9 posts tagged “'nam”
I FINALLY developed the film from my APS camera. I dropped off two rolls and did my usual 'old roll of film surprise' viewing. It's almost like reaching into a grab bag and unwrapping memories. "Oh, Guatemala! Chicago! The family in Michigan! Weddings!"
On the second roll were the panorama and other odd sized shots from my Vietnam trip. Enjoy!
(The little black spots in this pic are birds.)
Our hotel in Hue provided this lovely Vietnamese fable as part of the "Welcome Package" in the rooms. I found it as I was FINALLY organizing my souvenirs, maps and other items from the trip. Here it is, with no alterations from the original wording. It is too charming not to share.
Why Ducks Sleep Standing on One Leg
Many people must have wondered why ducks are accustomed to sleep in the funny way they do - with one leg lifted. The Vietnamese have an interesting explanation for this.
After Heaven had completed the creation of the world, there were four ducks who found that they only had one leg each. It was difficult for them to walk, and sometimes they were unable to find enough food. They became very morose when they saw how easily other fowls and animals moved about on two legs.
One day the four unfortunate ducks held a meeting and discussed their ignoble condition. They had arrived at a point where life on one leg could no longer be endured, so they decided to lodge a complaint to Heaven. But they were entirely ignorant of Heaven's location, and they did not even know how to draft a petition.
One of them suggested that they should turn to the rooster for help. The others protested that his penmanship was so bad that no one in Heaven would be able to read the petition. But there was no one else to whom they could turn, so after having quacked and grumbled for some time, the four of them went to find the rooster, who was only too eager to help and readily scratched out the desired petition.
The ducks read the petition and then held another meeting to decide which one of them should carry it. They way to Heaven was long and tedious and beset with many pitfalls, so that none of the one-legged ducks was enthusiastic about undertaking the journey.
The rooster, who was standing some distance away, overheard the lively discussion. He coughed discreetly, and approaching the group, delicately asked whether he might be of further service. They were very pleased and accepted his offer to help.
"Not far from here there is a temple," he suggested, looking wisely down his beak "and it happens that I am acquainted with the god of the place. He could convey your petition to Heaven, and I can give you a letter of introduction to him."
The ducks were loudly grateful whereupon the rooster put on his spectacles and wrote out a suitably worded letter for them.
The ducks then proceeded to the temple, and as they entered its precincts, they suddenly heard a loud, imperious voice wanting to know why the temple's incense burner had eight legs instead of four. The voice continued by demanding that the four extra legs be removed immediately.
As the ducks heard this, their hope rose. They did not know what an incense burner was, but they understood that four of its legs were to be removed immediately. They hurried into the temple. The god was still frowning at the incense burner when they entered, and he looked at them unsmilingly.
"Your lordship," said one duck, who had become the spokesman for the group, "here is a letter for you from our friend and neighbor, the rooster and also our petition.l It's about our need of four legs; as you see we have only one leg each."
The replied that what had been given them at creation was final, and that their petition would serve no purpose. At these words the four ducks fell silent. But then one, younger than the others and more desperate, spoke up and said what was on the minds of all four.
"Your lordship," he stammered, "you spoke just now of removing four legs from the incense burner..."
The god looked at him wide-eyed for an instant and then burst into uncontrollable laughter. In the end he agreed to give hte ducks the four extra legs.
"but mind you," he said, hading them over to the ducks and winking at the incense burner, "these legs are made of pure gold and are very precious; guard them carefully."
The ducks were ready to promise anything. they took their legs with indescribable joy. They bowed and thanked the god. They attached the extra legs to their bodies and soon they were able to move about like their fellow creatures. But at night when they went to sleep, they would pull up the leg given them by the temple god so that no one could steal it. Other ducks, seeing this, assumed it was the proper way to sleep and in imitation began to lift one leg before retiriung for the night. And so the custom has remained to this day.
THE END
We were only in Cambodia for a few days, but I took the most pictures here. It's an amazingly beautiful country with resilient people. I can only hope that it continues to heal from its brutal past and more people will discover what a lovely place it is.
My good friend binky99 commented that "It wouldn't be an AmyH photo album without pictures of you drinking beer. It took me a while, but I found them."
