Back from Home Leave

So I spent three weeks in the United States on home leave and loved it, for the most part.  Towards the end I felt we may have spent too much time in the mall, Wal-Mart and Target, but it was very good to get away from it all here in Vietnam.

I guess I always come back with a different impression of the U.S. every year.  I find myself going into a reverse culture shock when I get home, and then certain things impress me more than others... each year, seemingly something different.  This year seemed to me that everyone in America is just so friendly.  I am not sure if it is a southern thing, or if it is that way all around the U.S., but it seemed no matter what I did, where I went or who I saw, people were just saying "Hi" and wearing a genuine smile.  It would make more sense if these people knew me or worked in the service industry... I could see the rationale behind it, but these people just wanted to greet me and my family wherever I went.  I guess it makes even less sense when you consider how bad the economy is.  Whatever the reason, it made me appreciate my homeland.

So many things happened and we did so much that it would be difficult to capture it all in the blog, especially since I am supposed to be doing something else right now, but I do want to say the highlight of the trip was getting to see everyone in my immediate family.  I had to take a road trip to see Sis, but it was especially cool to go there because I had the honor of taking my Dad to see her for the first time at her home in Texas.

I got back to our home in Hanoi just before midnight on Saturday night and I was back at work on Monday morning.  I participated in a helicopter company inspection for our organization for the past two days and now I have a little time to do some of the work I need to do for me.

So, anyway, this was just me checking in.  Hope to have more regular updates now that I am back.

Up 'Til The Last Minute

Friday is my first day of vacation.  I feel like I have been needing this time off for a long time and I was hoping I could relax the work tempo a little before I left the office.  I at least wanted to get all of the work that I had in arrears completed before I started my leave.  The problem with taking leave with all of my projects done is that it seems there is always a new project thrust upon me before I finish the last.  A never ending work cycle that will be there even long after I am gone... well, maybe not that dramatic, but close.  Anyway, barring any major catastrophe today, I may be able to leave in relative peace.  I will still have to make the car rental reservations and figure out our other plans at the last minute, but at least I can rest assured all of the work waiting for me when I get back is new work.

Megan wants to test for her learner's permit this time back. I will let her give it a try and see what happens.  She has been looking at the book, but she seems a little confused on what to actually study.  She asked me what she could expect on the test and I could only answer that it has been 30 years since I took the test and I had no idea.

I still have no idea what we will do for fun back home.  Obviously shopping is at the top of someone's list, but I do think a little trip to somewhere in the region for recreation is in order.  I always tell myself I will set aside some time for fishing, but I never get to do that because I am constantly chauffeuring everyone else around. No big deal, just not stressing at work should be vacation enough.

Haircuts

I have been on the road for quite a few days now.  I am pretty sure I posted about my time in Nha Trang with Diep and then moving on from there.  Anyway, I was in Nha Trang for two nights and then flew to Pleiku, by way of Danang.  I spent five hours layover in Danang before I finally got on my flight to Pleiku.

Upon arriving in Pleiku, we had dinner with our counterparts and then worked the following morning.  We had the rest of the day to kick around and the whole following day as well because our flight out of Pleiku wasn't until 2130hrs due to an airline delay.

As it so happens, I have an official reception I have to attend here in Danang tonight, so while I was in Pleiku with extra time on my hands, I thought I would get a haircut.  I found a place that looked like it would be decent and the price was around $2.50, which is about standard for Vietnam.  I sat down and told the guy to use the #1 shear on the back and sides and trim it up on top.  He did alright with the back and sides, but then he whipped out the thinning scissors and went all Edward Scissorhands on me.  By the time he was finished I looke like Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes.  It wasn't that big of a deal in Pleiku because everyone looks like Podunk Phil there, but by the time I got to Danang, I felt pretty self-conscious about the bad cut and went to another shop here.  The guy in Danang did a decent job, but he had to cut it pretty short to take the spikes out of what the other guy did.  Now I look like an Auschwitz reject, but at least it is evenly cut. All I have to say is "lesson learned" about haircuts in Pleiku!

It would have been nice to have Diep and Megan here in Danang for Father's Day, but the cost of getting them here and getting Megan another room would have been fairly high.  Diep decided it would be better if she and Megan went to Ha Long Bay instead.  That is fine, because I will be home on Thursday and then we can do something in Hanoi to celebrate my belated Father's Day.

I will go on home leave 1 July.  I only have three weeks because of some requirements back in Hanoi, but it should be a good time.  I plan on relaxing, getting some shopping done and taking a trip to Atlanta.  There are so many other places I want to go, but with the limited time and other things I have going, this is the best I can do.

Checking in!

