Vietnam Stay-Cation

Because of the detachment's operational schedule in Vietnam, it is especially trying for me to find the time to take a vacation in the summer months. Up until this year, I had managed to get away to the U.S. with Diep and Megan, but it wasn't in the cards this year for a lot of reasons I won't go into here.

What I want to talk about is the stay-cation that we took right here in Vietnam. After getting approval for one week off from the office, I purchased a round trip plane ticket to Saigon and left on Tuesday morning. Diep and Megan had already left the day before and Diep managed to get us high-end round trip bus tickets (12 USD/person) on Wednesday morning to Mui Ne, a promontory town in Binh Thuan Province. Mui Ne is a fairly remote beach town, 200km north of Saigon, that has developed rapidly in the past five years or so and is fairly sleepy in the summer months. From the looks of the tourists and the signs in town, it appears the majority of western visitors are Russian. Though this may sound less appealing if one considers the stereotypically fat, vodka-drunk Russians we learned about in the cold war era; the fact is, the majority of Russians I saw were young, sober, tanned and in pretty good shape.

Boats docked in Phan Thiet

Mui Ne is an administrative ward of Phan Thiet City - the provincial capital of Binh Thuan - and lies just east of the city proper. The people are pleasant and descend from the ethnic Cham, conquered by the Vietnamese in the 17th century. In my twenty years in Vietnam, I have never been to Phan Thiet or Mui Ne. I must admit, however, that Phan Thiet was one of the cities I first learned of shortly after enrolling in my Vietnamese language studies at the Defense Language Institute. I gained knowledge of this city because it is best know for its nuoc mam, or fish sauce - paralleled only by Phu Quoc Island in the manufacture of this  fermented fish staple found in every household in Vietnam.

Golden Fish Fish Sauce - Best Quality in Phan Thiet

The five hour bus ride to Mui Ne took us through plantations of cashew, rambutan, sugar cane and dragon fruit. Traveling in the heat of the day wasn't ideal, but the trip wasn't unpleasant with my IPad and Kindle app in hand. With the 15 minute break at the halfway point, it only took a little while to shake the stiffness out upon disembarkation.

I asked my friend Pete where to stay in Mui Ne because he had once managed a resort hotel in the area.  He recommended CoCo Beach Hotel, but Diep had seen some pictures her friend had taken at Sealinks Resort Hotel and made reservations there for two nights, instead. Sealinks is a golf resort that sits on the other side of the beach road, but it does own property on the beach side that allows guests access to private beach facilities. Given the opportunity to do it again, we would definitely opt for one of the hotels on the beach side. That being said, the Sealinks is a quality establishment with good food, great rooms and a fantastic panorama.

Sealinks Beach Property in Mui Ne

If I had wanted to spend my time swimming in the South China Sea, I would have traveled to Mui Ne during the peak season from the first of November to the first of May. Most hotels seem to raise their prices in the peak season by about 20 percent.  The summer months bring afternoon thunderstorms that bring the rains from the mountains into the sea creating murky waters.  Not ideal for swimming.  Fortunately, I just wanted to take some time off and relax in a place where the traffic volume is low, the seafood is fresh and cheap, the breeze is cool and the atmosphere is calm.  All of these things, I found in Mui Ne.

Seafood in Mui Ne

On Thursday morning, we took a taxi out to the Red Dunes on the east side of the promontory. The "red" dunes are actually more orange, but I don't want to be a stickler. Megan had fun riding a plastic sheet down the dunes, though the walk back up was a little tiring.  The kids rent the sheets out to the tourist and they can become a nuisance in congregating around you. The view of the coast from the dunes is spectacular and the colors contrast well.  Of course, great photos can be had if you can keep the kids out of them. The owner of one of the cafes at the dunes told us about the white sand dunes about ten kilometers further east. By this time, Megan was looking uncomfortable with shorts full of sand and we figured we had played on the dunes enough.

