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Published: March 17th 2007
New and Improved Cycling Gear?
Please excuse my purple bathing suit peeking out the top of my shorts.Greetings Faithful Blog Followers (all 3 of you),
I don't want to return to New Zealand and still be in Vietnam (blogwise). Thus, I have decided to describe Vietnam in numbers. It's a quicker way to recount my traveling adventures. So here's Vietnam by Numbers:
Number (no.) of times my hair was touched without permission: 3
No of times my hair was braided and twirled without permission: 1 (That was one too many times for my liking).
No. of times my skin was pinched: 3
No. of times a tailor exclaimed that I had a "BIG bum": 2
No. of New Year's Eves celebrated in 2007: 2 (Jan. 1 and Chinese New Year, February 17th)
No. of New Year's Eves celebrated with fireworks: 1 (In Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam).
No. of times Heather found a worm in her salad, picked it out and kept eating it: 3
No. of rats spied in a restaurant: 1 (Only after we had eaten our meals).
No. of times Heather held a python and she wasn't even scared: 1
No. of snakes seen pickled in a bottle: 100's (They are suppose to increase virility).
No. of tailor shops in
Viet Cong's Tunnel System
This 3-tiered, 250km underground tunnel system was used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. the city of Hoi An: over 200
No. of tailors I hired: 3
No of times I was fitted for clothes: 12
No. of suits purchased: 1
The cost of a made-to-measure suit: $60
No. of times Heather and April were locked out of the guesthouse unbeknownst that there was a midnight curfew: 1 (Thank goodness they were able to sleep at their new UK friend's hotel).
No. of times business owners told us the competition was closed when in fact it wasn't (e.g., tailor shops, guesthouses, etc): 6
No. of nights we slept in the guesthouse next door to the "Go-Go-Go 24-Hour Night Club": 2 (I had saddle bags under my eyes to prove it).
No. of second-hand cigarettes smoked while on public transportation or in public buildings: 1000's
Maximum no. of millions of Vietnam Dong in my wallet: 4 (16 000 Dong= $1 USD)
No. of times an ATM withdrew money from my account but I didn't receive any cash from the machine: 6 (Definitely the worst day of my trip. More in another blog).
No. of buses taken: 8
No. of hours of longest bus journey: 24
No. of times a bus left without
Row, row, row your boat...
...gently down the Mekong River me: 1 (Fortunately it came back 30 minutes later after it had picked up its customers from around the city.)
Max. no. of hours spent waiting for a bus that was late: 3
No. of times a bus driver stopped for a smoke break: every hour
No. of times a driver turned on the lights and blared the radio on a night bus: 3
No. of times the bus driver said "No no no" when we asked him to stop to use the washroom: 4
No. of times the rest of the bus laughed when we were denied a bathroom stop: 4
No. of children selling food and water at a bus stop at 11pm: 14
Maximum road speed: 60km/hr
No. of days I rode a bike: 5
No. of boats taken: 14
No. of times I had to ask the boat driver to stop to use the bathroom: 1 (Unlike the bus driver, he didn't refuse to stop).
Average no. of people seen on a motorcycle: 3
Maximum no. of people seen on a motorcycle: 5 (2 adults and 3 children).
No. of people wearing helmets while driving a motorcycle: 0
No. of pigs seen on the
Bananas Anyone?
Vietnamese women are strong and hard working. back of a motorcycle: 2
No. of chickens seen on the back of a motorcycle: 12
No. of times a motorcycle driver slapped my bottom as he drove by: 1 (I was outraged and terrified because it was 10pm).
No. of times children ran from their homes greet us with a gleeful "Hello, hello!!": Countless and it was priceless every time.
No. of people threading my legs and arm pits at one time while on a beach: 4 (Common thread can be used to remove body hair).
Length of the simulated underground Viet Cong tunnel I crawled through: 15 m
No. of people I met who lived within 2 hours of my hometown in Manitoba, Canada: 2 (An older couple from Bottineau, North Dakota- a town of 500 people).
No. of times I'd go back to Vietnam: at least 3
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Kathy
non-member comment
faithful blog followers #4 & 5
Hi Celia, Mario and I have been enjoying your adventures vicariously, and not without some small measure of envy! It is just great that you are getting to travel and experience that part of the world. Keep those blogs and photos coming :-)