Saturday 9 November 2013

hoi an to ha noi

Best laid plans of mice and men......

I left the hotel just after 2 this afternoon to travel to Da nang airport for the 4.30 flight to Hanoi, this should take an hour and a quater if the thing stays in the air. The plane is an airbus 320 and looks to be similar in size and construct to the cargo plane at the start of Indiana Jones and the temple of doom. They guy sat next to me looks like a full grown "shortround" from the same movie. No signs of any chickens or goats on board....yet.  When I checked in at the airport the lady asked me if I would like to upgrade my seat for 60,000 dong (3 dollars) so of course I said yes. I'm now sat right next to the emergency exit but have plenty of leg space and room to inflate my bright yellow emergency dingy should the need arise.
Hoi An is braced, Hue just up the coast is where the typhoon is due to to hit land, its a place I leave with a heavy heart and hope that the town and everyone in it remains safe. As I walked it streets this morning the buzzing activity was all about preparation, things were being fixed or strengthened, trees were being lopped. But leave I did, escaping in an act of inadvertent self preservation to Hanoi, also in the path of the typhoon, but a day further north. Hopefully it will have lost a bit of its venom by the time it catches up with me but I think I may need to accept that ha long bay may be for another time, maybe with someone else to share the experience.

I've also decided that Laos, as beautiful a destination that it apparently is according to the numerous people I have met whilst travelling, may be a little too under-developed for somebody travelling alone with a slight medical condition and yet to adjust fully to their environment. So that makes 2 places in this part of the world that I could possibly visit in the future should I decide when I get to Hanoi that Ha long bay is a no go.

Travelling through Da Nang en route to the airport was an eerie experience. The streets were mostly empty anyway with many people already evacuated to shelters for the storm, but there was a district on the outskirts which lay abandoned and deserted, a shell of once bustling life. Its location is next to an old American airbase which housed chemicals such as agent orange during the Vietnam conflict which over time contaminated the whole area.. the ground is still massively polluted, no one can live there. Its another stark reminder of the legacy of a war that ended over 37 years ago.
As the plane hurtled down the runway as wondered at my wisdom of sitting at a window seat. Taking flight, watching the wing flex then being absorbed by the marshmallow dense clouds caused nervous exhilaration. After though, cushioned on the same confectionery bed in the setting glow of the late afternoon sun. I accepted that that was a pretty good use of 3 dollars.

31,000ft is never going to get old.



Would just like to take this moment to thank hsbc for causing me no end of stress the last few days.

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