View of  the South China Sea from the Red Sand Dunes

Later, Diep and I rented motorbikes for about 8 USD per bike, per day and took the opportunity to explore the surrounding city and beach. We drove to Phan Thiet and all over the town without any of the traffic congestion we see in Hanoi and Saigon. It was relaxing, though I was nervous about renting the bikes for fear of one getting stolen. Nothing untoward happened to the bikes, and the guys who rented to us didn't even ask for our passports or any other collateral.

Megan Happy for the Summer

Friday was a lazy morning with a nice breakfast and swim in the pool.  After that we packed our fish sauce and headed to the bus terminal at The Sinh Tourist Cafe.  The scene was a little busy at the terminal, but everything went smooth enough.  My seat wasn't ideal on the way back, but I managed to suck it up without too much complaining. We departed at 1330 and got back to Saigon around 1900, which isn't bad considering we traveled into the city around peak traffic hour. The bus stops right on De Tham Street, the heart of backpack alley and walking back to our hotel was easy.

I flew back to Hanoi on Saturday afternoon and get back to work tomorrow. I do feel a little better than I did when I left, but I couldn't help but see all the emails going through on my blackberry.  I know what I have waiting for me...

Beautiful Day in Hanoi

It seems for the past few months I have been losing weekends and holidays to work. I don't mind it so much for the most part as long as the work I am doing is interesting. Usually, the work entails travel somewhere else in Vietnam and that is interesting enough.

But this weekend, I got both days off. My excitement was tempered because Diep is still in Saigon, and I am nursing a sore hip.  This hip thing has been on and off for a while; I thought I was over it a couple of months ago but it just came back on me. I am not sure what the deal is but I suspect it is related to over stressing it during exercise.  I figured two days of easy activity might be what I need to get over it. It already feels better, but it is definitely not 100 per cent. Friday night it cramped up on me so bad that it woke me up. I managed to work it out before I died, but I had problems getting back to sleep. Last night was much better.

Yesterday Megan spent all day with her friends so I didn't do much more than walk out to get a bite to eat for brunch and dinner.  At dinner time, some huge thunderheads were building to the west and the wind was kicking up. It smelled like rain.  For whatever reason, the rain missed us but it cleared out the haze that we usually experience in the morning to where you could see the Tam Dao Mountains.  This happens maybe five times a year. I saw the mountains while I was biking to work to check on the network connection because it went out yesterday.

Sunday morning bike rides rock here because of the low traffic flow. Usually going anywhere on a bicycle is stressful because of all the other vehicles on the road, but Sundays are special because many are nursing hangovers, sleeping in or just not going to work. The lack of people on the road allowed me to relax and enjoy the trip.

Later, Megan and I took the bus downtown to eat at Thai Express. After that we taxied down to VINCOM shopping mall to buy some earrings Megan was eyeballing with her friends the day before. Then we headed back home on the bus. It was sunny and hot, but not too much so. I enjoyed the father daughter time.

Next week the mayhem begins. I will be busy with a helicopter inspection team and then a congressional delegation.  Following that, the week after we have a joint forensic review to evaluate the remains recovered during this field activity and then a repatriation ceremony on 22 June.  Right after that I head to Khanh Hoa Province to finish some investigative work we started late last month. I finish up June with our family move into the new digs.

Diep said she would do the heavy lifting on the move, but it seems like a huge amount of work. I can help a little, but I will be on the road again around 1 July. I have to look at some sites in central Vietnam and then write some reports.  I probably won't be back until around 6 or 7 July.

People have been asking when I am going on Summer vacation and where we might be heading.  The short answer is, "I don't know."  With the way I have been moving around and working, I am not sure I will have the time. That would be unfortunate because I have lots of use or lose leave built up. If I don't find a place to use it by the end of the year, about three weeks of vacation goes out the window.

Things I Usually Avoid

Never talk about religion, politics or money in mixed company.  That is a saying I have heard from time to time for quite a number of years. Though I do not know the origin of the saying, I suspect it is in the primer of military officers and diplomats.  In my honest opinion it is good advice, but as the presidential election looms I can't help but to share a little piece of my mind on a book I just read.

