Sarcoptes Scabiei- The Itching Disease

Since our return from traveling I have been itching. I think some other things are happening, but mostly I am itching. Here's the story:
I start to get some blisters on my hands and then break out in a full body rash. After being assured that I am allergic to beef, chicken, seafood, the hot, the cold, the dryness, and the moisture and about 4 sleepless nights and 25 Benadryl later I am rushed off to a skin doctor. We go in, she looks at my hand, I understand nothing, buy a bunch of medicine, problem solved. The diagnosis: eczema. Four weeks of washing with a soap that drys your skin out even in Viet Nam where there is 98 percent humidity year-round. The rash does not subside, but grows more fierce and I am definitely a little bit insane from sleepless, itchy nights. During these nights all I can do is research rashes and itching. So I go to a different doctor and tell him I am certain of what I have and I just need a treatment. Internet/Self-diagnosis: Scabies. The doctor gets out his medical encyclopedia and we check off the symptoms together. He kind-of-but-not-really jokes about feeling itchy because it is highly contagious and kindly escorts me to a different room. He prescribes the treatment for both Adam and I with some bonus antihistaminess that will help me sleep. Luckily, Adam seems to have an immunity to scabies, though he did get one tiny burrow on his wrist that he TORTURES me with by talking about how much it itches. He finds this funny.

So now we are treated and I am beginning to heal. Only 30 more days of itching and pain. If only they had advent calendars in Viet Nam....

I contracted scabies from hotel towels or/and sheets while we were traveling. Anyone can catch it in any country. Here is more info if interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scabies


Really, I just posted this for Nick who has made it clear to me that he is tired of hearing about how everything is wonderful here. (So I won't mention that I just got back from two days on the beach where the temperature was a brisk 75-80 degrees and it is now the weekend ,though I am rarely aware of a weekstart).

Unda da Sea

First time out scuba diving and feeling a little overwhelmed because now there is an entire other world I have to explore. It is as if you are invisible as you float by the animals; nothing pays any attention to you. The colors of the fish are so bright and the shapes are so alien. It is amazing how much goes on without us- you get the feeling of complete insignificance.. and it is wonderful.

A Limerick for Hoi An

There once was a pair in Hoi An

Where it rained as hard as it can

But the pair did not stop

Though the puddles did plop

Despite cries from the below pictured man:

In comes typhoon Lekima and out we go to explore Hoi An.

Mud Bath

We rented a motorbike this morning and drove through the mountains to some little towns around Nha Trang. Elaborate, colorful grave sites dot the countryside. Sometimes the grave sites are larger and certainly more decorated than the houses that surround them.

We followed signs that read "mud bath" in English until we ended up at an amazing mineral water spa retreat on a mountain. It is barely marketed to tourists and is well hidden so we had no expectations, but it turned out to be our favorite place in Nha Trang. For 60,000 Dong (less than $4) you get a hot mineral shower, a mud bath, a hot spring bath and access to the mineral swimming pool with waterfalls. It was so relaxing...just what we needed to ease the stresses of perpetual vacation...

Tai Chi on the mountain.

Monkey Island

Today we took a boat out from Nha Trang to visit three of the nearby islands. The first stop was feeding ostriches and little non-native deer and horses- you could also elect to ride the ostriches which were saddled up and ready to go. When I first approached them with a leafy branch, it was as if I had entered the "Lord of the Rings" as five long-necked heads darted for the food less than 10 inches away from my fingers. And you want me to ride one of these things?!

The next stop was an island where you could visit waterfalls "just around the corner" and swim through them. Well, foolish Adam and I were joined by an Irish couple our age to go search for them. Driven on and on and on by a silly pamphlet picture the girl had, we trekked through the forest until our clothes were drenched in sweat and we agreed to accept that there was actually no waterfall. We made friends with the Irish couple under the circumstances, so we had twice the number of people to enjoy the rest of the quirky events on the tour.

