July 15

Greetings from Quy Nhon
Pronounced Oui Ñon
(say first word as in French, second as in Spanish)
sort of
Vietnamese is far more difficult than Lao
More tones, more vowel sounds, a feast of foreign marks over otherwise recognizable letters.
My attempt to say, “One pineapple juice, please”
(freshly made, creamy, delicious)
still seems to come out as “I’m here to fuck your grandmother.”
People solicitous nevertheless.
Imagine that Stateside.
Arrived in this mid-sized city
After a death-defying bus ride.
Two-lane highway with
Four cars across, passing one way or the other
At breakneck speeds and a centimeter of clearance.
Other passengers (as many as could squeeze in)
Hanging over their seats to stare at us, at what we were writing, doing.
Transportation packed as in Central America
But they got our broke-down school busses
While the Vietnamese got some very reliable Japanese cast-offs.
Got on the minibus just as it was pulling out
Because we went to the wrong bus terminal first.
No time to trot out our important phrase:
How much?
And got taken for four times the fare
Which was still less than a cab ride downtown
For a four-hour trip.
Which we discovered later we could have made by train
For less.
Lonely Planet
We’re dependent, but it’s like that little girl with the little curl.
Quy Nhon is a mid-sized city on the coast
About midway north-south
Still totally off the gringo trail
Except for Barbara
Who arrived from New Zealand in the 70s to do something altruistic
And stayed
And is a welcome font of info
After several days of traveling with no language
An interesting activity
Have the vaguest idea of what it might be like to be illiterate
And she rents bicycles
Shitty ones
That were made when I was
But they’ll get you back and forth
If you don’t try to raise the seat too much
And pedal with your knees out to the side.
Cham ruins to visit here
(I’d never heard of the Chams until a few days ago)
and some spectacular beaches
which we’ll visit tomorrow
weather and bikes permitting.
Will close tonight with food. Surprise!
Pho for breakfast
When in Rome…
Bun for dinner
And
Three veggie restaurants we know about in this town.
As in Quang Ngai, Buddhist, Vietnamese veggie
Not backpacker veggie.
Have lunched at two so far.
They do cool stuff with soy products here.
Now drinking rotgut rum
With freshly squeezed Pineapple juice in
Hotel room.
It’s late. I can hear the waves.