After a couple of weeks, I figured it was time to check in.  I think I mentioned that Diep went to Nha Trang with her mother, sister-in-law and nephew.  Diep liked it so much that she decided to extend her stay and let Megan go down as soon as school let out last Friday.  Megan flew down by herself on Friday, and I flew down on Saturday with a colleague to take care of some work.  Diep got to stay with me for her last two nights in Nha Trang at the Sheraton while a myriad of her relatives and friends stayed in a cheaper hotel down the street.  The Sheraton in Nha Trang is beautiful; probably one of the nicest Sheraton's in Vietnam.

But, alas, all good things come to an end.  Diep flew back to Hanoi on Monday, and I flew to Pleiku.  My travel took all day thanks to a five hour layover in Danang.  By the time I got to Pleiku, I was hot, sticky and a little irritable.  A decent night's sleep put me in a better disposition on Tuesday and I was off to work again.  We finished what we were doing by noon and I had some coordination I had to do back at the hotel.  Now, it is Wednesday and we have to wait all day for ou 2130hrs flight out of Pleiku back to Danang.  I could work on reports and maybe get a workout in before I have to check out at 1400hrs, but I still have to hang out until 2000hrs before I leave for the airport.  I do believe it will be a pretty boring day. I am lucky in one respect, however.  This time of year in Pleiku is the rainy season, and though it has rained, we haven't been deluged with all day rain so far... for that, I am grateful.

I got out a little while in Pleiku yesterday: Hit the market, and had some broken rice and pork chops.  Didn't take any pictures, though.  I didn't expect anything to catch my eye, and then I walked by the park to see adults and children flying upwards of fifty kites on that windy day. Right now it is cloudy, but if things clear up and the kites come out again, I may have to dust the camera off.

Due to unexpected difficulties, work may be a little slow in Danang.  That will give me a chance to get a couple of good runs and swims in.  I could use the exercise.

Memorial Day Weekend

Today marks the end of my first week back to Hanoi.  While I was in Laos and central Vietnam, Diep brought her mother, sister-in-law and four year old nephew to Hanoi to stay with us.  I knew she was doing this, but I had it in my mind that they would not be here much longer after I got back.  It really doesn't matter that I didn't ask about this before I left for Laos because I have very little say in the matter anyway.  To ease the strain of having other people in the house, Diep took her family on a boat trip and to Cat Ba Island.  That gave Megan and I three days of pizza and peace while they were gone.

 

Everyone is back now and the Memorial Day weekend looms.  I have to go in on Monday for a half day, but I plan on taking the full weekend off.  Having two days off is actually a big treat.  With the field activity underway, it is often hard to get time off.  If anyone needs anything, they know they can call me and I am just a few minutes away by motorbike.

 

Tuesday I will depart again with the boss to two sites in Quang Binh and Quang Tri Province.  I enjoyed having my DSLR camera with me so much on my trip to Laos, I think I will bring it again on this trip.  It gets a little unweildy, but I sure like having the pictures when I am done.

 

I am reading Hanoi, Adieu: A Bittersweet Memoir of French Indochina at the moment.  It is taking much longer than it probably should because I am only able to steal small segments of time away to read it.  It is an allegedly true biography of a Frenchman who lived in Hanoi through the mid-1930s into the 40s... and probably into the 50s, though I haven't read to that part yet.  It is fascinating to read to imagine Hanoi during that time period since I can recognize many of the referenced landmarks in the book, but I think anyone could appreciate the writing style.  A friend from Australia gave me the book (or maybe he loaned it to me??) and for that I am grateful.

 

Another book that I recently finished was Until They Are Home: Bringing Back the MIAs from Vietnam, a Personal Memoir  written by my previous boss, Thomas "Ty" Smith... my favorite Det Commander of all time.  If you want to read a book about me and my job in Vietnam, read this one.  I am referenced in the book no less than 20 times, and probably much more, and he used many of the photos I took in the book.  It isn't a book about me, though one might question that after reading it.

 

Diep plans on throwing some sort of party on Saturday.  I laid the ground rule a couple of weeks ago that I have no responsibility in the organization and preparation of this get together.  My sole responsibility is to show up (it is at our apartment) and be polite.  The former part may be easier than the latter part of my responsibilities. Wish me luck!

 

 

Back from the Trilateral Investigation in Laos

After ten days in Laos, Danang and Hue, it is good to be back in Hanoi.  Taking eight Vietnamese witnesses across the border to investigate four cases in very different locations took a bit out of me, but I am happy to report I survived.

The witnesses were pretty cool.  It was a good mix of infantry and artillery guys who operated in Laos during the war... I know, I know, they weren't supposed to be there any more than we weren't supposed to be bombing them over there.  One of the world's worst kept secrets I suppose.

