The South East Asian Adventures of Monsieur Perdu
Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007Queing in a snaking line of eager pre-Christmas travellers escaping the Paris winter for tropical shores. Me for Hanoi. Them for Club Med. Stuck between a massive group of TOURists, I took my seat on board while they began a ripple effect of taking seats assigned to others in their group. The noisy chaos was quelled by the captains’ announcement that someone had lost a duty free bag, a blue plastic bag which happened to contain that persons’ passport. The captain reminded us that if that bag and passport was not found, ‘you can understand, ladies and gentleman, that this is not a happy day for Monsieur Perdu’.
And so it was with the culture shock of transition that I stumbled jet-lagged from French rural life into the oceans of Hanoi’s motorbikes. It was there that I soon developed that art of Traffic Aikido. . .Overwelmed I escaped to the soothing comfort of a boat trip around Halong Bay. . .Then onto the relaxed charm of Hoi An eating dinner along the river, indulging in french pasteries and being tailored all over town. . .To Nha Trang for Xmas – frolicking on nearby islands and splurging at the mud and thermal baths. . .To HCMC for markets, cocktails on the roof terrace overlooking the city, fabulous vegetarian cuisine, hanging out in the central park and watching how the communists exercise. . .A 3 day trip of the Mekong Delta mostly by boat (highly recommended) we weaved through floating markets and villages, and along the Mekong we had dinner against the backdrop of a lavender sunset as we drifted towards Cambodia.
Jyai