there's always a cherry

after oohing and aahing about how perfect my vacation was (a mixture of rest and adventure, beachbumming and sightseeing, learning and relaxing), my last day of travel turned out to be a doozie!!

i started the day at 5:40 a.m. for a 6:10 a.m. hotel pick up - and took a bus from Siem Riep to Phnom Penh (Cambodia). 7:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. from PP, i got on another bus to Saigon (1:15 - 7:00 p.m.). this would be a long journey, but would offer me a few hours to unwind/eat before a scheduled 12:50 a.m. flight to Seoul.

but the second bus broke down around 4 p.m. at a ferry crossing in a provincial part of Cambodia. in steamy hot weather, we were stranded for 3 hours in an idle (and packed) bus. tempers flaired up between an irate passenger and the bus escort. thankfully the bus had okay air-conditioning and a bathroom. i imagine the anger and frustration would've been much worse had people been really uncomfortable. our replacement finally came at 7:00 p.m. we got back on the road, but we should've been in Saigon by then; we hadn't yet even reached the Cambodia-Vietnam border.

we didn't reach the border crossing until 9 p.m. as you can guess, i was getting nervous because i was supposed to be at Saigon airport by 10:50 p.m. for the requisite 2-hour lead-in for international flights. i was also hoping to spend a little time in the ladies' lounge at the airport to towel down and change out of a hot day's worth of bus travel. at this point, i knew dinner was out of the picture.

we reached the outskirts of Saigon around 10:15 p.m. the driver had promised me (back at the border crossing) that he'd get me to the airport no later than 10:30 p.m. but we weaved through traffic and city streets, and after awhile i realized this was not going to happen. we still hadn't gotten to the bus station to drop off the passengers. so at 10:40 p.m., i finally asked them to let me off the bus so that i could grab a taxi. when the bus stopped, i grabbed my pack (now fairly weighed down from souvenirs to give to the relatives) and put it on.

unfortunately, it was a generally empty no-tourist part of the city which meant i didn't have much choice in who to approach for a taxi ride. there was a gentleman on a motorcycle who seemed like he was a driver. when i approached him to find out about a ride to the airport, he cocked his head in confusion. that's when i realized that his primary customers were locals; he didn't speak English. we tried communicating briefly with some embarrassed smiles both ways, but i was too turned around to think about how to explain "airport". a bunch of locals behind me saw that we were struggling to communicate and wanted to help. but they were talking to me in Vietnamese too. the few words of English they knew and the few words of Vietnamese i knew weren't the right combination to communicate what i needed. (now that i look back, it was actually quite comical.)

anyway, what happened next is that i turned to take a step toward the group. but it was dark and i was carrying nearly half my weight on me (two backpacks and a tote). i took a funny step and lost my footing in the dark street. my ankle crumbled underneath me, and down i and all my stuff went!

ack! so now i was late for the airport, i couldn't explain where i needed to go, my packs feel like they just tripled in weight because i only have one good foot to hold me up, and i'm truly panicked. thankfully, someone tracked down a older local who spoke very good English (better than my mother). she explained to the driver where i needed to go and i was off again! the compassionate motorcycle taxi driver kept asking about my foot and even wanted me to take a pitstop to the doctor. when i pointed to my non-existent watch and gave a sad face, he understood and rushed me to the airport by 11:10 p.m. he even charged me the local rate (20,000 dong = $1.40). (the going rate for taxi rides to the airport is about $5 for tourists).

so anyway, i limped to the airport bathroom with my stuff so that i could quickly wipe down and change. well, Saigon airport is not like a Seoul or Seattle airport; the amenities are not fancy-class. i walked into my toilet stall and was greeted by a cockroach the length of my palm, no joke. she was HUGE. apparently she wanted to help me change, or wanted a free ride to Korea. now i'm hot, sweaty, panicked, broken - and grossed out. worse, i can't dance around very well to avoid her skitter-skattering because my foot hurt!

finally after a very long, tiring day's journey, i cleaned myself up as best i could in the roach-infested "ladies' lounge" and arrived at the ticket counter. except eeps!: the agent proceeded to inform me that my ticket was for the 13th not the 12th and that i needed to come back the next day.

"yea" i said, "i'm supposed to leave tomorrow - at 12:50 in the morning. in two hours." she kept shaking her head: "tomorrow, tomorrow." i was almost laughing at this point because it had been such a wild day - i thought, well of course there's a problem with my airline reservation! apparently, the reason why she was being so adament was because the last flight to Seoul (same flight number) was actually scheduled for a 11:55 p.m. departure, not a 12:50 a.m. departure! apparently, i had a messed up ticket and itinerary. she told me, "flight is already boarding. no more."

luckily, she double-checked with her supervisor and they got me on that flight - even though it was now 11:25 p.m. the ticket agents insisted i get in a wheelchair because i wouldn't have been able to walk the length of the airport with the pain i was experiencing. somehow, because i was a wheelchair passenger, they also said i wouldn't have to pay the airport departure tax ($14). (strange rationale, but i took the deal!). so a very nice gentleman wheeled me through immigration, security and to the boarding gate. he also got me a seat close to the plane's entrance so i wouldn't have to limp through the aisles to my assigned (43C) seat. and i made the flight with about 5 minutes to spare!

all good in the end, but talk about milking the last day of vacation for every last drop of excitement and drama. PHEW!

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i am now in Korea. bad timing means that i will not be able to see the uncle that i came specifically to see (my father's oldest brother). because he is celebrating his 80th birthday next week, the whole family left for China on vacation today. luckily, i was able to speak with him before they left for the airport.

this means i will have more time to visit other people besides my uncles. tomorrow afternoon and night, i have dates with a couple of my former teacher buddies. another date on monday morning. this is turning out to be a delightful treat, because i made about five friends during the time i was in Korea. i'll see three of them over the next few days. two of them (a married couple) returned to the states (Iowa) the same time i did. they'll be visiting me in Seattle in June, while i wage an all-out campaign to move them to Seattle permanently. all in all, a very nice surprise indeed.

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enough of what i've done and what i'll be doing... now that i'm not on the move (travelling), i can spend more time to write some reflections about my experience here. it has been more than a vacation for me. i learned so much about the history of Vietnam and Cambodia (particularly about the recent wars in both countries). i got to see first-hand the cultures and living conditions in the parts of SE Asia i saw. i feel like i have a much better context from which to do my work. i can better grasp what the immigrant experience from Vietnam or Cambodia might've been like in the 1980s and 90s.

oops, i'm being called off the computer. time for dinner (sushi) with my uncle, aunt and cousins. yum!