I just finished reading Dreams from My Father, A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama. I would say it took me a little over two weeks to read it and I would give the excuse that I only picked the book up when I found some free time in my hotel room and at home.  But the fact is, it took me almost four years to read it.  The book came to the office through an MWR book package for overseas military and I picked it out at the time to try and understand the then presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama.  I got through the first maybe 30 pages before I simply gave up.  You see, the Book is titled "Dream from My Father" in very bold letters and in much smaller print, the remainder of the title, "A Story of Race and Inheritance." The beginning of the book for sure is very heavy on the "story of race" and it seemed to me, for a man who grew up in a very race-neutral state like Hawaii, he carried a very heavy load of the black man's burden. In my mind, he has very little in common with most black folks living in the U.S.  Excluding his childhood years in Indonesia he was raised in a white home and his lineage did not come from slavery, but rather his father was a relatively well-to-do Kenyan. At least he would have been well-to-do if it weren't for his drinking, polygamy, philandering and conceit.

Then-Senator Obama, in authoring his book, painted a pathetic picture of his maternal grandfather as a man who constantly tried too hard to show black folks just how much skin color didn't mean to him. It was my feeling throughout the initial chapters of his book that Obama thought his grandfather was a simpleton, somehow unable to see the world as it truly is: Full of racial divide. He also seemed devastated that his maternal grandmother, Toots, decided one day she would no longer take the bus to work because she had a run in with an aggressive black beggar at the bus stop.

The reason I had to put the book down the first time nearly four years ago was because I was a little offended by the logic train Obama was on that only black folks are disrespected, and it is only because they are black. It just seemed too convenient that every hardship and social shun he ever experienced was because he was black. The implication was, in my mind, that every rejection I ever experienced socially was because I was a misfit.  This, because I didn't have the color of my skin as an excuse.

Anyway, I found I had to see this book from another angle in order to power through it.  I began to read it as a book of discovery.  I realized this was a very honest book full of raw thoughts and I decided I would read it from a detached perspective.  And, while there is much I did not agree with from his political viewpoint - Obama's leanings are clearly socialistic in the book - I found the story line fascinating. I much enjoyed reading about his childhood in Indonesia, his time as a community organizer, and perhaps most of all his discovery of Mother Africa and his relatives there.

I took into consideration that Obama wrote this book in 1995, probably before he ever had aspirations to be President of the United States.  In reading the book, there is little doubt in my mind that he was born in Hawaii - I think even Donald Trump would come to the same conclusion if he read the book.  But, I also find it amazing that he was ever elected POTUS considering his admitted generous use of illicit drugs. There is no doubt in my mind he was a habitual grass smoker, and it is likely he experimented with blow... and perhaps even stronger mind altering drugs.  There was even one reference he made in the book, and I hate myself for not marking it, that I inferred he was at some point in his youth arrested for felony car theft.

All that aside, I did enjoy the book. I am glad I read it and would recommend it to anyone who wants a better perspective on the President of the United States.  Once again, it seems very clear President Obama has strong socialist leanings especially in reading through his chapters as a community organizer.  In principle, I don't even disagree with the idea of Socialism, except that it doesn't work in the real world.  I mean, why would I bust my ass to make my world better when I had to drag every lame dick and their load with me? Vietnam went through her experimentation with socialism, and though there are still remnants, I think anyone with even the smallest powers of observation can see that Vietnam is more capitalist based than socialist thanks to Doi Moi (the renovation) of 1986 - the policy change that saved the nation.

Unrelated to the book itself, I do think everyone should have access to healthcare. I only disagree with the method of reform.  I personally believe that reform lies in the pricing of health services, pharmaceuticals and insurance.  This triad is a monster that needs to be slain.  Both employer and employee are the victims to this parasite. There is no reason in the world, in my mind, that I can buy a pill that cost fifty cents in Vietnam that costs 20 dollars in the U.S. Same formula and made by a first world nation.

