Dear Friend,

I did say when I started this blog that I would share the less enjoyable parts of my journey as well… So, if you want to keep those rose colored lenses on my experiences abroad, you might want to skip this note.
😉

I’ve found transition days to often dampen my mood… and by “transition days”, I mean the days that I am packing up from one place, preparing for another, transporting myself from A to B, and beginning to orient myself to the new surroundings. These days usually involve throwing off my sleep schedule and facing a bunch of new situations that I hadn’t even thought of. It is almost always very energy depleting for me and I have come to expect to just not be in a very good mood until I can get acclimated and rest!

Today included two main challenges that I wouldn’t consider enjoyable. For starters, I had some panic this morning regarding currency! Vietnam requires that you get a visa in advance, and it is a little confusing because there isn’t just one agency that issues the visa. There is a slew of agencies that you can use to apply/purchase the visa online and they seem to all charge a different amount. I was lucky that my friend directed me to a site that charges only 17 USD, which I was very content with. However, you also then need to pay Vietnam Immigration upon arrival at the airport 25 USD or 600,000 Vietnamese Dong for a “stamping fee”. While preparing to go to Vietnam, I had read several articles stating that cash is only accepted in those two currencies (and no credit cards). I thought, “No problem, I will exchange my remaining Thai Baht to USD at the Chiang Mai airport on my way out of Thailand. That will work out perfectly.” BUT, no such luck. Since my flight was so early, none of the currency exchange stations were open yet, and there was absolutely no way to get USD! You may be thinking I should have taken care of this prior to arriving at the airport, and you are correct, that would have been the best course of action! Live and learn.

But there is a silver lining… One thing about traveling that is very refreshing is how helpful people can be if you are willing to share your situation and stupidity. There was an Australian family also checking in at 6:00am for the same Air Asia flight and I asked them how they were planning on paying the visa stamping fee when they touched down in Vietnam. They had wisely brought the local currency, Vietnamese Dong, to complete the transaction. As I made very little effort to mask my rising anxiety levels about my currency exchange predicament, they so kindly offered to loan me enough Dong to get through immigration (there would be a plethora of ATMs just after exiting baggage claim). Since the ground staff at Chiang Mai International couldn’t say for certain if it would be possible to use my Thai baht with the Vietnam visa authority, I felt much more comfortable boarding the flight with my new friends, knowing I would be able to pay in the local currency. As often happens in traveling (and in life), the intense feeling of panic and negative self-judgement was for nothing… It turned out that it was totally fine to use my Thai baht to pay the stamp fee. It ended up costing me the equivalent of seven additional USD dollars, which I was more than OK with!

Another “fun” part of this transition day was clumsily tripping on part of the broken sidewalk just as I arrived at the beach (something I had been so looking forward to!). Since I was wearing my flip flops, I actually managed to take a chunk of skin off the bottom of my big toe and it began to bleed immediately. It was one of those moments that you think to yourself, “Wow, it would be so much better if this had not happened!” I tried to make the best of it and hobble along the beach, but the large cut did not bode well with the sand and salt water. I decided to search for a pharmacy to see if I could get something to clean it and a bandage to wrap it. Crossing the street is an adventure in itself when you’re disoriented in a new country and suddenly the driving patterns have flipped and the number of scooters on the road has multiplied by at least 10 fold. I don’t think I saw one traffic light either! Also, google maps lied… there was not a pharmacy where it had listed one! I definitely walked in a circle looking at my map and limping along… it was not at all embarrassing… LOL. I gave up and decided to slowly make my way back to my apartment to see if maybe I could get some help from my Airbnb hosts.

There is also a silver lining with this situation as well … just as I arrived back to the apartment I am staying at, the Viatnamese woman who helps to run it was getting out of her vehicle with her husband. At that point, I was so worn out that I somewhat desperately asked for help. She looked around her family’s apartment before apologizing and saying she didn’t have any bandages, but advised that I could go to the small pharmacy just about 5-10 minute walk away. The idea of walking even 2 minutes seemed like a monumental task to me and I think she could read that from the expression on my face. I also lifted my foot to show her the bloody mess, and at that point, she immediately offered to take me herself. I was so relieved and very grateful that she did!

She not only took me to the pharmacy, but also communicated with the staff there what I needed and helped facilitate a smooth transaction. I very much appreciated that help, as those types of conversations are much more difficult with a language barrier! She then drove around to show me a tour of places I might want to eat at and coffee shops that would be worth stopping in at while I’m here. Most importantly, she made me feel less embarrassed for stumbling on a piece of carved up sidewalk. Thanks to her, I now know that they are reworking the sewage system here in Da Nang. For this reason, the sidewalks everywhere are in horrible condition. So note to self: I will be wearing my sneakers every day here!

I am looking forward to my second day in Vietnam tomorrow 🙂 Very excited to get some Pho!

Thanks for reading this saga if you got all the way through it!

Love,
Marissa

PS Here’s just to give you a solid visual of the sidewalk: