Inaugural Posting by Postel

Greetings from the road. Hanoi, Vietnam, October 23 2008

Finally get a chance to get my first blog to the publisher. I am at a resting point in Vietnam, having spent the last 3 weeks moving about Thailand and China. Some thoughts so far, in no particular order, just what comes to mind:

China, 8 years after my first visit, was a brand new country, 5000 years after its founding. The daily articles and stories in the US media hinted at what was happening there. I can verify it, firsthand. Arriving from Bangkok on Egypt Air (its stopover from Cairo to Beijing), I was impressed by the brand new Terminal 3 - built to handle (and impress) the foreigners showing up for the 08 Olympics. Friendly greeting at the passport booth, and I was on a train to the another new building to pick up my baggage.

Juxtapose that with entering VN, 4 days ago, where I received an impressive grimace and frown, upon showing the official a passport sans visa, and a computer printout letter saying I was sponsored to receive one at the border. I was half expecting some troubles, so, I went to find a phone to call my solicitor. $4 later, for 5 minutes worth of calls (the amount demanded by the taxi driver), a liasion showed up to try to assist me with the documentation necessary to get into VN. Fortunately, I had a multiple-entry visa to China, so I had some leverage that I could always go back to China and skip VN. Rather than forego the chance of money, the official found me on the bus (I thought they wouldn't check again, but, I later found out, they would), changed his mood a bit, and offered to help get it sorted out. 2 hours later, I got the final stamp and was legally allowed into VN. I got the last laugh on the taxi drivers, as I had retained my necklace pass and ticket to the "big green bus" that the Chinese side had agreements with to continue the journey on the VN side.

Anyway, return to China for a mention of:

• planter boxes along the well-lit highway from the airport into town,
• spacious, clean bus (one of numerous leading from airport to parts of downtown, at all hours of day and night) for a brisk, 3-stop, 40 min ride to within 2 blocks of my destination
• huge, 8 lane roads leading into and out of the airport
• drivers who, mostly, stayed in their lanes and used turn signals with minimal horn honking
• easy to navigate streets, pedestrian under- and over-passes upon stepping off the bus and onto the 3rd Ring Road NW of city center (Tiananmen Square)

Thus, first impressions were positive, and upheld throughout my 2 weeks in China. I quickly found a friendly neighborhood park, on my orientation walk the first morning, at which I could play jianzi (like hackey sack, but with feathers like a shuttlecock), speaking of which, badminton, and even tennis! The majority of the other participants were middle age (or older) Chinese men and women - yes, I got laughed at by agile grannies when I missed the birdie. But, held my own, and could communicate that I do indeed enjoy playing soccer, and that I was from the US. That was about the extent of the conversatio, except for the frequent use of "hao" (good) and a complaint against the (occasional) strong wind that interfered with the game. Along the same street as the park, I found buns with green, 1 yuan each (about 15 cents), for breakfast - total cost=.30 to feel full. Later, stopped at the Muslim restaurant on the same street (I'll point it out for you on a map if you're there) for a solo dinner - 4 courses, including soup with various parts of lamb I assume, skewered bbq meat, tofu with black, preserved eggs, and a 4th dish I picked out by pointing to the table next to me. Total cost = about $3.5, for the most filling meal I had in China. You can see I was beginning to like this place.