This election year will be interesting to say the least. I can't say I have made up my mind on who to vote for yet for all the lies flying from both sides. I might not know the truth, but I can sure spot a half-truth a mile away. I really want to vote, but I am not sure who to vote for. I can say this for sure, I would like to see the electoral college eliminated. It makes no sense anymore. Give me my popular vote. One person - one vote!

Special Visitor

Today the Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, visited the office.  These visits always require lots of preparation and coordination, and fortunately, my participation in that tedious task was nominal. I did, however, get to enjoy a little time in the lime light with my colleagues and it was cool to feel like a rock star, if but for a little while.

I suppose like everyone, there are those aspects of my job that I wish were better, but the overall satisfaction I get from my work is much greater than most people could ever dream about. As a DoD employee, it is nice to have the Pentagon Chief come and tell you personally what a great job you are doing. Even better that I had to share that praise with only a handful of other people. All of the office staff received a challenge coin and hopefully I will have some pictures to hold as proof of the visit soon. I was looking through my stash of coins and realized this was my third SecDef coin in succession.

I spent most of last week on the road, visiting two recovery sites in Quang Binh Province, one recovery site in ThuaThien-Hue,and one recovery site in Quang Nam Province.  We spent lots of time in planes, cars and helicopters, but it was good to see what the teams are doing. I suppose my sympathies go most out to the guys in Thua Thien-Hue Province because they are base camping on the southern side of the Bach Ma Mountains where it is very hot and even more humid. The humidity is so high that the team members are having problems drying out their clothes after washing.  It doesn't help that the site they are recovering sits on a 45 degree slope.  I can only imagine how miserable it must get moving up and down that mountain with socks that aren't quite dry. Trench foot sucks!

Final preparations are being made on our new accommodations; we will sign the new contract soon. I was very comfortable where we are now, but Diep was ready to move on. We should be living in our new residence at Frasier Suites at the beginning of next month. Since I spend such little time at home, this is all about Diep and Megan.  Hopefully this will be some place we can hang our hats for more than two years this time!

Back out on the road

I am heading back out on the road again tomorrow just as Diep is heading back to Hanoi. We won't even get to see each other as we are coming and going. A little sad, really. I was in Danang on her birthday and due to a series of unfortunate events I didn't get a chance to wish her a happy birthday before she called me up with a crisis that flustered me so much I didn't even think about it until much later in the day... At which time it was much, much too late, as one would well imagine. I talked to Diep on the phone today and it would appear all is forgiven, but I still feel quite a bit of guilt about the whole thing.

Megan, who was the source of the crisis when I was in Danang, is off to a prom tonight. The theme is Hollywood prom night and I find myself wondering if, after it is all over, she and her friends had more fun getting ready for the event, or the actual prom itself. I took a few pictures of Megan and her friends before they left:

Megan all snazzy!

Ciara, My and Megan

I am typing this post on my new iPad 2. Something I am not sure I really had permission to buy, but a toy I have enjoyed immensely in my few days of ownership. I am experiencing a little trouble with the typing, but overall, I would rank it very high on the "fun" scale. This will be much easier to carry around than my personal laptop, along with my office laptop that I almost have to take with me to take care of the work I do.

So, tomorrow I will fly to Quang Binh Province, visit a couple of sites in that area and then move south by road to Danang City where we will finish up our site visits. I won't be back in the office until next Friday. Good news is, for now, I am scheduled to have both Saturday and Sunday off after the trip. That should make up for working this Sunday and Memorial Day.

It's the beginning of a beautiful day in Nha Trang City. I could see the sun peeking over the horizon of the South China Sea when I woke up this morning at 0445. The onset of the warmer months has beckoned the sun to rise earlier and with it I, too, get up. Nearly two hours and two cups of coffee later, I am still sitting in my comfortable room at the Sheraton Hotel, hating myself for not finding the motivation to take a stroll along the beach. Part of my reticence lies in the deceit I know the three dimensional picture outside my window holds. The peaceful cool serenity I see from my climate controlled room belies the reality of the humidity and heat outside. It might have been bearable at 0500, but at 0630 I can feel the rays playing with the cool comfort of my room.

I could have tricked myself into going outside with the enticement of exercise. I love morning runs, especially along the beach; especially if I get out before the sun gets too high on the horizon. But, I am leaving for Danang today and I didn't want my sweat soaked training clothes to sit in my bag until this afternoon when I get to Danang. Yesterday was a down day... no exercise. After a walk at noon to get some lunch and buy some coffee I retired to my room for the rest of the day. This is a fact to which I can never convince Diep. She is adamant that I am a wolf on the prowl when the sun sets. Hitting bars and chatting up the birds.

I needed the down day yesterday. Even today I can feel an ache in my muscles and a general malaise. I do feel better, though, and settled for some very basic and very short calesthinics in my room. According to the routine I am doing, today is a down day as well, but I feel like I will be ready for a swim at the Hyatt when I arrive in Danang. After the swim, I will hit the steam room, jacuzzi, sauna and cold pool. The effects of the cold pool will knock me out when I get to my room. The first time I got in the cold pool it was after just 5 minutes in the steam room. As I stepped into the very cold water, steam from my body rose out of the pool and I felt every muscle begin to seize. I only managed to get in up to my neck before I had to hurry out, fearing I would be found dead, naked in a fetal position at the bottom of the pool.

I was scheduled for a very long hike to a remote site north of Nha Trang, but the advance team warned that a forestry road marked on the map that we had intended to use had been left in a state of disrepair for several years. The red dirt had eroded away leaving only huge boulders that the advance team had to climb. It changed my estimate of about 6 hours hiking there and back to three days and two nights. We were strapped for time and the lead team didn't have the energy in them to go back out, having just returned from their initial trip. It may be that I come back next month to make the hike, a decision needs to be made and I don't know yet.

I get back to Hanoi on Monday, just in time to see Diep head out for Saigon. Her mother is still suffering from lockjaw and Diep needs to be with her. The summer break is fast approaching and I still haven't found a hole in my schedule to take a trip anywhere. I was hoping to get back home to take a cruise to the Bahamas, but as my schedule keeps filling up, that dream dematerializes.

Four Day Weekend

Today is 30 April 2012.  For most Americans my age, it probably doesn't even tingle as any particularly important day in history. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for my lot in life, the day wouldn't mean much, if anything, to me either.

But, since I may or may not have your interest now, I will endeavor to educate.  Today is what we Americans call "Fall of Saigon" Day and the Vietnamese call Liberation Day. So the little history lesson is that on this day in 1975 the communist rolled their tanks through the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon and claimed victory over the Republic of Vietnam. Forget about the fact that they could have just walked through with no opposition or that they had to stage the event to film for posterity's sake, because in the end Saigon fell and the country became as one.

Counter to what one may think, I sped through the streets to work and back home with little or no attention cast upon me. There is no animosity - no bad feelings to share with this white boy from Alabama. I only mention this because I have been often asked whether the Vietnamese hate me.  In fact, even in the early 90's when the state of the country was still very bleak and economic recovery from the war was still ongoing, I can't recall anyone ever showing me ill-will in Hanoi, Saigon or Danang. There were one or two occasions in Quang Binh when I - as a member of a team - had a farming tool shaken at me and certain mean-sounding words shouted at me (no idea what was said at the time as I was new in country and the Quang Binh farmer's dialect isn't the easiest to comprehend - especially when angry), but as it was explained to me later the man had lost his entire family to the effects of bombs falling from the sky. I guess that would make it pretty personal for him.

Today, things were very normal. The only notable things in my daily routine were: 1) It was perhaps one thousand degrees outside on my way back home (I know this because my skin was cooking off of my arms as I maneuvered my way through the streets), and 2) Since it is a holiday, people were swimming in the pool when I got back. This second thing was notable only in that I was not able to enjoy this hottest day of the year so far by frolicking in the cool water.  Frankly at my age and weight, I don't think frolicking is the most accurate term to use, but it'll do.

Tomorrow is May Day (Labor Day), another holiday for the masses. I can't help but to think General Giap delayed the push into Saigon to get a four day weekend in perpetuity.