietnam nightmare.  Our taxi driver was told to go to the wrong bus station so we went several kilometers out of our way before we realized the error.  We told him “bus to Hai Phong” and he responded with “Okay, Okay” in such a determined manner we believed him.  15 minutes later when I finally realized we were still going the wrong way I showed him the map, and again “Bus to Hai Phong”.  Once again “Okay, Okay” 10 minutes later we arrived at the train station. 

I like taking the train. It is a comfortable but long (4 hour) ride to Hai Phong where the bus takes a mere 2.5 to 3 hours. And while doing my diligent pre-trip work I knew that the last train left at 6pm and it was now 6:30 and I was pretty darn sure that the train was not going to work.  Before we could say “BUS” the taxi driver was taking our bags out of the trunk and the train personnel were taking them away.  John and I looked at each other, and in the way that you know your spouse after 27 years of marriage, with a quick nod I ran after the luggage and John went to purchase the tickets.  As I am trying to scramble onto the train the one piece of luggage that the conductors didn’t take was the very important case of wine for the party.  I looked back to see my very agile husband jump over the case of wine and run across the tracks to the train.  I start to yell, “get the wine, get the wine, get the wine,” which of course he can’t hear.  So finally – back he goes to get the wine, we heave it on the train and off we go, because of course they were holding up the train just for us.

I mentioned before previous train rides were quite comfortable with nice soft seats, a movie playing and food service.  This was a different train. Hard benches, loud train noises and even louder voices.  Most of the time I love listening to the soft tonal language of Vietnamese.  The sound is as beautiful as the people, unless they are yelling.  Ôi Chúa ơi! – they were yelling to be heard over the loud noise of the train and it was not pretty, cackling is what comes to mind when I try to describe the noise.  John and I looked at each other – can we handle this for 4 hours???? Just then the beverage cart went rolling by and I sent John after it to buy beer.

Almost 2 hours into the trip I was feeling as though I couldn’t handle the noise for a moment longer and decided to pull out google maps to see how close we were to Hai Phong.  We had somehow caught the express train – which is only 2 hours between Hanoi and Hai Phong.  All of the sudden the loud noise wasn’t so bothersome.  As we pulled into the city John and I smiled at each other – almost home.  Just then I felt something tickling my ankle   . . .  I was sure it was a rat, but only a very large cockroach.

to be continued . . . .