If you go straight long enough, you end up where you were...

Tomorrow will be four months exactly since I left Seattle. It's hard for me to believe. In that time I have visited more than 15 different countries (18 to be precise, if precise means counting Canada & Hong Kong, and really, why wouldn't it?) in hmmm... I guess 3 "major regions" of the world. This marks the "half-way" point of the trip, at least as far as the stipulations of the fellowship are concerned. Well, I suppose looking at it that way, it's the "two-thirds" points having already more than covered the requisite number of countries and continents.

By this point in the trip, I've had to do some re-assessment, some re-arranging, and and some decision making about how I want to continue. You may recall that my original itinerary had me flying to New Delhi from Bangkok a week from today. That's certainly not going to happen. I've postponed my flight until the 1st of April and I'm thinking India may well be one of the last countries on my list. It's looking like I was a bit overambitious trying to squeeze Africa into this trip, and I definitely don't want to cut anything short. I hope to spend the next couple weeks in Vietnam before heading through Laos back to Thailand. At that point, I'll spend about 6 weeks up in Kiew Sua volunteering in the school I visited there, before heading off to India my "grand tour" there. If I'm lucky, I'll squeeze in a little beach time in the south of Thailand before I fly out of Bangkok.

As for what I've been up to the past few days... took a quick (2-day) trip down to the Mekong Delta before returning to Saigon for a night and then catching a bus to Dalat today. It was a fun trip, with a good group of people (about 12). Myself and another "lonely solo" were sort of adopted by a nice Kiwi family (a couple and their teenaged son). Two days full of boat trips up and down the river, a nice bike ride, and some really beautiful scenery.

In Dalat now. It's a nice change from Saigon, much quieter, prettier, and less expensive (expensive here being a relative term). It's in the central highlands, so much cooler than further south, lots of beautiful mountains surrounding, with lakes and waterfalls near by. This evening I hired an "Easy Rider" guide who will drive me from here up through south/central Vietnam and into Hoi An on the back of his motorbike. The trip will take about 5 days. I had to think long and hard about whether I wanted to do something like this (as far as travel in SE Asia goes, this is an expensive little jaunt) but I just know it's one of those things that I would kick myself for not doing later. And who knows when (or more realistically, if) I will ever get back to Vietnam. I know traveling this way, with a local, on a bike, will afford me opportunities I would never have sitting on a tour bus. I'll stay in homes rather than hotels/guesthouses and I'm sure get a more "real" experience. Before you get all worried, you should know that these "Easy Riders" come highly recommended by everyone from the New York Times to The Lonely Planet, not to mention pretty much every solo traveler you meet on the road. This guy (Ho "Happy" Vui) had several books with him with written testimonials raving about everything from his personality, to his tour guide skills, to his safe driving. :) Should be quite an adventure... I will, of course, keep you posted.

Some funny ha-ha/funny strange things that have happened in the past few days:

- Being slapped on the arm (and harder than was necessary, I'd say) by a little old lady carrying a don gahn (one of those yokes with the large baskets on either side) because I was in her way on the sidewalk.
- Falling off a bicycle with a MUCH too high seat (and luckily not getting hurt!) when the person in front of me started swerving wildly because she got scared by a passing motorbike.
-Having Vui, the motorbike guide say, "Oh, you look like the daughter of President Clinton"? Ummm... sorry? This was after I told him my name, so I think he was actually referring to that similarity (Josie vs. Chelsea). Gotta love the language differences...
- Realizing I've been spending far too much time with speakers of British English when I heard myself tell one of the guys on the Mekong Delta tour to "give us a knock" when he was ready to go get a beer.
- Being pushed (pulled?) into a discussion about American foreign policy, which started out harmlessly enough (I don't think it's any secret that I'm not a big fan of the current administration's FP) but escalated to the point where I truly felt I was being baited, and the whole thing turned so rabidly anti-American that I sort of snapped and went off on a rant that veered dangerously close to Jack Nicholson's Colonel Nathan Jessup (from "A Few Good Men"... you know the "I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way.") I didn't say *that* exactly, but it was certainly the gist. And actually, the other (non-Americans) present nodded in agreement, but my reaction surprised me, and I can think of a few of you who will be as delighted as others of you are horrified by this. I think I have grown more weary than I had realized of the scrutiny and criticism so often leveled at me (directly or indirectly) regarding my nationality. Ahhh... I suppose everyone's entitled to a little outburst every once in awhile.

I've got a mountain to climb
'fore I get over this hill.
I've got the world to unwind,
'fore I ever sit still.
I've got a hard row to hoe
before my seed is sown.
I've got a long way to get
before I get back home.

Well, I've got so much to put down
before that's all she wrote.
I got so much to give
'fore my heart ain't so broke.
I gotta find myself
or I can never be alone.
I've got a long way to get
before I get back home.

-Bob Schneider
"A Long Way to Get"