Monkey Island was full of monkeys, hundreds of monkeys. Monkeys in the trees, monkeys at your feet, monkeys on your clothes. Angry monkeys, baby monkeys, monkeys doing flips though hoops. And in the middle of the island was a Go-Kart track. Bizarre.

The tour was fun because of the good company and the goofy guide. But just being on the clear water surrounded by mountains makes anything enjoyable.

On the road again

We packed up our stuff and hit the road. However, our rough and tough trip through the countryside of Vietnam is now a luxurious sightseeing vacation of the central provinces. With the tiniest peep of a vacation to Adam's Aunt who works for the big government run tourist agency, we quickly received a complete itinerary with nearly every day planned out for us. She arranged four and five star hotels for us "free of charge" along almost the entire route and booked tours and activities for most of our days. Where did we arrange this tour? At the elegant Caravelle Hotel, of course, over a buffet dinner and rooftop drinks with the director of the hotel "free of charge". Some menu items:

Seafood chowder
Lobster boiled in coconut juice
6" long tiger shrimp in garlic butter white wine sauce
Bacon wrapped pork medallion
Tenderloin Medallion with sauteed onions
Grilled salmon with teriyaki sauce
Broiled tilapia in orange cream mushroom sauce

Lamb Stew
Sushi Bar

Desert: Chocolate Mousse
Lemon Meringue Pie
Dragon Fruit, Lychee, Longan
Creme Brulee
Flan
Strawberries & Real whipped Cream
Ice Cream- Coffee, Mango, Vanilla, Blackberry, Chocolate

And we didn't even touch the Bread and cheese table or the already prepared meat and seafood area.

Now we are in Ninh Chu Resort on the beach. It is a new hotel and we have the place to ourselves. There are maybe eight other guests and we never see them. I asked the front desk if he could unlock the fitness center and he quickly replied that "all of the machines are broken because so many guests are using them." THERE IS NO ONE HERE! I had to turn away because I almost burst out laughing...five minutes later he found me and informed me that the fitness center was now open.

The hotel is beautiful, and the gray weather adds to the fun, eerie, Shiningesque feeling of being the only guests in a huge building in a desolate town. Around every corner I half expect to see twin little girls in blue dresses at the end of the hall.

We went on a tour to visit the Po Klong Cham towers today and climbed around the Tien Waterfalls. The itinerary included monkeys, bears, and hot springs, but none of these actually exist here. The tour was really funny because the guide and driver had never taken anyone on a tour to these areas so they didn't know where to go or what to do when the places weren't open or when there was nothing to see. We got to roll up our pants and cross a river to get to the springs and the climbing was not something that any tourists could have done, but the spot was amazing. The tour director is a nervous, kind man who approached us this morning, apologizing for the goofy tour and the 31/2 hour early return and this evening we get a complimentary massage! I didn't even think the tour was that bad since I got to play with a little baby at a restaurant where we killed time for 21/2 hours and the guide didn't speak English well so I learned a lot of Vietnamese.

Emily-if you were getting jealous about the buffet, here is a picture of the bruschetta at the hotel- it is wonder bread with one slice of American cheese and half of a black olive. Yup- that's it:)

The sign reads " Typical Vietnamese Alcoalic For Sell"

The tour bonus.

The Future

The Honda Future is now the most important item that we own and makes getting around exciting, cheap, and fast. Adam is my chauffer for now but I am learning to drive late at night when there is no traffic. People bump us, we bump them, we brush mirrors, step on each others toes, bonk heads- it is quite funny actually. Today I caught a girl's arm in our backpack as we drove past her, she kind of yelped- that was less funny.

I learned which side to dismount the bike quickly by burning my leg on the exhaust the second day of riding around. It takes a millisecond to singe a nice second degree burn, luckily, I had everything with me to care for a burn since this is something I deal with often...recall campfires, fire poi, sunburns.

