And so it continues

I did say at the start of this blog that I was going to highlight the ups and down and soaring middles of this round the world trip. The moaning and whinging so lovingly written this past Tuesday by me about when I first came to Vietnam had died down considerably thanks to a relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable (and somewhat schizophrenic) trip to the Mekong Delta. I say schizo because you're cruising along, lounging on the deck with your drink in hand on the boat the Mekong Eye - a private boat that was specifically chartered for the trip - and you're staring out at this massive river and riverbanks, at locals on their boats, just taking it all in. It takes your breath away. But then as your lounging you can't help but think or picture in your head - at least I was - what it must have been like for the millions of young men and women who came here to fight along these very same riverbanks during the Vietnam War. People who enlisted and later forced to come to this country -who had never in their lives seen or met people like this nor experienced this type of heat or seen this vegetation before except in books. I know there are so many movies and books about it, but I can only imagine what it REALLY would have been like for them and for the Vietnamese citizens themselves having to deal with this in their everyday lives. That takes your breath away too. Believe me, I wasn't the only one on the boat with those thoughts. An Aussie couple I met and hung out with on the boat admitted that their friend was in the war and he still refuses to talk about that period of time which is completely understandable. He was definitely on their mind along with other images of that era. Sorry for the trip down depressing lane there but again you just can't go on a luxury cruise on the Mekong Delta without thinking of the history that comes along with it. To quote the great Frank Sinatra – you can't have one without the other. The cruise really was stunning though; the food and service on board the ship was excellent and I even managed to get a recipe for Vietnamese Fried Chicken directly from Chef which I hope to post soon.

We left this morning and lo and behold by the time I got back to Ho Chi Minh City and booked into my hotel, the crappy mood was back with a vengeance. What the hell happened? Well it looks like I lost my camera. No it wasn't stolen – I just can't find it (My Mother loves it when I say that whenever I lose something; no its not lost, I just can't find it!!). Actually if it was stolen that would not have put me in a bad mood because hey these things happen. Nope, just me being a clueless, not watching what he's doing, numbskull, and leaving the camera behind somewhere - no doubt at this restaurant we went to today for lunch, taking it out so I could take pictures of the food. It's cool, the camera can be replaced and it wasn't an expensive one either bought for reasons EXACTLY like what happened above. Nah I just piss myself off when I do dumb things like that. So sadly I have no pics from my arrival to Vietnam, no pics from the Mekong Delta and no food pictures either. Woohoo, good work Stevie!!!

Ok I'm going to have take a small break ya'll from the blog for a bit so I can hopefully achieve some equilibrium in the mental health department as well as a new camera. Talk is good but pictures sure are nicer J

(sung to deck the halls) blah la la la la…time for a martini!