I don’t know what I ate, but it was like a tiger in my intestines. With an early morning flight out of Yangon, Myanmar facing me in eight hours, I felt the battle begin. By morning I was like a rag doll. My ribs ached and my throat was burned from vomiting. Then there was the airport. Dead still air with five hundred sweaty people crammed together. No air-conditioner despite the 90 degree heat. No fans either. Nausea is the worst feeling of all to me and I was feeling it in a major way. Sherry pampered me the best she could, but this is the sort of thing you just have to endure alone because everything just hurts.

I was on the verge of throwing up again the whole morning, but made it onto the plane without an incident. I laid my head in Sherry’s lap and fell asleep in that kind of half sleep you have when you are unwell. I was doing ok until she opened a pack of cashews. One whiff and I was heaving again until I fell asleep against the window. I felt some better when I woke upon landing. I was just glad to be in Thailand where care is easily available.

One thing I really love about most of the world is that you can go to a pharmacist directly and get treated without having to make a doctor’s appointment and spend $100 and an entire day just to get what you already know you need. In the airport I went to the pharmacist and described my problems. He gave me three packs of pills, neatly labeled in English and I felt better already knowing that this monster would soon go away. We had a 14 hour layover between flights (our flight back to Manila was a bargain $200 roundtrip but, as it turns out, doesn’t leave till 1:30 AM). So we checked into a cheap hotel and I slept for six hours. I felt much better in a prone position. I think I am on the mend already.

My body has paid for this trip in more than one way. A few days ago on the way to teach Robin’s group I walked across an open sewer that was covered by a wooden sidewalk. The planks held my weight until I was fully committed to them, then broke and I splatted like a water balloon into the dirt eight feet away. At least I didn’t land in the sewer itself. PTL

At the airport as we were leaving we ran into more than a little trouble over.. you’ll never guess… our baggage. Anyway, that was just the issue. The thing i have been pondering is what went wrong. We move in and out of a nation each month and usually have no trouble navigating with people. But there it became “win/lose” immediately and there was no fixing it. First, with the little 26 year old lady who “caught” us as we entered the immigration area with too many carry ons. Then with the manager of the airline operation there in Hanoi. (We told him these were the exact bags we entered Vietnam with on the same carrier five days earlier, but that did not matter.) They weren’t hateful. Just like unmoveable mountains. Very unusual in Asia. Because we were American? (can’t say I would blame them from their perspective) Because I was wearing more casual clothing (this time i wore distressed jeans, and not my typical “traveling in a business shirt” for this very reason). The first words out of her mouth when I protested that i just couldnt check an expensive video camera were, “Now YOU listen to me!” I will probably never know what set that off or what I could do about it next time, but as we move into Vietnam more i need a better conflict strategy, that’s for sure.

This is a battle-hardened people. They are such a small nation, but they have faced down three great superpowers: China (it took them 1,000 years to drive them out, but they persisted in resistence until they finally withdrew), France and the USA. America spent, I believe 200 billion on a 25 year war using 1 million of our people on the ground and killing one million of them. The USA never lost a major battle in Vietnam, yet, in the end, the cause was lost and Ho Chi Mihn prevailed. One has to recognize that they are a tough, persistent people, regardless of how you feel about communism’s past.

We also found them very industrious. Open for business by 8 AM and not closing till almost midnight. Hard working folk. Sherry and I really enjoyed our time in Hanoi interacting with “city” Vietnamese and had a delightful two days interacting with tribal people in the highlands of Northwest Vietnam. There is a strength that will make great disciples once Christ is widely known.

Spent our first day in Hanoi. Lots of development going on here. Its a small economy, just developing in many sectors. Tourism is a new thing here, but it will grow. It’s cheap to visit and they dont’ make things too complicated.

There are a few cultural things to get over for the foreigner. One is a verticle matter. Most of the social world here takes place at about 8 inches in height. That’s how long the legs of most chairs seem to be. You can see everyone squatting to sit in chairs that would typically be in the toddlers area in the States. Tables are about 18″ off the ground. Food is cooked at ground level on the sidewalk in Woks. Then they wash the dishes there and throw the food in the gutter. All in one convenient place.

Tonight we will ride an all night train high into the mountains to Saba, near the highest peak in Indochina. Then by bus and later by foot, we will trek into the tribal areas. Should yield some great pics!

Well, this is not my best performance as a planner. I made arrangements online versus going through travel agents because the prices i was getting were soo high on this three country itinerary. I mean we went roundtrip Manila to Bangkok for $225 each plus around a hundred dollars to fly to Myanmar and Vietnam. All was well…. until we checked in today for our flight after our third 4 hour sleep night.

“Sir, do you have a visa to enter vietnam?”

And i knew i was dead.

You hardly ever need a visa to enter an Asian country and when I do… you guessed it… a travel agent would inform me and automatically do it and I would just go to the airport and there in my passport it would have already stamped. This time I did it myself.

I totally forgot about such things. So we are now in Bangkok during a four day national holiday waiting for offices to open. Trying to get one directly from Vietnam via fax to the airport here just to let us travel.

One thing’s for sure. I won’t forget this again.