But who cares about a burn? It feels WONDERFUL to actually be healthy enough to go out and do things!!! I feel like life here has just started after a month of being nearly bedridden. We have been seeing the city sights and we took a trip to visit Adam's Aunt's modest thatched roof house in the countryside with Ha and her mother. She has a gorgeous flower and fruit garden with bananas, mangoes, starfruit, jackfruit, and blooming lotus flowers.

Yesterday we started Vietnamese lessons. I had to drag Adam kicking and screaming by his...ears, but we made it and spent two hours trying to change the form of our mouths to make noises that we have never even heard before. We start University classes when we get back from our trip.

The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

Adam and I were sitting downstairs the other night listening to of one of our greatest monsoons yet when all of a sudden there was a loud crash accompanied by the sound of an indoor waterfall. We ran upstairs to find about 100 gallons of water pouring into the bedroom from a hole in our roof. Water had been building up on the flat roof and the pressures of the storm pushed through the ceiling and onto everything in the upstairs rooms. We threw everything out of the room as quickly as possible and the worst of the damage is destroyed bedding and mattress and a horrible smell on everything we own. It was all very fun and exciting since it was nighttime on a holiday and no one was around to do anything about it, so we cleaned up the water, dirt, rocks, and other rubble that fell from the roof and stayed awake all night since there is no where else in our house to sleep!

Unfortunately, the entire roof is leaky and moldy and a simple patch in the roof over the hole won't clear up the years of mold built up there, so we have four days to find someone to take over the lease and we are going to travel until Adam's uncle's house is finished! Can something be called a disaster when it culminates in vacation and a move to a brand new home with no rent?

Some Pictures

I haven't had a chance to update you all because I have been sick with food poisoning or some other food borne illness for about two weeks now...it feels like forever. Vietnam is preparing for the second biggest festival of the year with incense burning, money throwing, banh baking and lots of shopping. Random bursts of excitement occur as we walk the streets that are lit with what the Western world calls Christmas lights.
But we won't be walking the streets for long. Cao Hai just brought us a motorbike that Adam is learning to drive and I will be learning soon. I probably won't drive often given that my mind has a tendency to wander (nice way of putting "spacy") and to drive here you have to be incredibly...alert (nice way of putting "crazy").

Our new roommate is great and resourceful. She has been here for 6 months so she speaks basic Vietnamese and gives us tips such as "don't leave the heater switch on when you take a shower, a friend of a friend of a friend was electrocuted". Good to know.

We made spaghetti dinner with some appetizer trays for Adam's family and some friends. It was fun to switch roles for a night and see their faces when we brought out bacon, cheeses, and bread and olive oil. Their expressions held the exact look that they see on our faces when they bring us congealed blood, beef muscle or anything with eyes. But we showed them how to eat everything and they seemed to enjoy it. Think cheese & crackers with chopsticks and that pretty much sums up the night.

The pictures are of the dinner night. And of our fish...did I mention we have a fish?

The guy that looks really happy holding the chopsticks is Adam's cousin and acts EXACTLY like Joe...it is eerie.

New House!!

We finally found a house! It is in a fun location that is outside of the tourist district, but not too far away from the city center. It came unfurnished so to fill up the huge house we ran around to various furniture stores and found a roommate named Mandy. (We did not find Mandy at a furniture store, she is from Craigslist). She works in an orphanage a few times a week and studies Vietnamese... arrives here in about a week.

Last weekend we made our first trip out to the beach at Vung Tao with Adam's family and some of their friends for a day. It was so pleasant to get out of the city and chase waves in the ocean. The women here apparently swim fully clothed so I joined in and swam with my shorts and T-shirt, scandalously hiding my Western two-piece bathing suit. Adam's Uncle explained that prior to 1975 the women wore very skimpy bathing suits, but traded them in for swimwear that covers as much skin as possible with the arrival of the new government...and global warming.

Now that we are settled in, it is time to start work on all of the wondrous business ideas we have and I will, as usual, be working for free! Hope things are going well for everyone. More later...