In the process of the investigation, I got the opportunity to visit this plateau that precious few people have ever been on.  You can view it just west of Houn by clicking on the hyperlink Plateau.  Four of my witnesses pulled security on the plateau for nearly two months to prevent against an aerial helicopter assault that would have given a distinct advantage to those forces in the bombardment of trail runners in the eastern valley below.

Other highlights included playing around with the local Lao kids.  One of the witnesses later wanted me to agree with him how miserable they were,  but I just couldn't agree in good conscience.  The fact is, they seemed totally oblivious to their poverty and looked quite healthy to me.  Some of the kids took hundreds of photos of me with their cell phones, making me feel as much like a rock star as I ever have.

We also flew on Mi-17 and AS350 helicopters throughout the investigations.  I love flying on the squirrel (AS350) because it feels just a little more complicated than driving a car.  Since we had Vietnamese witnesses onboard, I took the opportunity to ask the pilot if the helicopter had a horn.  I was a little surprised when he responded that it did.  In fact, the horn is a warning indicator for when the rotor speed drops too much to provide lift to the chopper.  It can be activated manually to test it, however, and that was what I was hoping for.  Knowing that Vietnamese blow their horns on the streets incessantly, I told them the helicopter had a horn.  They were skeptical, wondering out loud what in the world a horn would be used for in the skies.  When I had the pilot blow the horn (sounding much like a motorbike horn), the witnesses were delighted and speculated it was used to make the much bigger, lumbering Mi-17 get out of the way.

Not unlike me, the witnesses grew home sick quickly and were anxious to leave Xepon where we were staying at a guest house after the first two days.  The youngest of these guys was 65 and the oldest 76.  They moved with varying degrees of deftness, but they all did well on the trails and in the heat.  Only one of the witnesses smoked and they all drank in moderation.  This is no doubt a testament to their longevity... I can only imagine a group of U.S. veterans in a similar situation, and in my mind's eye, they don't fair nearly as well. The success that we enjoyed in the investigations also varied greatly, but I still am grateful to these gentlemen for giving time in their waning years to do this mission for us.

I took a lot of pictures during the trip, and my better ones I posted on my panoramio site, I geomapped as many as I could to give a better idea of the terrain and remoteness of these sites.

We were back at the hotel at 1500hrs on the last day of the trilateral investigation.  I had a meeting with the Americans immediately upon return, but the Vietnamese witnesses and officials were able to shower before we were on the road to Danang.  We stopped an hour at the Lao Bao Border for a little duty free shopping and then ate dinner in Hue City.  We finally made it back to Danang at 2300hrs that night.  I was given the honor of riding in the fold down jump seat in the 12-pax van for the five plus hours on the road and found myself nursing a chaffed ass for the next few days.  It didn't help that just a day later I was off to Hue with the Det Commander on a site visit. 

Diep got to Danang just an hour or two after I got back from Hue on the 19th.  The 20th was her birthday so we got a little time to ourselves in the Furama Beach Resort since Megan opted out a week earlier.  We did a little swimming in the South China Sea and she did some shopping while I was helping to get the main body into Vietnam for the 103rd Joint Field Activity.

We all got back to Hanoi on Saturday, and here I am back at work on Monday.  Nevertheless, it is good to be home. 

Crossing the Vietnamese Laos Border

This morning I took off from Hanoi on a 0800hrs flight to Danang.  When I landed, I was met by two of the three counterparts I will be working with for the next 10 days.  We got in the new Mitsubishi Pajero that their office is now using and started on our seven plus hour journey headed for the Lao Bao Border Gate area.

We stopped in Hue and had lunch with two of the local MIA province officials.  My counterpart had some coordination to do with them in preparation for a follow on mission we will do about a week after I get back to Hanoi from this trip.  We ate at a restaurant on Dien Bien Phu Street named Không Gian Xưa that specializes in sticky rice... like we won't be getting enough of that in the coming days.

Back on the road again, we mostly napped on and off for the rest of the trip up HWY 1and then West on HWY 9 (Also called AH16).  We pulled in to the Xuyên Á Hotel around 1600hrs and I got my room.

We are scheduled to eat dinner this evening.  I will probably end up meeting all eight of our witnesses tonight.  This is a very critical time for me to establish my position with these guys.  I have already read the backgrounds of the cases they will be doing and know each of their names, but now I have to put the face to the name.  It will be good if I can nail their names without having to stutter through them every time I have to address them.  Of course, it is easy enough to call them Bác (older paternal uncle) but I think it will give a better impression if I can "learn" their names quickly.

Wish me luck! Tomorrow we cross on through to the other side.  Hopefully our Laos team is waiting.