A Bummer (LUCKY) Start to 2014

New Year's Day! At the Bangkok Airport on our way to sun and sand on Ko Lanta Island, near Krabi.

A taxi, flight, shuttle and ferry ride....this was the reward.   A New Year's Day sunset.

January 2: Onions and I planned for the 3rd to be our day to go out snorkeling, so on the 2nd we decided to rent a scooter and tool around the island.  Go to different beaches and just sit in the sun.  Unfortunately, about 15 minutes into our scooter adventure, we took a tumble.  I was in back with Onions driving.  I was talking to him and he didn't see a part of the road that wasn't paved.  Our front wheel caught the edge of the "pothole" and we tumbled over.  We were lucky in so, so many ways. Helmets?  Yes.  Onions, turns out he's particularly sensitive to sun, was fully decked out covering his entire body (top and bottom) and there were no cars directly behind us.  Plus one of those motor rickshaw taxis was nearby to ferry us directly to the hospital.  Onions was injured with scrapes on his leg, a deep cut on his foot, some scrapes on his hands and a cut lip.  I just had a large scrape on my hand.  Onions took the brunt of the impact.

Needless to say, we had an immediate halt to the fun part of our vacation.  But again, what did I learn about Onions?  His immediate reaction was to apologize for ruining our vacation. How can you be mad at that. And of course, he was scared that he was going to be permanently injured, which would be hard for him because he is an athlete.  Plus there is the unknown of what the ultimate prognosis would be.  The afternoon of the accident was scary for both of us.  But we managed.  And the following days, things hurt and were boring since we couldn't do anything, but we managed.  I like the way he handled the crisis.  Logical, but emotional.  Perspective....and understanding that patience to let his body heal was most important.

Day 3, we got ourselves to the beach to get some drinks, watch the sunset and eat dinner!

Special treatment at the airport.

Two week report!  I am fully recovered.  Onions is 80%!  He only has some residual pain in his knee and his foot hurts as the cut was deep.  He's walking and we are basically up and running as normal.  Plus, he can now shower and go to the gym and work out his upper body.  Lucky?  Yes! 

Bangkok - Wat Pho

After our adventure out to the Ancient City complex, Onions and I hopped on the bus all the way across Bangkok (and being misguided a couple times by bus attendants who apparently couldn't read maps...this will be important later) and arrived at the famed Wat Pho, one of the largest and most famous wats in the world.

It's biggest claim to fame is the 160 foot reclining golden buddha.  This one I couldn't climb all over!

As it got dark and we walked along the river to see other wats lit up....beautiful.

We decided to get on a river boat a few stops and then take the bus back to our hotel.  For some reason we couldn't find the bus stop we needed and ended up walking a ways.  Being that it was New Year's Eve, traffic was all crazy and there were diversions everywhere.  We were lucky to find a taxi and at this point I was frustrated so (in a totally new mode for me) I let Onions take over.  He got the taxi driver to take us to a subway station.  But we were dropped off at the train station.  At this point, Onions threw a fit (it was funny) and complained about "how can these people be so uneducated to be unable to read a map."  The best thing I learned about Onions is that (it's happened a couple times) is that his anger dissipates quickly.  He doesn't stay mad for more than five minutes.  Even when he gets angry with me, which is actually rare.  Luckily we were near a subway station and so we got home with relative ease.  But we decided NOT to go out on New Year's Eve, but stayed in, watched TV and fell asleep before midnight!  I could not have been any happier.

Thailand -- PSYCHE

Week 2 of my Christmas Break had the added bonus of Onions taking a week off of work and meeting me in Thailand.  Here we are after getting through immigration at the Bangkok Airport!

Traveling together as a couple.  Big test of relationship.....and good news.  Onions is as big a fan of street food as me!

The architecture of Thailand.

Are you kidding?  There is no way we were able to see that many temples and buildings in one day.  Instead we took a "tour" through the history of Thailand at a park called The Ancient City.  There are replicas of famous pieces of architecture and monuments in Thailand all in a huge park where you can bike around.

It also allowed us to climb all over the replicas.

CLASSIC ONIONS!!  "Let's get ice cream!"....."Let me taste yours."....."Here's mine, I like yours better!"

The War Remnants Museum -- Ho Chi Minh City

My last day in Vietnam, I spent in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).  My goal was to visit the War Remnants Museum, which displayed the history and many pictures of the Vietnam War.

In the courtyard of the museum are old American fighter jets and tanks.

I expected a balanced and fair history (in retrospect...what was I thinking?) of the war.

It became pretty clear after the first exhibition that what I was to read and see was very one-sided.

The most powerful exhibit were the photos on those affected by the US use of Agent Orange.

What I did take from the museum was a clearing up of the outline of who was who, the names of the major players and a general outline of the war.  What was the difference between North and South, what was the Tet Offensive, who were the Viet Cong and who were the communists in South Vietnam; these were some of the names that mean more to me now.  What I learned was that there were many parties and actors.....and that in essence the US got mired in what was a civil war in Vietnam.

The Presidential Palace Museum

In this room, in the Presidential Palace, the president of South Vietnam resigned in the knowledge that a few days later, South Vietnam would fall to North Vietnam and the reunification of Vietnam would be complete.

The "war" room where the generals of South Vietnam kept account of the events of the war.  These were not nearly as detailed as the maps in the bunker of the presidential palace.  I was entranced by those.

I thought this was the site of the famous picture of Americans on the ladder trying to get into a helicopter in 1975.  (The US war effort ended with the 1973 Paris Peace Accords, but were present in South Vietnam until it fell in 1975.)  However, that picture was taken from the roof of the US Embassy.  These helicopters were on standby for use by the president of South Vietnam.

The Presidential Palace remains as it was in the 1970's......straight out of the "Partridge Family!"

Oh and as I left Vietnam....one last Banh My from here in HCMC!  It didn't compare to the best ones I ate were from off the street in Hoi An.  Toasted bread, lightly buttered and the best pate I've ever eaten.  10,000 Vietnamese Dong = 50 Cents US.