sacrificial flesh......

Hello everyone! We did it! Will is now my hero! We made our way around this crazy assed city on moto today with Will driving and me sitting on the bag with a book in my lap yelling out directions. Perhaps everyone should take a moment to google Ho Chi Min City and motos and you will quickly see what the fuss is all about. There are simply thousands of them, plus cars, and bicycles and everyone is vying for the same damn space you are currently occupying and the occasional traffic light is merely a suggestion as to what your next driving move should be. It is insane!

We slept in late as I surrendered my running clothes yesterday...VERY stinky! and we have yet to see any sign of them still today, more than 24 hours later. I am down to my last pair of pants, and t-shirt and not really sure what I am even wearing to bed tonight. Will and I have been maintaining a basic thread of modesty with each other on the trip so hopefully I will not have to disrupt the flow here. I think our clothes may be somewhere with my passport....locked up only to be handed over when we say we are leaving.

Anyway, after sleeping in we had a delicious breakfast and Iced coffee...my god this was not the trip to give up my addiction to coffee...it is simply just too good. Thankfully I held myself to one glass as I did not want a repeat of the other day when I was hungover and had two and thought I might stroke out. I also just had one because anytime I drink too much coffee my confidence level goes in the toilet and I have a wee bit of anxiety that creeps up on me...the heart can only take so much. So, considering that we were about to embark on a journey that surpassed ANY rollercoaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio, I wanted to be as calm as I possibly could. We agreed that after we rented the moto ($8/day) we would head to the first Pagoda we could and pay SERIOUS homage for safe travels. Maybe even light some incense. Well, we set out on our trip and the first place we drove by was the Unification Palace. We had just pulled up and I was inquiring where to park the scooter and trying to get us tickets to enter. I waved to Will to bring the scooter over and when he pulled forward the accelerator flooded and the scooter got away from him and they both went down. It was a scary sight. In hindsight it all happened very slowly and quite frankly looked like the perfect lay out of a slide head first into home plate. SAFE! I got over to him quickly, we piked up the scooter and assessed that he no longer had much skin left on his left toe and was also missing some epidermis from his left knee. We were both shaking!

It was all a bit much to take in. Also, it ripped his flip flop off and we both remembered lying awake in the middle of the night thinking quietly to ourselves to wear shoes today but then we both forgot. It was apparent that we needed to go back to the house and clean up the wound and get shoes on. I think we were both thinking...F! how are we going to do this!? The traffic is a major mind F-er.

We decided to stay and see the palace since we were already there and it was phenomenal! Best Palace yet in any country. Then we got back to the house and fixed up the wound. I took some Formula 303 (Magnesium and Valerian root) to calm my nerves and Will took some Advil. We took stock agreeing on the analogy as fellow cyclists that once you put on the shoes with clips and lock yourself to the pedals you will never get over your fear of falling over and not being able to get out until you just fall. And scratch yourself up and maybe chip a bone or two in your elbow. NO Problem! So, we agreed, that that was it. Will had taken the fall for us and we now no longer needed to do that again.

Once we headed out again we made the effort to finally get to that Pagoda! We arrived, bought insense and made a donation and Will stayed on his knees longer than I have witnessed yet! The rest of the day was a snap and we existed as one on the moto. We got lost and drove way out of the city. We visited Pagoda's that were more Taoist than Buddist and had amazing wood carvings. We even found the yoga studio where I can drop in tomorrow AM (provided I get my running shorts back) and do some Bikram yoga. We also made our way to the War Relics Museum. Over here it is referred to the American war, not the Vietnam war....anyway, it was really hard to make it through the museum. There was a major section that detailed the children and adults that were effected by Napalm. Even after almost two generations children are still being born with atrocious birth defects and cancers run high. It was a strange feeling being there as an American as well I have to admit. The faces of these young men....Will's age, being sent off to do God knows what and for WHY? were hard to look at. After two hours here my belly started to hurt and my mouth was dry and bitter tasting. The same occured even after visiting the Killing fields and S-21 in Cambodia.

I have not mentioned the Killing Fields in the blog yet. We went the morning we left for Kep, Cambodia. We found a really sweet man named T.V. who had the shittiest Tuk Tuk in Phnom Pen to drive us about 18 KM out of the city to the fields. There is a huge glass Pagoda that is about three stories high that is filled with skulls that have been dug up from the mass graves. As you walk around you can see pieces of clothing coming out of the ground from the victims. There is a huge area at the back of the excavated area that has not even been excavated thoroughly yet. It is estimated that over a million people were killed and burried at this one site alone. The Khmer Rouge used loud music and lots of chemical solvents to cover the bodies so no one would smell or hear and wonder what was going on. What struck me most was that the land right next to it had an elementary school on it and through the breeze you could hear the children doing their morning exercises...all speaking together....the sound of children was welcome input to my brain.

I think I may have about one more war relic scenario in me and then I have to bid it all goodbye. We will be making our way to a truly lovely beach as we head up the coast. After that we will cross the DMZ and hopefully that will be the end of the gloom and doom.

After we turned in the moto we found some peroxide and cleaned up Will's wounds a little bit better. And then I bought him dinner of a Burger and beer! He did an awesome job!

My GOD what a day! Tomorrow we are paying the husband at our house to drive us out to district 5 so I can nose around some Chinese people and see what types of herbs I can smuggle back into the country...If I ever get my shorts back I intend to go to Yoga. My body really misses it. May have to fly off to India to become a certified instructor so I can continue to afford it as even here in Vietnam it is $15/per class. Yikes! Those are American prices.

Ok folks...I have suffered more cortisol flowing through my veins than my adrenals can take today. Off to sweat in bed.

willandCODY