So this one is for you, binky. You'll note from left to right, my Vietnamese beer, Vietnamese wine and Vietnamese vodka. All were tasty, but I wasn't able to drink any more than one of anything. Let's just say the mixing was tough. Yeah, yeah, we're all getting older.
I apologize for pic quality, this was scanned in. And yes, that is a carrot-headed bird next to me. It was the bearer of tasty spring rolls for that evening's meal. We would complain that spring rolls were present at every meal and proceed to devour them as if we had never seen food before.
If I'm doing this right, which is never a for sure thing, you should be able to link to all my Vietnam photos here.
I'll pull out more for the straight Vox shots, but in case you wanted to see them all - there you go. I'm still working on sorting out all the Cambodian pics so I'll get those as soon as I can.
I'm back from my grand Southeast Asia adventure, healthy, safe and with the worst jetlag I have ever experienced. (That hasn't kept me away from happy hour and dinner parties, though.) My condo looks like it has been hit by a souvenir tsunami and it may stay that way until I can get enough energy to do something about it.
So I thought I would share a few pics with more to come. Promise.
Highlights: I never once felt unsafe, the food was fantastic, the people were friendly and every day was the best day. Just when you didn't think you could be more impressed, you were. Cambodia was a wonderful surprise, although our guides' personal stories of the Khmer Rouge years were gut churning and heart wrenching. One of these days I'll finally rent the "Killing Fields" and think of the people I met while there.
I would go back to Vietnam and Cambodia in a heartbeart. We only had a day and a half in Bangkok and I'm ready to venture further into Thailand. Darn me for not being independently wealthy with time on my hands...
How very ironic. I commented yesterday over at Crixpy's about a conversation I had with friends that went like this:
"Don't see 'Snakes on a Plane' before you fly to Vietnam!"
"She lives with scorpions, I don't think the movie is going to freak her out."
Then today, this news item about a scorpion stinging a passenger on a flight from Chicago to Vermont. I sure hope I leave all of mine at home. I'd hate to throw off the Indochina ecosystem by introducing foreign creepie crawlies, ala Bart Simpson's frog in Australia. Plus, if I have to worry about them on the plane as well as in my bed, I'm not going to be very happy.
I'm off in about five hours. If I don't get on again before I take off, see you in the 'hood by Groundhog Day!
I'm finally getting aroung to reading the fine print on the travel insurance I bought for my trip to 'Nam. It looks like I have some emergency medical evacuation after all. Huzzah!
After plowing through the legal blah blah of burial costs, the official severance point of hands and feet, etc. I found the following of interest:
Losses not covered: We will not pay for loss arising from: ... 2) normal wear and tear, gradual deterioration, inherent vice (emphasis mine)... 5) mysterious disappearance...
I'm not sure what I'd have to be up to in order to not make any claims due to inherent vice or mysterious disappearances, but it might make for interesting stories.
The following exclusions applies to all coverages: ...k) nuclear reaction, radiation or radioactive contamination..
The loss exclusions went from A-V. If they tried hard enough, I'm sure they could have made it all the way to Z. Frankly, if I were caught in some nuclear holocaust, the chance of me making a claim on my travel insurance is pretty much slim to none.
At this time next week, I will be en route to Vietnam. You can click the link and follow along from home. It's billed as a 16-day tour, which I always find incredibly funny.
DAY 1: Depart from USA!
DAY 2: Cross international dateline! Lose one day!!!
DAY 3: Be whisked to your hotel in style for a restful night's sleep!
and etc. My 36th birthday falls somewhere around Day 9, so the itinerary should read -
DAY 10: Desperately search Saigon for chili cheese fries and Bloody Marys!
Since the vaccinations are optional, I decided to go forego malaria and Hepetitis A shots. I also didn't get the recommended emergency medical evacuation insurance.
So if you don't hear from me after January 10, it's been great and I love you all. In lieu of flowers, donations should go to Elvis, as he is the main beneficiary of my will. Maybe Steve Carell will convince him to cough up some money for autism.
BTW - the only real chance of getting malaria will be at Angkor Wat. According to the guidebooks, the chance of getting malaria in the cities is almost nonexistent, as the water is so polluted there are no mosquitoes. Cold comfort, that.
Seriously, I'm very excited and am looking forward to it. I'll be even more so after a trip to REI for a medical kit and some iodine tablets.
