CatBa
When things go wrong there is no stopping it. On days like this I think travel is best done from a comfortable armchair in front of the tv. Wrote out the blog and it crashed just as completed.
Decided to leave Sapa Monday as my foot was beginning to respond to antibiotics and beginning to get bored of Sapa, at least not being able to walk any distance. So went to Lao Cao and got a ticket for the overnight train to Hanoi. But didn’t have any sleepers and only offered me a hard seat, which are hard !. Wooden with an upright back, just what you need on a long journey. Had a mother and child next to me and the kid did the usual and threw up over my sandals and bag. Actually was a crafty move as once I had moved to the edge of my seat he proceeded to lie down across both seats and had a pleasant sleep all the way to Hanoi, leaving me balancing on the edge and definitely not getting any rest.
Once in Hanoi applied for a 3 months visa with the usual extortionate prices so all my good work in the rice fields wasted !. Then back to CatBa. Fairly quiet but a but depressing as a friend decided to drink himself to death and was showing every sign of succeeding so spent a few hours with him as he laid in bed downing a bottle of vodka.
Went out and got chatting to an English guy who is working in Haiphong. He was telling me about the hassle he had with dogs in the afternoon and also why its best to avoid the hospitals in Haiphong. Unfortunately the conversation was overheard by a dog and as I left a large one ran up to me and sunk its teeth into my bum.
So then had to wake up the local doctor who didn’t speak a word of English but gave me 3 injections and a large bill. But I didn’t trust what he had given me so took an early morning boat to Haiphong. Found out what the guy meant about the hospitals in Haiphong, tried 2 and neither offered rabies vacs nor in fact spoke much English – amazing how the kids in Sapa, despite no education were so fluent, yet here in a big city bit of a nightmare – the LP phrase book chooses to omit such an important word. Then saw the word Vaccine (at least close enough) on a building as I was walking along so dived in and had another syringe rammed into me . Even better, the chance to make 2 more repeat visits, so a very expensive dog bite. So tonight will go to a reataurant and get my revenge. That assumes I get back as now raining and I heard they are forecasting a cyclone.
petefurlepa